Waiting

Currently I am waiting for:-

• My builder to finish off the work in my newly renovated house. It has gone way over time, 15 months & counting. I'm also waiting for him to dismantle & replace a fence one of his subcontractors built that is totally unsatisfactory. This all involves a plasterer, carpenter & decorator. 
• A fabricator to come & quote for an Edwardian railing fence for the front garden. I've already waited weeks.
• A quote from a landscaper, (very efficient), for my patio & raised beds.
• I'm also trying to cope with waiting patiently for my appointment with an oncologist on Thursday. 

This last one is the most difficult, but at least the appointment came through very quickly.

One of the few benefits of ageing is that I do think that I have become more patient. When I was younger, especially when I was was a head teacher, I always wanted things to be done yesterday if possible. But if not, at least today. Once I had decided on a course of action I wanted to see progress.

This last few years has taught me that often some delay leads to a better solution or decision. The variables change. Things you hadn't thought about become obvious. Sometimes you don't do what you set out to do at all, but something completely different. Waiting isn't a bad thing necessarily. It gives you time to consider & research.

The thing I find very difficult to cope with is waiting for someone else to do the job they have contracted to do. Worse, people who don't communicate at all, so you have to keep chasing. However nice people you employ are, fundamentally what you need is for them to be efficient, timely & professional. My experience over this last year and a half is that a lot of people in the building trade in the UK really have a lot to learn about customer service & customer satisfaction. 

I think most people, whatever the problem they are facing, will be reasonable if they are kept properly informed. My experience is too often that simply doesn't happen. Think of people whose holidays have been disrupted. In an information vacuum people become anxious & then angry & then disruptive. 

People in business who don't understand the importance of good communication are just making a "rod for their own backs".