The Importance of A Checklist.

I needed to register my car on my new address. The car salesman – Sufi called me up and told me that he needed some papers for the registration.

The conversation went on like this:

Sufi: Good morning, Sir. I needed some documents to get the car registered. Can I come to pick them up?

Me: Yes. Sufi, can you tell me what documents do you need for the registration?

Sufi: I need an electricity bill and a voter’s card or ration card or Insurance policy or passport.

Me: [since all the other documents were on my old address] I have an electricity bill and an insurance policy – but the policy is on my old address. However, I have a premium receipt on my new address. Will this suffice?

Sufi: No, you will have to give me an endorsement letter and a copy of the flat agreement where you are staying. You will also have to give me an affidavit – which will cost you some money.

Me: Why don’t you come and look at the documents I have?

Sufi: OK. Sir.

Sufi comes and finds that the documents he required are not available with me. There is a lot of discussion with my insurance agent and Sufi’s boss and his administrative person.

Finally it is decided that I have to apply for a change of address from my new address to old address and again from my old address to new address – to get the document – because the insurance company cannot give me such a letter.

We decide that he comes back after 5 days to pick up the documents.

When I go back home – I find that my passport has the new address and it can become a valid document. So I call Sufi and he comes back and picks the passport and goes back.

I am about to leave when Sufi calls me and says that he forgot to take my signature on a form. So he again comes back and takes the signatures.

Sufi had to visit 3 times to complete one job. The best way he could have utilized his time and reduced the strain of travel was to have a check-list. If he would have a check-list then all the problems would have been resolved – in a single shot.

The importance of checklists was seen by me and I intend to apply it to reduce errors/ customer dissatisfaction and improve efficiency.

I think my pilot friend always tells me something his instructor used to tell him

"If you assume anything, it will kill you! – So always use a check-list!

Or as my former boss used to tell me – Vikas, use your brain to think – not to remember!