Forgetful Employee

I think I'd approach this as I would any disability: by making reasonable accommodation. Sit down with the guy, explain the problem and explore remedies.

The one that comes immediately to mind is to have him keep a diary of his daily activities. It needn't consist of essays, just the basic who what when where of his day.

Sometimes, different key words can help. For example: I often work on a number of different jobs each day, I don't always remember each client's name (if I was even told), do not necessarily remember what I drew for which sales person. If someone attempts to remind me with "it's the square with a circle", I might have done 4 or 5 of those that day.

If someone is able to remind me when I drew it for them, that can go a long way to my finding the drawing in question. If they had a drawing to start with, send it again instead of assuming I will know what they are talking about.

The idea of a diary seems like a good one to me. The minor advantage I have is that if asked about a certain job number or client, I can search the jobs on the computer to see if I dealt with it.

For some of us, if there are too many things "going on" all at the same time, something is likely to get lost in the mix. If I am in the middle of a command and someone "sneaks up" behind me and starts talking, I will jump and get interrupted. Pay attention to the sales person for a few minutes, then try to figure out where I was in the drawing. Most of the folks here can't wait for me to complete pressing the button for a command, their "stuff" is way too important.

It does not help when one of the sales "people" walks around literally babbling while another is talking loudly on the phone, while others are talking about last night's sports, while, while, while......

A bit of quiet can go a long way for me.....

Well, my memory is pretty selective. I think that it has to be in order to contend with the multitude of data I deal with every day. My tendency is not to remember specific events in a linear fashion, but to "pigeon hole" projects, meetings, drawings, conversations, etc. into something like a relational database. That is, I cull the details in favor of context, status, progress, and the like.

This points out the usefulness of spreadsheets and other tracking devices to maintain orderliness. In my field career, I started off writing down angles, distances and descriptions. As data collectors came into vogue, I still carried the field book to maintain a sketch of the control traverse and the complicated structures related to located shots.

In your case, it seems that you are depending on someone's ability to recall salient points which should be, in my experience (and Jim's apparently) written down as they occur - or much closer in time. It's likely that his CAD skills demand a different worldview, so to speak. That was the case when I was chained to a drafting table, turning field notes into a finished drawing. Although I would query a party chief about some aspect of a site, it didn't often add much - until the proliferation of digital cameras and the advantageous panorama pic.

I've been working as a CAD tech for some years now. My CAD co-workers and I have pretty selective memory as well (maybe it's an inherent quality of us techs when under pressure) but I personally keep a dairy of daily activities as it's been suggested. It works 100% of the time for anything my employer asks unless he's really asking stuff such as: "did you take my stapler two days ago?"

I agree with Jim, sit down and talk to him don't attack the guy but let him know y'all need to find a fix for the lapses. Hell as an Eyeman I forget things from time to time, notes, notes, notes! Good luck!

Dangerous territory for a business owner. Can't keep everybody happy with how employees are handled no matter what they do.

I'd have to wonder how the questions are phrased. If you've ever worked for a registered that queries you about "that thing you were working on a couple of days ago, on that project, did you ever figure out that deal.. ?" "Do you have the stake-out coordinates calculated ?" "Where did that deed for that tract disappear to ?"
Sometimes concise answers require concise questions.

Like everyone else said. Sit down and discuss how important it is to either mentally remember this stuff or at least write it down to help for later. If that doesn't work just mount a Go Pro to his head and hit record.

Where folders go, when and and who performed what calculations and the salient information of a days field work should really be dependent on workflow procedures rather than personal memory or the lack thereof.

That said, my personal memory skills take a dive when I am overwhelmed. When I first started running a crew I was not really ready and it was stressful for me, one of the ways that manifested was overlooking and forgetting pretty basic stuff, I ran the truck out of gas twice in the fist year for example. It may be that the employee is overwhelmed by something on, or off the job.

One thing that has worked for me is to focus on being methodical and calm in my approach to work, I make an effort to never be rushed and have found that it improves my work and does not actually slow things down. So maybe encourage the employee to slow down and do their work in a way that will decrease the questions in the first place.

mojavegreen, post: 350119, member: 595 wrote: Like everyone else said. Sit down and discuss how important it is to either mentally remember this stuff or at least write it down to help for later. If that doesn't work just mount a Go Pro to his head and hit record.

I like the Go Pro idea! Takes all the guess work out of the equation! Then again there things you don't want to really know!!! Can't win for losing!

Every young man/woman comes thru that doorway into their workplace.

Some are serious minded enough to leave their other life behind them while at their workplace and others bring all their problems inside with them.

I am the kind of person that is very serious about my work time and really want to leave everything else back where it belongs and not to be a part of work.

I've had people that could possibly be good surveyors some day if they could pry themselves from their cell phones, stop pondering if their wife is too busy with the kids or needs mom to come in and help, how they are going to get a vehicle that burns less gas, why they always have to come in to work when their day is spent at some location closer to where they live and when this old fart is going to stop working so much and stop and start teaching me how to survey.

They are taught what they need in their gobag, what needs to be in the truck 24/7 and what needs to come into the office each night an loaded into the truck before leaving the office.

A newbie that doesn't ask any or no questions bothers me. They are also the ones that show no apparent interest in their work and can not remember from day to day anything without being told exactly the the same thing every day all day long.

I give every newbie notebook sized calendar to make a memo of what client they worked for on any given day, a pocket pad and a 0.7mm Tech Pencil to make lists, write needy stuff down and to write down the name and address and phone numbers of people that stop and ask him questions at work. And of course, all those important directions I give him to do during the day.

Every phone is a calendar, voice recorder, movie maker and is becoming more computer than phone. They all have them and simply want to use them for stupid cat downloads.

B-)

I once had a guy, who was smart, able, and capable. BUT he'd smoke dope on the weekends. Not much "stayed put" in his brain. It was "starting over" on monday.....

party chef, post: 350124, member: 98 wrote: One thing that has worked for me is to focus on being methodical and calm in my approach to work, I make an effort to never be rushed and have found that it improves my work and does not actually slow things down.

:good: +1

A Harris, post: 350158, member: 81 wrote: Every young man/woman comes thru that doorway into their workplace.

Some are serious minded enough to leave their other life behind them while at their workplace and others bring all their problems inside with them.

I am the kind of person that is very serious about my work time and really want to leave everything else back where it belongs and not to be a part of work.

I've had people that could possibly be good surveyors some day if they could pry themselves from their cell phones, stop pondering if their wife is too busy with the kids or needs mom to come in and help, how they are going to get a vehicle that burns less gas, why they always have to come in to work when their day is spent at some location closer to where they live and when this old fart is going to stop working so much and stop and start teaching me how to survey.

They are taught what they need in their gobag, what needs to be in the truck 24/7 and what needs to come into the office each night an loaded into the truck before leaving the office.

A newbie that doesn't ask any or no questions bothers me. They are also the ones that show no apparent interest in their work and can not remember from day to day anything without being told exactly the the same thing every day all day long.

I give every newbie notebook sized calendar to make a memo of what client they worked for on any given day, a pocket pad and a 0.7mm Tech Pencil to make lists, write needy stuff down and to write down the name and address and phone numbers of people that stop and ask him questions at work. And of course, all those important directions I give him to do during the day.

Every phone is a calendar, voice recorder, movie maker and is becoming more computer than phone. They all have them and simply want to use them for stupid cat downloads.

B-)

I think you hit the nail on the head. I think we have a lack of focus issue due to outside distractions. He's a good dude, very intelligent, but can be absent minded b/c of outside stuff. I try to limit these, but it's hard nowadays with the cell phones, Internet etc. He's productive, don't get me wrong, and I like the guy, so I'm looking to help him. One person said "don't attack him". WTH, I'm not William Wallace charging across the battlefield at the guy, I'm trying to help him be a better employee. Better employees get paid better...

That being said, we are trying the notes idea and I appreciate those that have offered up their solutions. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again!

Sometimes whether some parts of a person's problems outside of work trail after them into the work place isn't a matter of whether the employee is "serious minded" or not, but a matter of the magnitude of the problem.

It's not that difficult to compartmentalize for most people who are of a mind to give an honest day's effort for an honest day's pay if the problems are normal everyday things like falling behind on bills, having a lengthy list of "to do's" at home, one of the kids serving lunch detention for having gotten into a scuffle with another kid, or even your wife being mad because you forgot your anniversary.

It's a little more difficult to set one's problems aside if they're something like a family member with a life-threatening illness or injury, or having just realized that one's marriage is about to end.

Having said that, with the advent of cell phones, and especially smart phones, there are employees that seem to feel a compelling need to immediately deal with every call, text, or email that comes in. There's no prioritizing of the incoming messages, and so no thought of "this one can wait". Those folks need to be told that unless it's an emergency, they need limit handling personal calls and messages to their lunch break or otherwise outside of work hours. Some may have to have an uncomfortable conversation with their spouse (or boyfriend or girlfriend) that the spouse can only call at lunch or for emergencies. That may cause a bit of strife for them at home in the short term, but tell them to blame it on the boss if they need to.

Every generation before them was able to make it through a full day of work, day after day, year after year, without that constant electronic tether to their family and personal life during work hours and still managed to maintain marriages that outlived careers and raise kids that survived all the way to adulthood and beyond. In fact, couples and families might have even been better off for the daily break in contact.

Your employee might find it easier to focus on work matters if he cuts off the non-emergency contact with his outside world by turning off his phone and putting it in a desk drawer or the glove box until the end of the day.

Whatever the reasons behind the memory issues, I like Jim Frame's idea of getting your employee into the habit of using a daily work journal.

Let me get this straight, he works efficiently for 8 hours, goes home for 16 hours and then cannot remember every thing he did. Did you expect him to go home and rehash his work day until he came back? I do not think so.

That diary sounds like a good idea, but remember if you ask for it he is entitled to be paid for the time it takes to do it. That means he has less time to do his other work. First thing is to discuss with him how much of your time you expect him to switch over to this bookkeeping.

Question is, is he actually making mistakes or is he just not anticipating how each requester wants his own job done? That brings up a point, do you have an office standard for how work is to be done or does each project manager set his own standards or preferences? Perhaps that is more of your problem than this particular employee.

That brings up another possible problem. Do you have CAD drafters that almost always work for a single project manager and then this gentleman gets to fill in the workload for everyone randomly?

Do you use field to finish and does every crew use the same symbology and understand the work order especially in doing breaklines? Do some of your crews always give their field work to specific drafters that know their personal methodology, or is every person completely interchangeable?

I recall working in an office in the early nineties when it was suggested by me to start a F2F methodology. First I had to convince the owner to buy the pizza and set a aside a few hours for all engineers, draftsmen and field crew to sit around and hash out suitable codes and then methodology. A couple of weeks later we did a site survey for redesign where the F2F and work methodology actually made a significant difference that was noticeable by all involved. Have you ever done that?

Paul in PA

A bad memory is a ..............uh, what...........uh, something about something. Dang it. I knew someday I would wish..........uh, something......uh, that is..................fish for supper.

On the other hand, I remember all the stuff everyone else has forgotten. Not important stuff. But, stuff. Stuff like where my sixth grade teacher lived when she was a girl too young to go to school, if there had been one anywhere nearby, which there wasn't. Stuff like where I was on June 30, 1976. Stuff like the make, year and color of the car my first grade teacher owned. Stuff like the challenge issued to a newlywed couple almost 51 years ago. Stuff like Roy Rogers' birth name. Stuff like which TV show had Princess Winterspringsummerfall

I'm also pretty darned good at going to a former job site and pointing to where monuments were found and set 20 years ago. The names of clients and their adjoiners is another specialty.

Paul in PA, post: 350321, member: 236 wrote: Let me get this straight, he works efficiently for 8 hours, goes home for 16 hours and then cannot remember every thing he did. Did you expect him to go home and rehash his work day until he came back? I do not think so.

That diary sounds like a good idea, but remember if you ask for it he is entitled to be paid for the time it takes to do it. That means he has less time to do his other work. First thing is to discuss with him how much of your time you expect him to switch over to this bookkeeping.

Question is, is he actually making mistakes or is he just not anticipating how each requester wants his own job done? That brings up a point, do you have an office standard for how work is to be done or does each project manager set his own standards or preferences? Perhaps that is more of your problem than this particular employee.

That brings up another possible problem. Do you have CAD drafters that almost always work for a single project manager and then this gentleman gets to fill in the workload for everyone randomly?

Do you use field to finish and does every crew use the same symbology and understand the work order especially in doing breaklines? Do some of your crews always give their field work to specific drafters that know their personal methodology, or is every person completely interchangeable?

I recall working in an office in the early nineties when it was suggested by me to start a F2F methodology. First I had to convince the owner to buy the pizza and set a aside a few hours for all engineers, draftsmen and field crew to sit around and hash out suitable codes and then methodology. A couple of weeks later we did a site survey for redesign where the F2F and work methodology actually made a significant difference that was noticeable by all involved. Have you ever done that?

Paul in PA

The answer, in short, is no to all of that, b/c we are small. 1 crew, 1 CAD tech, 1 PLS. We do not F2F, but are thinking about doing it to speed up productivity. We have a workflow model we try to follow as close as we can, but an example of what I'm dealing with is, he'll work on a boundary, print it, and leave it in the hopper without notifying anyone it's ready to redline. Then, when quizzed about where survey "x" is, he doesn't even remember doing said survey. Drives me nuts! It creates a bottleneck in our process b/c he won't see projects through to the end. Now to be fair, and I'm not bragging, but I have a VERY photographic memory, so I struggle understanding people who can't remember things, which is why my post may seem a bit condescending. I also see the importance of a good memory in this business. I worked for a man, that said the 2 most important things to a surveyor is his records and his memory, and I'll be danged if he ain't right about that. Again, I'm not trying to bash my guy, for all of what I've described in the list above, he does some other stuff extremely well, and I'm very fortunate to have a guy like him working here. That is why, I'm not taking the "just fire him" road, and I'm trying to make him better.

maybe have another look at the routine in your office and field operations...
establish (and document) a clear procedure and workflow, for all work and all staff.

where do files go? and when
where are tools kept? and when
what gets documented? (every darn time)

rely on memory? Bad idea. a very bad idea... this guy just highlights a flaw in the procedures.
the lack of a photographic memory is not a disability, it is a common human trait.

if someone disappears, for whatever reason, will your business suffer? will data be Lost?
you are Not going to change him very much, maybe not at all.

I do appreciate your attitude...