Project Communication: Never Say “Just” To Me

Just. Just is another four-letter word to me. It means that you want me to just take care of something that always ends up taking much longer.  Just is never the 5-minute task we think it will be; it always turns out to take much, much longer.  Just is something that is simple to you, but not to me.

“Honey, can you just stop by the market and pick up a these few things?”  You think you can pop in and out of the market but naturally you won’t find what you are looking for and inevitably end up in the wrong line.

“Can I just make that quick phone call?” It never ends up being quick, as whoever on the line just wanted to talk a few minutes more.

And at work…

“Let me just print out this report.”  Of course that is when you find you have to fix a few details, add a note… or two.  And then print.  Oops printer out of paper.

Worst yet is in software development world when you’re asked last minute “Can you just add this field or two?”  Just means you have document the fields, add the fields, add the values to the fields, place them in the exact right place on the page, add the fields to the reports, test the fields, the layout and the report.  Then you have to add the fields to the production environment, add the fields to training documentation and release notes.  Just really then becomes a 10 hour task.

Just is a four-letter word to me.  Just means you want me to take care of something you don’t want to.

And it just took me a bit longer to write this…