I recently received a document with a typo in it. Not a bad one, but as mistakes go it was not what should have been sent to a client.

At Ergo, we have developed a custom that has served us well by minimising the errors and improving the quality of official documents. Among our nine participation behaviours which line the walls in our stairwell is this one, we call it ‘collaborate and validate’:

Collaborate & Validate
Value the input of others and be confident to offer your own. If you don’t know – ask. If you know something useful – share it. Ensure someone else has given input on the quality of your work with the opportunity to “make it better”.

The habit of shooting our work to a colleague with the subject line ‘make it better’ has helped us reduce the number of typo level errors but also allows others to offer strategic input into our work. Simple but effective.

If you are interested in our other participation behaviours, you can see them here.