The Sounds Around Us

There are so many different sounds that we hear each day, and sometimes they are just in the background and other days they seem to be a lot louder and more present. In a lot of cases, the amount we hear of a sound can depend on how we are feeling and how many other sounds are also around us.

I live in a high-density neighbourhood, so there are always sounds that we can hear, and it doesn’t matter what time of the day or night it is, there are always different sounds around us. When you are in a different location, you will also hear other sounds that you don’t hear where you live or work. I will try and list some of the sounds that are normal for me, but if you don’t live in a high-density neighbourhood, you may not hear all these sounds.

• School bells – this is a sound that we hear all the time and multiple times each weekday. These school bells are also heard during the summer because the school is used for summer school, so there is no break from this sound.
• Dumpster collection – this is a sound that we hear quite often as each of the apartment buildings have dumpsters that need to be emptied, and they are done at least once a week. Each building has a difference schedule, so you hear that most days.
• Emergency vehicles – here is a sound that we hear numerous times a day, and a lot of these will be medical emergencies, but sometimes there are elevator rescues or fires that need to be handled around us.
• Buses – when you live on a street that has buses on it 24 hours a day, you get to hear them all the time, and they start to become just a background sound that you hear.
• Construction – these are the sounds that can overwhelm you sometimes, and that is the construction due to parking lot renovations or road work. These sounds happen, and they can be extremely hard to block out.
• People yelling at each other – now here is a sound that can be very hard to block out, especially when it happens in the middle of the night. People don’t seem to realize how their voices carry when they are carrying on a loud conversation in the middle of the night. These sounds bounce off the buildings, so they can be heard even when you are up quite a few floors from the street.
• Car's backfiring – now this is a newer sound that we have been hearing lately and that is the sound of cars backfiring. There seems to be a few cars in our area that have mistuned engines and their cars backfire quite often.
•  Constant sound of vehicles on the major roads and a highway nearby, including those racing at the wee hours of the night.

So, yes, we all have sounds around us and I know that I have just listed some of the surrounding sounds, but these are the sounds that are ones that happen quite often around us and can be very different from what people hear in a residential area of a city.

When you stop and just listen to the various sounds around you when you are in different places, you will hear different things that aren’t things you may hear normally. For me, it is always such a difference when we go away from home because you do notice the lack of some of these sounds because these sounds have now become normal everyday sounds to me.

The sounds around us can change from time to time, even when you are within one area. When there are leaves on trees or snow on the ground, the sounds around us can sound different. So next time you have a few minutes, go outside, and listen to the sounds around you and see what sounds you have around you.

Why?

This is a question that I ask so often and the reason I do that is to get an answer that I think someone knows, but I am not certain and/or get them to think about why.

As a documentor being able to ask someone why they are doing something in a specific way can help provide either an answer to that standard question or it might not. I have asked that question before and the answer I got back was “Because it’s how it’s always been done.” In some many jobs you are taught by someone how to do a specific task, and you will continue to do it that way because that is how you do it or at least that is how the other person did it. It is amazing when you can look at the specific task and take it apart step by step that you may find an easier way of doing something. For me, I will sit and listen to the person explain the task and make lots of notes, and then see if there is an easier way to do that task and get the same results.

When you can ask that simple question of “Why do you …” it will make people think about why they are doing something and how they are doing it. It is a matter of sitting back and thinking about a process and how it might be done differently. Also asking the question, “Why?” can help with the documentation, especially if there are specific steps that are required. In some jobs there are specific tasks/steps that must be performed and for a lot of people they just become routine, and they don’t think about them at all.

Here are so different ways of asking questions that will give you different answers.

• Why do you do this specific step before another step?
• Why do you do have to take copies of the item so many times?
• Why does it work that way?

It is always fun when you can sit back and think through a process and see ways to improve it, even if they are just small changes. Some of those small changes and make the process a lot easier to do and maybe even faster to accomplish.

Why, seems like such a simple word, but it can spark a conversation that will provide a lot of information. Yes, there are times when I may sound silly asking that question quite a few times, but the more detail I can get the better documentation I can do. Sure, just watching a person do a job is one way to document it but understand the steps and why they are doing something is also a key part of understanding the job so that it can be documented.

So, next time you hear me ask “Why” understand that I am trying to make sure that you also know why you are doing a specific task a specific way.

Docs or It Didn't Happen

On your job, how many times have you been asked for the documentation to back up your decision or your work? Well, here is why documentation is so important when it comes to work.

1. Provides guidance to someone else if you are unable to do the task, such as when you are on vacation or maybe just too busy to get everything done or no longer with the company.
2. Helps to provide why something is done in a specific way.
3. Provides the necessary steps in a process to ensure that a business can continue to operate.

What is funny about writing this is so many individuals in IT don’t like writing documentation or even quick notes about why something is being done a specific way. I know that as someone that enjoys writing documentation, I normally get a very funny look when I say I love writing documentation. Yes, documentation can be a challenge to write, but in so many ways it is also enjoyable because you can help a department, or a business get the necessary notes down, so everyone is working the same way.

For various departments there are different needs for the documentation, but I do know that for IT departments it can the virtual process that needs to be done if the servers are compromised or if there is damage to the equipment and how does the department get everything up and running again because downed servers mean people aren’t able to get work done.

I have once heard someone say that “If I document what I do, it means that they can replace me easily, but if I don’t document stuff they need to keep me.” Well, that might sometimes work, but there are also the times that not documenting something can mean that you end up being a cost to the business, and you will be replaced. Knowing how to write the documents is also important because it can help others as well as yourself. If the document is good, you can even use it as a reference when you are doing a task that you don’t do frequently.

Docs or it didn’t happen is something that I have heard so often when talking to people, but these same people are the ones that don’t write the documentation. So, next time you are doing something think about the steps that you do and maybe make some notes even if it isn’t every step but at least it could remind you how to do something quickly or it could help someone else.