I am writing to you with regards to an interpersonal communication problem I have encountered during my National Service (NS). This incident occurred few months before my Operation Ready Date (ORD) between me and my subordinate.
I was an admin supervisor back in the days and was handling many sensitive documents. There was this day where I was on leave, I got a call from a unit that they needed a document urgently for a confirmation posting. Thus I quickly called my subordinate over the phone to dispatch it the 999 Squadron (fictitious unit) but due to the lack of proper communication and instructions to him, the document was wrongly dispatched to 998 Squadron (fictitious unit).
It was not until the admin clerk from 998 Squadron called me to inquire about the document, I would not have noticed about this incident. Improper handling of a classified document is a very serious offence in the military but thankfully me and my subordinate were only punished with extra duties.
I did not blame my subordinate on this incident as I was partially at fault for not following up with him and communicate with him properly. Thinking back, I feel that I could have approached this incident differently. Kindly share your thoughts on this incident.
A lost Prawn wandering into the wilderness of CPDII 
Hi Lance,
Thank you for sharing this incident with us. I personally feel that this kind of mistake is common in both personal and professional settings, among school peers, colleagues and even family or friends.
I think that one way to better handle this situation would be to repeat your instructions twice, slowly and clearly (especially for the second time). Also, just to be safe, since you were handling sensitive documents, it would be good to have the other party repeat your instructions back to you, to ensure that he/she got the message communicated by you accurately.
Another method would be to request the other party to CC you in the email (if the document was dispatched by email) so that you are kept in the loop of the entire process, and this would have ensured that you know what was going on. Of course, like what you mentioned, it would be good to follow up with the other party on the issue a little while after the errand was finished.
It is good that you realized your mistake and reflected on it. This incident serves as a reminder to you to always communicate clearly. As many perspectives and understandings can emerge from the one incident (different people look at the same thing differently), it is good to double-check and confirm with the other party that your intended message was communicated and received accurately.
Cheers!
Mandy Chia
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Thank you, Lance, for sharing this conflict scenario.
There are a few sentences that I don’t fully understand:
1) It was not until the admin clerk from 998 Squadron called me to inquire about the document, I would not have noticed about this incident. >>> ?
2) Thus I quickly called my subordinate over the phone to dispatch it the 999 Squadron (fictitious unit)…. >>>
Thus I quickly called my subordinate over the phone to dispatch it TO the 999 Squadron (fictitious unit)
So far you have one good response. I look forward to other peers’ responses.
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Hello Lance,
Thank you for sharing this incident with us. Surely, most of us would had entered such scenario in having the responsibility to pass down important confidential documents (may not be in the army environment). Knowing that you have tried compromising to the situation already, perhaps more follow up actions could be practiced such as having a designated follow up personnel when you are on leave or being kept in the loop so that you will be updated on the things that happen at work instead when you are meet with similar situations next time? We believe that things that happens in the Army are a good replication of how it would be like in the future workplace so we hope that you had learnt your lesson regarding this situation.
Thank you and thank you for the hard work
Eshane & Jasmine
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