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Issue # 57: August 14, 2006
To our readers:
Today’s business environment can be demanding and highly stressful. But the pressure-cooker atmosphere can be eased considerably when you and your co-workers are mutually supportive. Here are seven ways to make work easier and more enjoyable for everyone:
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1. Be willing to offer help when your teammates need it most.
For instance, if you know that one particularly demanding customer or client always leaves a co-worker stressed out, offer to serve that client the next time.
2. Be willing to accept when co-workers offer you help.
Avoid the temptation to take a defensive, “I can handle this!” stance. Realize that instead of proving your competence by refusing assistance, you might be holding up the rest of the team.
3. Work hard to strengthen any weak area of knowledge or expertise.
Don’t expect others to keep picking up the slack, covering for you, or putting in extra time and effort to compensate for your inadequacies. True quality work requires continuous improvement.
4. Don’t interrupt co-workers to ask the same questions over and over.
When you ask for help or information, record the information where you can easily find it again. Many people have questions about policies and procedures. Whether or not you have an official binder called Policies & Procedures, it is helpful to keep this information in some kind of binder at your desk. The key is to record whatever you learn from co-workers and put it somewhere you can easily find it so you don’t have to ask them again.
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5. Never criticize a fellow employee in front of clients or customers.
No one wins when co-workers undermine one another. Don’t even imply to a client, by the lifting of an eyebrow for instance, that a fellow employee is incompetent or ill informed.
6. Be “up” consistently.
Be someone who can be counted on for a smile and a friendly greeting first thing in the morning. Offer encouragement when a fellow employee is “down” or when everyone seems to be dragging a little after a particularly stressful period.
7. Be open and direct when you have a problem with a co-worker.
Don’t complain to others about “the way Anne treats clients” or “how John messes up the files.” Communicate privately and honestly with co-workers when you need to go over something they’re not doing the way they should.
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