Ten Ways to Be Impressive In a New Job
or New Assignment.
1. Plan your farewell party before your first day at work. When you leave, what do you want them to say about you? What do you want in your letter of reference? Work like that, live like that, and relate to others like that, from day one.
2. Make each day a new job interview. You probably answered some questions about the kind of employee you would be and how you would look and act at work. Make those answers come true. Assume that you are being evaluated by others each day, because you are.
3. Remember that nothing is as bad or as good as it seems in the first few days. Do not become so discouraged or so impressed in your first few days that you make the assumption it will always be the way it seems. Focus on the work and on effective interactions with coworkers, supervisors and others and look to the future. Give it time to develop.
4. Balance confidence with humility. This is a difficult balance to find, but it is a good one. Walk and talk confidently, but do not assume you have paid dues enough to criticize, act overly impressed with yourself, or behave as though you do not need help at all. Confident humility is a very impressive trait.
5. Look and act a bit above the level you are working. You have probably heard the advice about dressing for the position you want to have. That is not entirely practical or appropriate. However, it is true that the best way to look and act all the time–and certainly as a new employee–is a tad bit better than required for your job. Dress as nicely as you can, rather than dressing down to the lowest level you can get by with. Talk as if the CEO or boss was present, rather than talking as though you are with peers who completely understand you and agree with you. Act as though you are a career person, rather than only having a job, even if you only have a short-term job.
6. If you are outgoing, back off a bit. If you are quiet, reach out a bit. Do not overwhelm people with your friendliness and cheerfulness, but also do not seem disinterested, hostile or excessively shy. Get to know people in a moderate way at first.
7. Act normal. That sounds like strange advice, doesn’t it? But, the reason many new employee are shut out or not considered a good choice for the job is that they display every quirk and eccentricity in the first few days or weeks. Many of those should never be displayed! There is never a time when it is good to talk to yourself, heavy sigh repeatedly, wear lots of fragrance, have some strange and quirky habit or mannerism, talk in strange accents and tone for the fun of it, talk about your politics or religion, or talk obsessively about anything. Just act normal, ordinary, routine, and easy to work around. You do not have to impress everyone with your uniqueness all the time.
8. Use your performance evaluation form as a map for excellence. ASAP look at the form that will be used to rate you, if there is one. Write down the areas in which you will be rated. Then, make sure you are purposely working to provide your supervisor with examples of how you fit those areas. If there is not form, talk to your supervisor about his or her views of excellent performance and behavior. Demonstrating that you fulfill the qualities and traits of excellence in your specific work is the way to be a star!
9. Build and maintain a good relationship with your supervisor. It is good to have positive relationships with coworkers, but do not do that at the expense of a good relationship with your supervisor. Your supervisor is the one who completes your evaluation, makes recommendations about you and your work and can make work life easier or not. Be courteous, appropriately friendly and be sure to ask for advice, assistance or direction. You may not have what you consider to be a great supervisor, but the advice still applies.
10. Keep a journal on your home computer or in a hard copy book at home. Just a few words now and then can help you stay on target with your work goals. Your journal is a good place to write your first impressions, concerns and triumphs, and other interesting information. You will also enjoy it tremendously in the future!
Key point: You can apply these concepts no matter how long you have been in your job. Every day can be the first day and your best day.
If you have a new job or new assignment within your organization, best wishes with it! You may need more than ten steps to be completely successful, but these will certainly get you started.
September 26th, 2008
Posted by
TLR |
Personal and Professional Development |
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What should you do when it becomes apparent that Obnoxious Ollie, Irritating Ida or Weird Al, are not accepted by others in the group you supervise? What if they are rejected, excluded and shunned by peers because of behavior, performance, habits, mannerisms, personality, hygiene or other issues that create problems–and over which the employee has control?
The answer to those questions are found in three areas of investigation–What peer employees are doing, what the rejected employee is doing and what you are responsible for doing.
What are the peers of the employee doing? No matter what the situation, all employees must obey rules, policies and procedures, and those should never be violated. Neither should employees do anything that reduces work effectiveness and productivity. Dirty tricks, work sabotage, name-calling and spreading rumors are not acceptable and must be stopped by the supervisor.
If peer ostracism consists primarily of not asking the employee to join the group for lunch or breaks, only being civil but not being overtly friendly or similar shunning activities, there is likely no rules violation. Supervisors should encourage positive relationships, but cannot order people to be friends.
What actions by the rejected employee may have created the situation? In the situations we’re discussing the shunned employee has created conflict or rejection because of his or her own behavior or performance. For example, in one work group an employee was shunned in personal relationships after she lied repeatedly. In another, an employee’s loud laugh and irritating remarks, caused coworkers to avoid anything but absolutely necessary conversations. Identify the nature of the problems so you can talk to the employee about it. Be specific, rather than only telling an employee they have to “learn to get along” or some other general comment.
Note: If the employee is being rejected, shunned or excluded about things over which he or she has no control, you have a completely different situation. That kind of treatment is the essence of bullying and should be stopped immediately and action taken about inappropriate behavior.
What should you do?
1. Intervene. Do not shrug off your responsibility in this area. You are responsible for the workplace and everyone in it. Do your job to stop behavior by any employee that causes others to be justifiably offended, irritated, disrupted or disgusted. At the same time, stop shunning or rejecting behavior by other employees, if it becomes disruptive, offensive or inappropriate.
Peer supervision is often caused by lack of formal supervision. If an employee does something inappropriate that causes others to shun or reject him or her, you are remiss if you have not done something to stop the situation and start improvement processes. If the situation is not something the employee can control, you are remiss if you allow other employees to say or do inappropriate things in response.
2. Build the team. When all employees are focused on work and must find ways to work together, some of the barriers between them will be reduced automatically. Sometimes personal rejection of an employee continues long after bad behavior or performance has stopped. Work, meetings, projects and activities that require everyone to interact can help highlight improvements.
3. Develop individuals. Every employee has strengths and developmental needs. Sometimes when there is a problem employee, other employees begin to think they are almost perfect in comparison. Help all employees see the need to improve. Put their focus on their own development and they are not so likely to be disrupted by others.
The employee who needs to change or improve should also be developed. Sometimes helping an employee see they can be better than they are in even one area, helps them become motivated to improve in every area.
Your Role: If you have done all you can do to help a problem employee change or improve but they are still being disruptive or problematic, you should have good documentation of your efforts and should talk to HR or those above you, to see about the next step. Emphasize the negative affect on work because of the actions of the problem employee. However, be sure you can show that you have not allowed inappropriate behavior by other employees.
If an employee has mental or emotional problems that make it impossible for him or her to fit into the work group, but you have been told no action will be taken to remove them, there will likely always be a degree of rejection of the employee. You cannot stop that, you can only work to ensure that the group stays productive and acting appropriately.
You must support, guide, direct, re-direct, reprimand, commend and communicate with everyone as needed. But, you should not become a guardian angel, co-conspirator or merely an observer. You are in this for the long haul. What kind of work environment do you want to have a year from now? Build toward that today.
September 20th, 2008
Posted by
TLR |
Supervision and Management |
5 comments
Use a GPS System to Help You Stay on the Road to Wealth
As I was reading the old magazine pictured above, I thought about the fact that the article could have been written today. Money, and what money can buy, has been part of life forever. What tends to change for us as individuals is why we want money.
It seems we go through stages in our lives: First, we want money to buy fun things, then to establish ourselves, then to support the family infrastructure (and that’s a good word for it, because it becomes an empire of sorts!) then to provide peace of mind, and finally to make being old and ill easier financially on ourselves and others. That’s about the most depressing thing I have ever written! But, I think it’s true for many.
It doesn’t take a financial wizard to determine that our economy is not going to be glowingly healthy in the coming years, and neither will your financial well-being if you are not careful. The money you make will have to go further, because prices are going up faster than your salary. Having protection against loss of income and changes in benefits and retirement programs, is more critical than ever. Medical care is truly a challenge, and if you become really ill, it could be devastating to your family’s future.
The good news is that it doesn’t have to be so gloomy, and you can have peace of mind as well as making fun purchases now and then. But, unless you inherit a chunk of money, you will have to make it happen with what you have, where you are.
One of the best programs I have seen for tracking money and helping you to visualize where your money is being spent, as well as recommending changes and even advising about which bills to pay off first and how to do it, is Mint.com. It is interesting and user-friendly. It is also safe and well respected among programs of its kind. I don’t get paid to talk about it–and if you have something better to use, use it. I just thought I’d mention it because I have heard so many people mention it positively, and I’m going to use it myself.
This link will take you to the page that demonstrates the site. Check it out. It is particularly worthwhile for young adults and those who are still in their peak earning years, but it’s useful for maximizing limited money later, too. It’s not just a map, it’s a GPS system that helps you monitor a variety of issues.
It is never too early to get on the road to financial stability, and it is never too late to get off the road that takes you where you do not want to go. Try Mint. com, or at least read some of the articles, to help you manage better in any economic environment–but especially in the next few years.
September 16th, 2008
Posted by
TLR |
Life and Work, Personal and Professional Development |
3 comments
The Instant Impact Correction
I acknowledge the wisdom and effectiveness of Ken Blanchard’s One Minute Manager concept. However, making an Instant Impact seems a bit more applicable in many work settings.
For example, the Instant Impact Correction can help a supervisor accomplish the goal of stopping wrong behavior or performance immediately, even when others are around, without “reprimanding” the employee in public. Or, if the conversation will be in private, it can keep it from being a major drama, or an ominous closed-door interview.
An Instant Impact Correction can be an emergency brake that immediately stops things from getting worse, or a tweak, nudge or bump that results in a course correction for potentially problematic performance or behavior. The biggest accomplishment of an Instant Impact Correction is that it can keep a work relationship positive when there is a potential for it to be negative.
When a Tweak or a Nudge is Needed
This is appropriate when you believe a quick reminder will be sufficient. If the response of the employee indicates more in-depth conversation is needed, you can escalate your communication. However, you might as well start easy if it is appropriate. For example, you mention a problem in a conversational way and ask for a change. Or, you stop something and give clear directions or guidelines for behavior or performance. Or, you bring a small violation to an employee’s attention and conversationally tell them what you want them to do differently next time.
Build on your good working relationships. I use the word conversational, to convey the idea that these are not big, dramatic counseling sessions. You are simply communcating with someone with whom you hopefully have a decent working relationship.
“Hey Mark, I noticed you were about fifteen minutes late. Was everything OK this morning?” (Mark says the traffic was horrible.) “Yeah, I know it can be a mess. But, we need you here at eight though, OK?” He says OK, and says again that it was the traffic. You close it with, “I figured it was something like that.” Then, you can talk about work or start walking toward another work area, or in some other way, close the conversation.
For most employees, that is enough. If it isn’t, you can say more or ask him to step into your office so you can talk about it. But if it is enough, you have made your point in a way that is respectful and open. Don’t over-talk an Instant Impact Communication, otherwise you will have an Interminable and Naggy Communication!
When an Emergency Brake Must be Applied
This is appropriate when you have observed something that must be stopped immediately and with a clear message that it is undesirable behavior or performance. This might even be done in front of others if the violation presents a serious liability or if it is important for the others to know the actions were wrong. (You will feel like a parent sometimes, but your point will be made.)
If the matter was serious enough to correct in front of others you will probably need to follow-up with a brief private conversation. This also gives you a chance to explain why it was important enough that you had to say something immediately. I have talked to dozens of supervisors who said when they did this the employee started the conversation by apologizing. If we handle our communications effectively we can correct immediately, even in front of others, without creating bad feelings.
Show support for the employee when the incident is over: Whether you nudged the employee in the right direction or had to be more stern than that, show appropriate support as soon as possible. That does not mean you should have a “kiss and make up” approach or act as though the bad behavior or performance was not really important. However, you should converse in a civil and courteous way and get the focus back on effective work. Most employees are as anxious as you are for things to be back to normal.
Your goal as a supervisor or manager is to work with and through others to achieve the goals of the organization. If correcting is done effectively it can help you achieve goals and make your worklife and the worklife of others more pleasant and rewarding. It doesn’t even take a minute–you can accomplish it in an Instant!
September 10th, 2008
Posted by
TLR |
Supervision and Management |
3 comments
When your past catches up with you, or you catch up with your past. Last month a woman was photographed after paying $53,000 to have puppies cloned from her former beloved pet. When her photo circulated around the world, several people came forward to accuse her of crimes dating back thirty years! She is facing a number of charges right now, although some of them have been dropped because of the statute of limitations.
You may also recall several cases in which people on 12 Step Recovery programs have contacted people to seek forgiveness and make amends (Step Nine) and been charged and tried for the crimes they committed. In one case the man admitted to a lesser crime but his victim claimed something more serious and he was found guilty of that crime.
In the first situation, the woman’s past caught up with her and she is desperately trying to claim that it was not her. In the other situation, the people brought their pasts into the open in an effort to make things better–not always successfully. What they have in common with many of us is that they would like to erase the parts of their past that are now so humiliating or troubling, or that are creating trouble for them. One man who sought forgiveness for stealing money from his workplace thirty years ago said, “That was another me. The me I am now is ashamed, disgusted and repulsed by what I did.”
Have you ever felt that way? Not about something criminal I hope, but about something you wish you had not done, or swear you would never do now? Have you ever remembered something you said, did or thought years ago–or only months, weeks or days ago–and wished you could erase it? You cannot, and neither can those who are aware of what you did. So, is there any way to make it better?
1. If you can apologize without causing emotional pain or embarassment, do so. If you had a bad relationship or did unkind or ill-judged things, or if someone else “knew you when”, and you wish they had a better memory of you, perhaps you can discuss it with them and feel some forgiveness or at least understanding. That is not always a kind thing, however–and you may find it makes the other person feel bad while you are trying to feel good.
If you do not feel you can apologize or if you think it will create more hard feelings, consider re-contacting that person and focus on establishing a better relationship this time. They may think there are things they need to apologize about as well! Or, if it seems you can talk about it, mention your poor judgment and talk briefly about the old you and how you regret what you did. Sometimes one sincere sentence like that can bring resolution to both of you, without creating even more discomfort.
2. Commit to your new, better and more mature life. Perhaps you were wrong or used poor judgment back then. LIve your life now in the best way possible. Think of what you want to say about your life in another year. Will you be proud of your work and life this year or will you be wishing you could erase it?
3. Do not make excuses for yourself. It is true that you are probably no worse than many others. It is also true that no good comes from beating up on yourself mentally about relatively minor things from the past. However, do not fall into the trap of convincing yourself you really have no reason to feel remorse or regret. One way you know you have matured and improved is that you see what you did wrong and what was unwise, and you feel badly about it.
4. Be your own parent or counselor. If a friend or your child came to you with the situation you are thinking about, what would you suggest they do? You would probably tell them to try to make it right, and if that is not possible, to simply promise to do better in the future and live up to the promise. That is what you can do as well.
Whatever you did decades, years or months ago, you do not have to do it again. You can be a better person, and a person for whom you have more respect. If you do that steadily, consistently and whole-heartedly, you will be able to see yourself as different than that old version of you was, and others will see you differently as well. Now and then you may find someone who remembers the old you. Let them hear and see the new you, and stick with it. The new you–the best you–can be the real you!
September 7th, 2008
Posted by
TLR |
Life and Work, Personal and Professional Development |
7 comments
“Physician, heal thyself.”
This post certainly comes under the heading of “do as I suggest, not necessarily as I do.” But, how can we justify not trying to help others avoid the mistakes we have made? In this case, I feel like Jacob Marley telling Scrooge, “It’s too late for me, but you can save yourself!”
(Incidentally, in the New Testament of the Bible, in the book of Luke, Jesus said he expected to be told the proverb, “Physician, heal thyself.” That says to me that people have probably always given advice they do not apply to themselves. Since Luke was a physician, I suppose he picked up on that before anyone else would!)
So, I’m not being hypocritical when I advise you, ask you, plead with you, and, if it will help, command you, to start leaving work on time.
Why do you stay at work after quitting time? If you stay more than a very few minutes after quitting time, give careful consideration about why you do it.
*If you do it because you have so many things left to do, challenge yourself–order yourself–to delegate some of it, stop doing some of it, or discuss it with your manager and see what might be eliminated or reduced to allow you to leave on time. Do not even let yourself think that it is impossible. Make the assumption that it is possible–especially since the person before you and the one following you will probably manage to go home on time!
*If you do it because you are a poor time manager during your work day, learn better skills, and discipline yourself to stick with them. As long as you let yourself think you can tack a couple of hours onto the end of your work day, you will dally when you should be doing.
*If you do it to impress people, you can stop now. If employees or others respect and like you, they will continue to do so if you go home on time. If they do not respect and like you, they will think you are a dope for having to work so late. (As someone once said about me, “I don’t see what’s so great about her taking ten hours to do a four hour job.”) (Ouch!)
*If you do it because you feel fearful or guilty about leaving on time, ask someone you trust if they would think less of you. Ask an employee if it makes his or her work easier when you stay late. Or, ask your boss if he or she will be angry if you are as punctual about going home as you are about coming to work. You know what the answers will be.
*If you stay late to socialize with others, that might be semi-acceptable. But, really, you all need to go home. If you decide it is fun to stay later to chat, at least turn off the computer and be ready to walk out the door the minute you have finished your after-work social time.
How to break the staying late habit: (I have had to glean this information from others, since I was never very good at it myself!)
1. Make a commitment to do it. You say you are good at self-management–prove it.
2. Get ready for tomorrow an hour earlier. Most people who stay late do not even start thinking about leaving until leaving time. Be ready to go by getting things ready for the next day–when you probably will be there two hours early.
3. Make the thought of going home enjoyable. Have something in a crockpot; have a ritual of sitting on the patio with a glass of iced tea; go home to a fairly clean house; ask your family to help you by not confronting you with chaos every evening; look forward to hugging your spouse and children…or your dog or cat. (Actually, if you get a dog, you will have to get home on time to let it out, but that seems to be a high price to pay!)
4. Like any other habit you must break or make, stick with your plan for at least a month, until it becomes a firm habit. Remember your commitment. If you told an employee to be at work on time, you would expect him or her to find a way to make it happen. In this case, you are telling yourself to go home on time. Find a way to make it happen!
If you enjoy working, you have received a great blessing. Thomas Carlylse said, “Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness.” It is an equally great blessing to be competent enough and confldent enough, to go home when it is time to go home.
OK. I’m outta here!
August 31st, 2008
Posted by
TLR |
Personal and Professional Development, Supervision and Management |
6 comments
