Oh yeah, I forgot to add, in the same vein as gotpasswords, clean up after yourself. Don’t leave your dishes in the sink, don’t leave a mess behind after you get coffee or toast a bagel, don’t mess up the microwave, don’t leave your food in the fridge for months. I don’t know why people don’t know this, but this is a common problem everywhere I’ve worked. There are no magical kitchen fairies, either. The cleaning staff may clean up once a week, but the rest of the week your co-workers have to deal with your crumbs and coffee cups left in the sink.
Or, at least, learn the rules of the office. In my office, no one but the admin person is allowed to make a pot of coffee! There really are a few reasons for this. One, she has to keep the coffee in her office since the cleaning crew has stolen the coffee. Second, although the machine is simple, people have misused it in the past and burned pots or caused overflows. Finally, I think it is part of the boss’ plan to make sure people are spending time working, not drinking coffee all day long.
Make an enemies list. Do not write it down. Remain silent about your enemies list.
Your enemies will consist of poeple who treat you like shit, and people who don’t believe the rules apply to them. In a not-so-surprisingly large number of cases, the same person fills both evil roles.
Your only defense, at first, with those people is to behave absolutely faultlessly while documenting everything you do related to their work. You may crush them later if you gather enough power, but don’t count on it.
Some more learned by experience (can’t wait to put them, and all these others, into practice again)…
[ul]
[li]Know everyone’s name. Not much is more annoying than to have worked with someone for years and years, and yet, you still call them something else.[/li][li]If you have any authority at all, don’t hesitate to take on the responsibility of making decisions. It’s unbelievably frustrating to need something done and no one (like in management) will step up to the plate and choose which takes away from productivity and is the equivalent of “That’s not my job!”. Argh![/li][li]Take lots and lots of notes whenever starting anything new at all. Especially initially, because it infuriates people to be bothered to train you and then you not remember how to do whatever. Forcing you to continuously have to ask for instructions again repeatedly, although you should have known in the first place. This causes a lack of overall productivity, takes advantage of your helpful co-worker(s) and possibly lands them in trouble (for not explaining better in the beginning or for neglecting their own tasks) and makes you look like a selfish, lazy oaf.[/li][li]And no matter how relaxed your workplace environment is, please be clean, presentable and courteous. One would be amazed how simple that rule is to forego. No one is too broke to not come in wrinkled, smelly and rude. [/li][/ul]
Ya know, I think I’m going to print this thread out for my next go-round of job acquisition. It can only help because it all is great advice.
Also, I agree that ignoring office politics and gossip, as well as documenting everything (even to the most infinitesimal – for example; training methods, requests for days off, etc., memos or anything told to you that might require backup verification), is amazingly necessary and prevents screw ups on your behalf.
Other than that, I simply suggest not getting stressed. Do things within your ability, be inquisitive and ready to learn, help others but not to the complete exclusion of yourself, and keep as much of a good attitude as possible, no matter what the circumstances. That’ll endear you to your equals -and- impress your superiors.
1)If something needs to be done in a timely fashion and there isn’t anyone clearly prepared to do, forget if it’s “not within your job description” and get things going.
You can sit down and hash out who dropped the ball and whose job it SHOULD have been once the immediate problem is solved. But nothing gets shit done like getting shit done.
2)It isn’t kissing up to make your boss look good. We all know that guy getting paid twice what you are still can screw up w/ the best of them. He/she doesn’t usually know the nuances of your job. You do, 'cause you do it all day. If they are doing something stupid, don’t sit back with a chuckle to watch them get egg on their face.
You probably won’t be able to get your crappy boss fired by letting them lead everyone into a giant fuck up, because w/ great delegation power comes great ability to pass the buck. But even your semi-clueless boss knows when you covered his/her ass when you didn’t have to. Making your boss look good makes you look good, especially at promotion time.
Not to mention, if he/she isn’t actually a crappy boss they’ll move on to bigger and better things,and they’ll think of you when the hiring starts.
Please throw away lunch leftovers in the breakroom trash, not next to your desk. I don’t particularly want to play “guess that smell” when I walk in the office at 4pm.
Don’t bitch about your company to the customer/contractee/vendor/etc etc, unless you’re leaving and don’t care about your paycheck anymore. Doesn’t matter if they’re your buddy who’s been buying from you/giving you contracts/handling your forwarding/whatever since you started this gig. Someone not writing your paycheck is looking for their business and it’s just plain stupid to tell them how much your company sucks at what it does.
I think this one is super obvious, but I’ve heard way too many people deal w/ complaints/enquiries by going into a long-assed excuse involving how screwed up some other, out-of-their-control area of the company is.
Your customer mostly DOES NOT CARE if it’s your department’s fault. All departments are the same to them.
