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Work
Rules
By: Dr. Donald E. Wetmore
When I was teaching
Business Law full-time at Mercy College, I would have seniors in my
classes who were getting serious about their futures and starting the
interview process. I would let them know that I had identified three
important work rules to help them shoot up the ladder of success in
record time and with great enthusiasm, they would ask that I share these
little pearls.
Here are the three work
rules that not only college seniors, but also any of us in the workplace
can benefit from.
1.
Show
up. Well, certainly “show up”. If you don’t show up
they don’t pay you! But beyond that, always display an attitude that
gives confidence to management that you probably are going to be around
for the long term. Some people complain and grouse as a natural part of
their personality and may mean nothing by it. But is that sends out a
message that maybe you won’t be here in a few months, it will
adversely affect your future.
2.
Show
up on time. There is a “lateness
acceptability factor” in our culture that says if you are late some of
the time because of the weather, because of the traffic and then
construction, or because of personal reasons, then it is “OK”. We
are all late some of the time. But, if you show up late “some of the
time”, it seems to me, you make yourself look “average”, just like
everyone else. What if you are someone who is on time, all the time?
(There are a few of them out there! They’re like Swiss watches, always
on time, no matter what is going on.)
3.
Show up prepared. The
people you are
competing with for your raise, for your
promotion,
typically grouse and complain about their
job, the
company, the people, etc., show up late
some of the
time, and show up unprepared. Start your
day the
night before by doing Daily Planning
during which
you make up a list of all the things you
“have to” do
but, more importantly, all the things you
“want to” do.
Prioritize those items in order of their
importance. (A
simple numeric system will work; put a
“1” next to the
most important item, a “2” next to
the second most
important item, etc.). Do it the night
before so that
when you go to bed, you go with a sense
of certainty
and control you would not ordinarily
experience and
a sense of anticipation about your day
coming up.
Then, the next morning, while others
around you are
trying to
figure out what they are going to do for the
day, not you, you planned it out the
night before so
that you can hit the deck on both feet
running and
moving forward.
If these ideas were helpful, you will want to receive your copy of,
“Top Five Time Management Mistakes” that keep us from being fully
productive on and off the job. It’s free. To get your copy, email your
request for “mistakes” to: ctsem@msn.com
NOTE: Follow this link to submit
an article to Management In-Sight! newsletter@trainersdirect.com.
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