BUILDING WORK HABITS: Overcoming obstacles at work
(CONTINUED)
Common
excuse # 2. I didn't have what I needed to do the
job.
Plan in advance. The craziest excuses I hear from people
for not working is when someone says, "It is not my fault
we can't get the job done. We are out of paper and we can't
print the report." Guess whose job it is to order paper?
Yep, the person who is saying it is not their fault! Even
if you are not the person in charge of ordering, if you
notice that your area is running low on bolts, sheet metal,
paper cups, forks, poker chips or whatever it is you need
to do your job, let the person in charge of ordering
know
before you run
out. When I have said this to people in the past, their
response is, "But no one ever told me who is in charge of
ordering for my area."
Refer back to common excuse #1. LEARN about your job and
your company. Here is another very important tip - ask the
right person. Don't ask the person on the factory line next
to you. He may not have any idea, either, or he may give
you the wrong information. Don't ask your friend who used
to work at the casino six months ago. Ask your supervisor.
If she doesn't know, ask someone else. If it is a personnel
matter, ask the Human Resources Director. If it has to do
with materials, ask the purchasing department manager or
the manager for the stock room.
The
person I needed to help me wasn't
available
I wasn't sure if we could (give a refund, approve an
invoice) and my supervisor wasn't around to ask.
Jeanine usually does that job and she wasn't in today.
This goes back to rule #1 - LEARN everything you can about
your job and your company. I will be the first to admit
that just thinking about reading a policy manual is boring
to me. I am not saying you have to find a book on tribal
ordering procedures, read it and memorize it from cover to
cover. What you should know is where to find information on
refunds, invoices, client intakes, ordering procedures.You
should know which of your co-workers has that information,
where the file is on the computer or in the filing cabinet
that has the information you need. Learn about other
people's jobs so that if a customer calls and asks about
the cost of renting a conference room, how to get a refund
or who to call for a release of confidentiality form, you
know the answer.
Building these work habits, learning everything you can,
greatly increases your value as an employee.
Click here to read more about employee
value.