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Category : Teamwork

You’re Not Perfect

Posted by at 4:34 pm

You’re not perfect, so…

  • Make the best plans you can given the information you have now.
  • Don’t beat yourself up when things start to fall apart.
  • Apologize if you are wrong and that will improve the atmosphere.
  • Listen to others, but ultimately follow your gut.
  • Take time off once in a while.
  • Know that you can’t always control the situation.
  • Remember that people don’t think like you do.
  • Take risks, understanding that increases your chances of failure.
  • Spend five minutes regretting a mistake and a lifetime allowing it to make you stronger.

This post was written for teamwork in the office, but I’m sure you can apply it elsewhere.

-Deborah Fike

Categories: Teamwork

Why You Shouldn’t Wait to Answer Email

Posted by at 10:48 pm

Modern day work environments are fraught with distractions.  Not only do you have co-workers who might walk by your desk to interrupt what you’re doing, but we communicate on so many more levels at work: e-mail, instant messaging, conference phone, cell phone, video conferencing, etc.  It is good for your productivity (and your sanity) to unplug for a while, otherwise, you’d never get anything done.

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Categories: Blog, Teamwork

Adding a New Team Member

Posted by at 9:14 pm

Thinking of increasing your team by one?  Here are some questions your new team member should be able to answer in order to get up and running quickly:

  • Who’s in charge?
  • Who’s my mentor?
  • Who will I work with?
    • What do they do?
    • When are they available?
    • How will we communicate on a daily basis?
  • What are my high-level job activities?
    • What should I focus on first?
    • What deadlines do I have?
    • What known roadblocks already exist in my workload?
  • Where is company knowledge stored?
  • How much leverage do I have to do my job?
Most of these questions are company specific, except maybe the last one.  Hopefully, you give all your team members wide leverage to try new things and get their job done.  Otherwise, maybe you should be asking yourself one important question: Why did I hire this guy?
-Deborah Fike
Categories: Teamwork

Help Someone Help Themselves

Posted by at 9:58 am

There comes a time in your work life that you will meet someone who you know can’t do his job properly.  He might be in a brand new position.  It might be their first job.  Whatever the story, you may feel the urge to find ways to either circumvent him or do his job for him.

Resist the urge.

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Categories: Teamwork

A Reminder about Email

Posted by at 8:05 pm

Today, I had one of those email days with a co-worker.  You know what I’m talking about: I had a problem and sent an email.  He replied with an email.  I replied with an email.  Email, email, email.  The problem wasn’t getting solved, and worse, we were escalating and misunderstanding each other over and over.

And the sad part is, we were working in rooms next to each other, separated by a hallway.

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Categories: Teamwork