I’ve been through many workplace challenges. Some have been extreme like watching the president and owner of one company where I worked slap his wife in front of the entire office. I was also held up at gun point in my twenties. If you experience one of these extreme situations, by all means – QUIT! But short of a hostile work environment, most of us don’t have the luxury of walking out of a job, so we need to learn to look at “Workplace Challenges” as “Workplace Opportunities” instead!
I sometimes struggle with whether I should stay at a job or find something better, especially on days when I feel underappreciated. But I also know from experience that the grass is not always greener on the other side. Every interviewer should talk up how their company is a wonderful place to work (and if they don’t you probably don’t want to work there), and you don’t always know up front that the person you will be reporting to and who seemed entirely nice at the interview has a passive aggressive management style (or whatever the problem may be). And by the time you figure that out, sometimes you are just stuck whether you like it or not. But I’ve found ways over the years to make the most of a job that isn’t an ideal fit for me.
I’ve always been an independent worker. I see something that needs to be done, and I make sure it gets done. And as an experienced project manager, I see a lot that needs doing each day. I have career goals, but I don’t think I’m too good to fix the copier or take notes if that helps my team meet our goals. But the downfall of being an independent worker is that since your boss doesn’t need to babysit you, sometimes they neglect you entirely. I’ve had jobs where I literally went months without speaking to my boss. And when you don’t talk to your boss on a regular basis, they don’t see all the wonderful things you do that benefit your company.
I have saved companies (plural) that I’ve worked for hundreds of thousands of dollars simply by removing “the noise” in our daily processes. All those little things that get in the way of my team being productive. You know the stuff at your work that everyone seems to accept that they cannot change but that you all know is a waste of time? No, you can’t choose to skip to your bosses’ team meeting because they are totally out of touch with what really goes on within the team. If they want to do a round robin for 2 hours and waste everyone’s time, there probably isn’t much you can do to avoid it. But you can be open and honest with people when things constantly don’t work. You just have to be careful to choose your timing right. Don’t react to a bad situation. Take time to think it through, write down your thoughts, and if something repeatedly is slowing down you or your team – ask your boss if you can meet outside your one-on-one to address a particular issue that you think might save the company money. And then don’t just tell them what’s wrong, but offer up a suggestion or two on how you might resolve the issue. Do your co-workers need training? Does the process need to be changed? Could maybe one or two people on the team be responsible for incoming questions so that the entire team isn’t distracted all day by multiple requests?
One of the most frustrating experiences I’ve had is being passed up for a promotion for a job I know I was more than qualified for. And being a woman in tech, it’s happened more than once. And I have to be honest, when it happened to me – it was really hard to stay positive. I had to grieve the loss of the promotion similar to surviving a layoff. At first I was angry, and I wanted to quit. Then I just felt worthless like I must have done something wrong to get passed up for a promotion when I had been practically doing the job for over a year. I didn’t even want to go into the office because I couldn’t fathom facing my co-workers…I was isolating myself. But once I gave myself enough time to get to acceptance, I realized that I could still move forward in a positive way.
So if I can give you some quick positive advice it would be to make sure that you and your co-workers get the credit you deserve. If you see someone else doing good work, don’t just thank them personally – thank them in front of their boss. Wait to say thank you or to provide that positive feedback in a meeting or in the break room when their boss is also getting coffee. Or copy their boss on an email where you put your thanks in writing. And hopefully, your co-workers will feel the positive vibe and will reciprocate.
Check out my other Positive Pessimist Tips and Advice