Expect the amount of time and attention you share with each of your co-workers to vary from day to day, week to week and assignment to assignment.
This may seem self-evident, but if you become accustomed to lots of attention and dont get it, remember, it does not necessarily mean anything about you. And if you suddenly get more attention than youre used to, that doesnt necessarily mean anything about you either.
If your workplace is operating effectively, how people interact will vary according to the needs of any particular task and the skills each of you brings to the task.
- When you are new and just learning a job you need more outside help then you do once they are experienced at your job.
- Some tasks are routine and require little discussion. When you do them you may feel isolated or love your independence.
- Complex tasks may require lots of discussion in order to coordinate all of the pieces involved.
Time and attention you share will also vary according to each individuals personal needs and moods. When someone has an upsetting experience whether it happens at work or in their personal life their need for contact changes.
- Some people want to talk it through and make extra demands on you.
- Some people may retreat into their own personal space and you may wonder why you havent seen or heard from them lately.
Some workplaces reserve extra attention for resolving the problems when things go wrong. Others, unfortunately, use extra attention to blame people for those problems. And still others save extra attention only for extraordinary achievement.
Learn to notice the patterns and do your best to adapt to each situation.
Learn more about communicating with integrity in The Integrity Course, an online, multimedia home-study course to help you say what you think without getting fired or losing your friends.
[tags]Business Communication, Coaching, Emotional Intelligence, Self-Management[/tags]
