Everyone goes through their own battles to get their work done on time. However, there are always a few constant workplace issues that can prove quite persistent, and more capable of affecting our day’s work as it progresses. Added to that, the thought of Monday creeping closer after an-always-short weekend only adds to the displeasure, and there is less reason to be happy about work.
What you need to recognize though is that slowly, these small, workplace issues can begin to leave a permanent mark on our work. As time progresses, your work will slowly start to show signs of these menial problems that happen at work- typos because you have noisy co-workers, unmet deadlines because of a dozen other deadlines decided by 2 dozen managers that you report to, and so forth. Understanding some of these common problems at work and setting them right can only improve on your productivity as well as the overall atmosphere at your workplace. So here are some of the most common workplace problems and how best you can fix them:
Being Micro-Managed
This is probably one of the most common and crippling workplace issue that any employee can get to face. Micro-managing happens when the employee to manager ratio is so small that the managers crawl over every minuscule step the employees take to fulfill their assigned tasks. Here many managers or supervisors pick apart the smallest units of their employees’ assignments such that their employees are left overburdened, over-stressed about the trivialities of their projects, and may sometimes even deliver work that is far below acceptable standards.
If you have multiple managers expecting work out of you with deadlines that are close to each other, fretting and chasing your tail isn’t the answer. You need to clear the air by informing each of them of all the assigned ongoing projects. This way, they will have better ideas about priorities and in my experience; some may even be nice enough to give you more space.
Working Beyond Your Agreed Duties
Tell me if this sounds familiar: you were hired to manage a client, but somehow you now also manage spreadsheets and the office grocery shopping. This might not necessarily be a malicious switch, but the bottom line remains that your current duties hadn’t even been brought up in your interview. This is a major workplace issue and the longer you ignore it, the deeper your frustration would grow until eventually; it would contaminate all that you do.
So talk to your boss privately. Remind him/her politely that when you were hired for the post,
It is important to note that usually with corporate jobs, it is normal for your day to day duties to slowly crawl outside of the lines of what was stipulated in your contract. A couple extra task here and there. This point applies to when there is constantly clear dexterity between the job you were hired for and the one being done.
Conflicts With A Co-Worker
We all have that one colleague with whom we just can’t get along. Every conversation with him kinda blows up in our faces and we’re caught between constantly ignoring him and smiling impassively to all his comments. Considering that we spend one-third of our waking time with our co-workers, you might want to address this workplace issue before it escalates any further. So first off, understand that you don’t have to like your co-worker. You certainly don’t have to “win” every interaction; you just need to be able to work together.
That said, is there any trait that you truly admire in him? Something you can seek his advice on (painful as it might be to do)? But if no, that’s fine. Sometimes merely realizing that someone’s behavior is about them, not you can make them easier to deal with. Seeing as you’re never going to be able to eliminate difficult people from your work life no matter where you go, figuring out how to remain unflappable in the wake of the challenges they pose can be surprisingly satisfying.
Your Boss Only Notices The Work You Miss
It’s natural to want your boss to recognize your achievements on her own, but the reality is that few managers will be as attuned to your work as you are. In fact, most bosses only count on you to keep them up-to-date so you need to become your own advocate. Your boss wants to know about what you’re doing well and so to tackle this workplace problem, you’d best start highlighting your key victories when you talk. Don’t be shy about passing along praise. It’s not vain to relay that a client was really happy with something you or your team did. That’s just keeping your boss in the loop about what’s getting done and how it’s being received.
Do this in moderation though; it’s going to seem weird if you’re relaying every tiny compliment from every single client. And while at it, remember that you don’t need recognition for every single thing you do. You’re already being paid for the job right?
Making Costly Mistakes
We all make mistakes every now and then, but when it’s work-related or too costly, it can be understandably hard to face your boss after. Now the absolute worst thing you can do here is to duck responsibility. Don’t do it. Your boss will be far more alarmed that you’re not owning your actions than if you face up to them directly. To handle the workplace issue raised, you need to tell your manager what happened, quickly and contritely. Make it clear that you understand what a big deal the mistake was. Then, explain how you’re planning to mitigate the damage and — most importantly — how you’ll ensure it doesn’t happen again. If there are larger lessons here, address those, too. (For instance, “This has made me realize that I need to read articles set for publication more calmly so I can fish out typos before they go to print”) This way, your boss can better evaluate how well you learned from experience and how much she can trust you for future assignments.
Getting A Bad Performance Review
Sometimes, it seems everything at work is peachy. You breeze through your assigned tasks thinking all is right with your world until the morning your evaluation relays that your performance does not meet expectations. Your heart is broken. What went wrong?
Too often in this situation, people become so focused on how to defend themselves that they forget to really listen to what they need to do differently. You need to grapple with this problem at work head-on. Understanding your manager’s concerns will be crucial to a good outcome, so talk to him/her and ask questions to understand exactly what you’re being asked to change. Take the feedback seriously and tell your manager what you plan to do to address her feedback, even if it’s as simple as, “I’m going to take some time to think about this and figure out how to resolve these issues.”
In sum though, no workplace will ever be perfect, but you can better handle any problems at work if you pay keen attention to signs that trouble might be brewing. For instance, if your boss suddenly starts to micromanage your work, she might have serious concerns about your performance. It’s worth asking her to evaluate you privately so that you can step back in line as quickly as you left.