The Bigger Picture outside the Big Picture

Another hectic week of work has just passed. Although I still have got to go back for my shift duty this Saturday. But nevertheless, I’m very thankful for the public holiday. Sometimes we just need a break from work!

These past two weeks have been fruitful learning experiences, as I encountered more incidences at work. For example, I experienced for myself how depressed or negative words from a discouraged colleague could affect my morale. At times, it just takes a few negative remarks from those working with me, to over-ride the pride & positive outlook which I previously held for this job.

It can be shocking how I can suddenly shift from enthusiastic to being discouraged in just a matter of a few minutes of negative talk from someone. It’s strange, even when I consciously tell myself not to be affected, somehow, at times these remarks would just get to me.

Thankfully, over the course of these two weeks, I have learnt to moderate & channel out these occasional discouraging remarks from others around. In fact, recently I have begun to find myself sighing more often at work… so much so, that the volume of my sighs have become louder over the weeks.

From this, I discovered that there can be two possible types of behavior from discouraged employees. There is the kind who would keep on voicing out their frustrations & by doing so, intentionally or unintentionally affecting others around. There is also the other kind, who would keep the unhappiness inside & at most, just sigh more. This second category is me… at least, until I noticed a different change in me.

Another example of what I have begun to learn from the workplace is that managing politics is part & parcel of working & living among humans. No wonder, I’m not utterly surprised that even low-level employees from certain companies can say that the most difficult part of work isn’t about the work itself… but about the people at the workplace. It’s sad, but true… that people themselves are the greatest cause of workplace unhappiness, apart from the standard difficulties of the nature of work itself.

Through some of these encounters, I also learnt to realize that building positive relationships is crucial at the workplace. Not that I’m promoting ‘boot-licking’, but good working relationships do need to be built for necessary collaboration for greater good, be it for the present or for the future.

I also realize that there are several ways of ‘testing the waters’ at the workplace, through various means, for example e-mail & even a simple greeting in the early morning when a colleague comes in to work.

Like fishing, something has to be thrown out, before something can be possibly be drawn in. At times, it is a ‘give & take’ concept at work. We can’t always seek to gain at the expense of others & neither can we always seek to give in, at the expense of ourselves.

The best part of the job is that I have opportunities to speak with all sorts of people from all sorts of companies from all sorts of industries. Plus, I get to go for site visits at places, which I would not be able to see, if I weren’t in this job scope.

Another thing that I learnt is that when it comes to people, being personal is the most important mode of communication. Don’t always keep to corresponding by e-mail. My advice from my supervisor is that e-mail should always follow AFTER a phone call, not the other way around. Unless, of course, I don’t have that person’s phone number, I’m out of the office & not able to call or I urgently needed to send some information over to that person. If the personal touch is lost, there is a limit to how much things can be done to make things work better between both parties.

One last thing that I can recall learning is – know when to speak frankly & when not to. In life & especially when it comes to dealing with people, there is seldom the case when absolute honesty is the way to go. Sometimes it is good to know when to shut up & when to speak up. Once we have learnt this, we can then learn to know what to say, what not to say & how to say. And after we have learnt this, we can then learn to second guess what the other person want to say or thinks that he should or shouldn’t say. It’s all about repackaging our words to suit the person & the situation.

Definitely an interesting soft skill to learn…