What mistakes should not be made when building a career

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Most of us devote a lot of time to our work and often do not understand why they are not earning more, not getting promoted, and why they are not appreciated by management. Building a career is also an ongoing job, you must be aware of your mistakes and work on them. This article is about what should not be allowed in your professional career if you want to move up the career ladder faster.

Anyone who wants to rule must learn obedience.

Confucius

How not to do it: obvious mistakes

Late arrivals

Yes, it’s common to be late for work, especially for minor reasons or because of your own disorganization. This is more related to work under an employment contract, where the time of arrival and departure of personnel is clearly scheduled. Nowadays, there are many opportunities to independently build your work schedule without prejudice to the overall result. But try to be on time for meetings and "operatives".

Well, I was late, but then the most interesting thing begins - attempts to justify myself in front of the management and myself: "the bus was delayed", "did not hear the alarm clock", "they asked for help in the morning", "I could not get up on time because of fatigue", "got stuck in a traffic jam" … There are few people who admit the very fact of being late and their guilt and say: "This will not happen again."

Responsible people are valued at work, and the first thing it all starts with is showing up at work on time, regardless of the circumstances. And even if these circumstances have occurred, then try to overcome them as quickly as possible and be sure to call the management. And try to never be late in the future, especially when they count on you.

Heightened self-esteem

Often, employees overestimate their professional skills and their contribution to the common cause, expressing their wishes to management about a salary increase or a new position prematurely.

This serious mistake is usually made by young employees or people with high self-esteem, not understanding the principles of building a career and relationships with management. Usually, such people do not stay at one job for a long time and do not have personal growth, since their interests are limited to the monetary equivalent of working hours worked.

Professionals know exactly what they are worth, when it’s worth mentioning it (and whether it’s worth it at all) and understand when it’s better to leave the company if something doesn’t suit them. Also, the management sees everything - who costs how much and why - remember this, do not consider other people narrow-minded.

Empty talk

Empty talk is one of the main problems in domestic companies, especially in the state and corporate sectors (I must admit this). Endless discussion of tasks, job difficulties, salary, weather, past vacation and media news.

At work, it also happens: among the multitude of "reasoners" there are several people (or even one) who really do something, complete the assigned tasks on time, without wasting time. In our reality, the "seven stand, one does" model is often encountered.

The only exception to long chatter is "operative", as it discusses the essence of the tasks, but here too there should be a coordinator who interrupts conversations not on business.

To unwind and relax, you can arrange coffee breaks and discuss something really important and interesting, of course, without getting carried away.

Gossip

One of the worst employee habits at work is to discuss each employee. How he lives, how he works, how much he gets and how little he does.

What is noteworthy is that there is a certain person in the team or a group of people who love to do this very much, trying to assert themselves in this way. If you are a reasonable person, then try to persistently stop such conversations, or at least not participate in them, declaring your position of non-acceptance of gossip. Then in the future you will never have to participate in such conversations and then blush. Do your job, do it honestly, and if others have time to gossip, then you shouldn't.

There is also such a variant of gossip - to set colleagues against their direct leader. Constantly complain about him and his decisions and discuss his wealth. Believe me, sooner or later it will become known who most "loves" the unhealthy environment in the team, and this person will receive nothing but a bad reputation and unpleasant conversations.

Shifting responsibility

The most childish mistake at work.

- Why should I do this?

- Vasya Pupkin will cope with this task better.

- Let’s do this tomorrow or the day after tomorrow (in the hope that someone else will be transferred).

- This job is not mine, not for the salary.

- Why don't they do it in another department, but should we do it?

These phrases sound so stupid that one must see from the outside the impression made on the manager and colleagues. And people think that it is in the order of things - to take less responsibility when giving an assignment, and in addition to express their complaints about this.

But everything should be simple: there is a task, there are conditions, there is data. Make an effort, solve it, go for advice from colleagues or a leader. There is no need to look for a reason not to budge the task, especially when it is not to your liking or is new - you need to look for ways to solve it. When the work goes beyond your job responsibilities, you will understand this, and the manager will warn you about it.

How not to do it: hidden mistakes

“I don’t know, I don’t know how, I don’t want to”

The manager or colleague asks you to do some work that slightly exceeds your responsibilities, or to help in some common cause, and you say that you do not know how to do this, you do not know how, or you don’t want to, since this is of little interest to you. Yes, this task has not yet been on your track record, or it exceeds your professional level, but you should be happy about such tasks.

Why? It's simple: if you still do not know how to do something, then this is a great way to master new knowledge, skills, prove yourself, and also show yourself as a person you can rely on.

The leader often checks his subordinates in this way: on whom is it worth spending time and attention, taking into account future growth, and with whom it is just to work. Never say “I don’t know, I don’t know how, I don’t want to”, calmly take on something new and say: “I will try to decide, give me time to complete”. And if you are confident in your abilities, then boldly proclaim: "I will deal with this issue!"

Be someone you can count on and build a positive reputation for yourself. Very often, employees who are accustomed to the comfort zone at the workplace do not want to leave it (as a rule, this happens with age) and disappear in their own "swamp". The level of professional development is never the maximum - it is an endless process.

Engaging in personal affairs during working hours

A very popular hidden error in our enterprises, especially in large companies, where the "screw" can get lost in the system.

It doesn't matter what the scale of personal affairs: correspondence on social networks, paying bills, reading books, resolving issues with your personal clients. If you think that the manager or other employees do not notice or understand this, you should not think so.

It is, of course, often the manager's fault that he does not stop such actions, but the employee must be responsible before the case when no one is looking at him - this is corporate ethics.

Simple advice: never do personal matters during working hours, so you will not reach any professional heights, much less promotion. Remember more often why you are at work and what you should be doing on it.

Extensiveness

Extensiveness means developing vigorous activity, being everywhere, participating, pushing your ideas, performing many secondary tasks. But the efficiency of such work is at most 30%. Everything goes nowhere.

There are not many such workers, but they are (often they are also energy vampires). Usually, such people want to show their worth through the hustle and bustle of the work. They often have superficial knowledge at a professional level.

It is necessary to work not extensively, but intensively, not forgetting about productive rest. Come - work, tired - rest, went home - forget about work.

Non-execution

One of the worst hidden mistakes. You take on an assignment and do not fulfill it on time, or you reduce the amount of work on your own, knowing that you will not get anything for it. And it would be fine if it was done infrequently, but people take advantage of it and begin to abuse it. This, of course, does not apply to small companies - such a trick will not work there.

Know how to answer first of all to yourself, and if you take on something, then bring the matter to the end and within the specified time frame. If you cannot meet the allotted time, then it is better to tell the manager about this in advance and ask for a delay. Believe me, this diligence will be credited to you both at work and in life.

Performing a task "carelessly"

It is a very difficult to catch error. You are given an assignment, and you carry it out, proceeding only from your own interests: to do it as soon as possible and wait for the next task, or to rest, not seeing the whole prospect of the work done.

The task, in your opinion, is completed, but in fact - not completely, you can still supplement, add, optimize. You see the task as just a point in the plan, not as an ongoing process from start to finish, with people and resources involved.

This can be well understood by the example of analysts. They know how to distance themselves from the task and view it from the outside, as observers, thus, seeing its real components, and not just the subjective side.

Often the performance of work "at speed" is manifested in those workers who want to complete as many tasks as possible and prove themselves in front of management. And the output is often the wrong product, with the wrong quality, with the wrong parameters. And you have to bring everything to the end for several days or weeks, at the same time with reluctance, since the comments are voiced to you by others: the manager, employees, partners.

Immerse yourself in the process of completing the task, consider all the facets: what are the requirements, what are the deadlines for whom the work is for, what can be improved and what comments you yourself would add to make your work better.

Finally

When doing any work, you need to strive for perfection, although it cannot be achieved. So that you, leaning back in your chair and clasping your hands behind your head, are completely satisfied with your work.

Remember that a quality approach to any business at work brings inner satisfaction and helps in career growth. Work on your mistakes, become better, and it will definitely bear fruit - both in monetary terms and in terms of personal growth.