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Survival tips in the corporate culture
New employees are full of enthusiasm and idealism. While this is a good thing, it can often lead to many easily preventable embarrassing moments. Often the new hires rock the boat with their desire to improve seemingly absurd and obsolete practices. The purpose of this article is to give some tips to avoid committing faux pas while still maintaining your eagerness to learn and contribute.
I have personally been guilty of breaking all these tips below and had to learn my lesson the hard way. Though it was a learning experience, I would have been better prepared to succeed had I read these tips first.
- Never make a co-worker look bad in front of others
This is perhaps the most important rule of corporate culture. Nothing offends and hurts a co-worker more than losing face to his fellow co-workers. These days it is all too easy to shoot off an email that has a dozen people cc'ed on it. For this reason you have to be very careful not to write anything that puts anyone in a bad light. If you do write something negative, a dozen people will now read your comment and think negatively about that co-worker. So what was initially a problem with you and the co-worker has multiplied to be an entire section against the same co-worker.
If you have a problem with someone, communicate with that person directly. Never accuse/insinuate any negligence while others can see. In other words, always give them the benefit of doubt and clarify any misunderstandings through direct communication.
- Politely suggest change, but do not push it
Even if it is obvious your way is better, never insist that the team implements it. Politely bring it up and see what the reaction is. Resistance to change is often due to ignorance. Try and educate your team on the details of the change and that should lessen their anxiety.
However, established procedures often remain unchanged for a variety of not so obvious reasons. Such reasons include legal ramifications, cost to re-train staff and maintainability of a more complex workflow. For this reason, you can not look at your improvement in one dimension, i.e it saves $x or y amount of time. You have to analyze it in the bigger picture and let your team decide whether it is worth pursuing.
The larger your company the more established and routine the work is. Avoid upsetting the balance by implementing drastic change. Focus only on making incremental changes to the system. This way you will not upset anyone and your changes will be more easily digested.
- Be respectful of the opinions of the experienced
In Japan and many Asian cultures it is considered disrespectful to correct your boss in a meeting with others present. The reason is it makes them look unprepared in front of others. This goes back to the previous point of never making a co-worker look bad in front of others.
This is a double edged sword though. Co-workers love to be complimented and praised in public. So do not be shy about dishing out compliments for jobs well done. These are the times you want to cc' a large group, so others can be aware of the good work that co-worker has done. This also reflects favorably upon you as it tells your co-workers you are someone out to give credit where credit is due. It provides a good incentive for them to work well with you in hopes of receiving your praise.
- Do not submit bad reviews and evaluations for training classes
Often these evaluations will be read by the instructor's supervisor who will take them quite seriously. Be constructive and diplomatic in your feedback. Mention a few positive things first, followed by one or two areas for improvement. Often the instructor can tell who wrote the negative comments so you have to be careful how you word them.
- Never disagree with your boss
This goes back to never making your co-workers look bad in front of others. Again, just politely suggest a better way of doing things. If he does not bite, then respect his experience and follow his way. Ultimately it is he who is responsible for the outcomes of his decisions, not you.
- Do not nag people about whether they have completed their tasks
The definition of nagging is asking someone you trust whether they are doing what they are supposed to be doing. By engaging in nagging you are implying you do not trust that co-worker. Often this will offend the co-worker to such an extent that they will be less inclined to do what they are supposed to be doing. If you have to have a status report, be polite and show patience and understanding in your communication.
- Contrary to what you feel, your assisgnments are not the most critical
to the company's success
In fact as a new hire most of your tasks the first few years are little more than training exercises to develop your judgment and understanding of how the company works. Consequently there is no need to put pressure on your team to meet deadlines and making sure all the ducks are in a row. Feed off the vibe from your customers , if they are not urgently seeking your results, then there is no need to act with a sense of urgency. Doing so will only lead to frustration and make you less motivated to act with urgency when it is really needed.
- Never AssUMe
Because it makes an Ass out of U and Me !
- Behave within the norms of what is considered acceptable
For example, do not overspend on expensive meals on business trips. While this may be allowed, it sends a bad signal to your boss that you like to stretch the rules. This in turns will lead to feelings of mis-trust from your boss and co-workers.
Remember the most important attribute is maintaining a respected and trusted appearance in the corporate environment. Any little thing you do that erodes this trust will be noted by your co-workers and boss. So even if some particular behavior is allowed, avoid abusing it as it will leads to erosion of trust.
- Difficult co-workers are often double edged swords
Do not write-off a co-worker who is difficult to get along with. Unfortunately it is too easy to be offended and annoyed by a co-worker with a seemingly rigid mentality. The reality is they are double edged swords. While they may appear inflexible in certain things, if you follow their odd procedures they open up and can be very helpful.
In other words you have to rub them the right way, which is defined by them. Once you do that, they will open up to you and provide you with whatever they are capable of.
In a sense they are testing you to see if you can play by their rules. By showing that you can follow their rules, you pass the test and they become much more responsive to your needs.
- Don't steal people's thunder
If someone is an expert in a topic , then always give them a chance to voice their opinion first. Even if you know the answer , one should not interject it before giving them the chance to do so. You can take it a step further to always solicit the expert opinion by asking them for it first.
- Avoid being labeled 'The Expert'
If you can write three lines of code in a programming language you are immediately labeled an 'Expert' in that language! The same applies for any job related skill. You just need to tell people you have heard of a skill and that is enough for the rumor to spread that you are an expert in that skill. It remains a mystery as to why co-workers are so eager to trust you with a skill you neither claimed nor demonstrated to possess.
While it can be flattering to be called an expert, the downside is your co-workers do indeed think you are an expert. The more you try and downplay your skills, the more you convince your co-workers of your prowess by your perceived modesty. The problem with being labeled an expert is co-workers have unrealistic expectations for what you can actually deliver. They basically expect magic.
Therefore, avoid the ego inflating desire of being labeled an expert. Be truthful about your skillset and make it clear early on that you are not capable of magic. Your co-workers will appreciate your honesty and the project will have a much more realistic outcome.
- Don't assume the expert is an expert
This is basically the opposite of the previous tip. The best way to ask an expert for help is to first show them you have made a sincere effort to solve the problem on your own. After proving this to them, ask them politely if they have encountered the issue before.
This approach puts the expert in the best mood to help you since they know you have realistic expectations for what they can do. More often the expert is just like yourself and can only add another pair of eyes to look at your problem. A good way to phrase your question to them is ask them if they know the answer off-hand. This immedietely puts them at ease since it implies you are aware they do not posses all the answers.
You want to avoid helplessly dumping your problem on the expert. Do not assume they are all-knowing and wrote each of the billion lines of the code ( if it is a software they are supporting ).
- Do not be offended by PhD's
While I have great respect for work PhD's do, I have observed nearly all of them suffer from the 'ostrich mentality'. Their heads are stuck in the sand so are unable to sense the train coming. Such behavior is fine in the research lab, but in the real world it creates unnecessary red tape to get things done. PhD's are unable to see the big picture. Instead they focus on the tiny flaws of a system to convince people that the entire system is flawed.
PhD's also suffer from a lack of social tact. Some are consumed by a superiority complex and feel it is their duty to point out all the faults and imperfections of their fellow human beings. While their comments may be 'correct', they are more often rude and inappropriate. It is helpful to keep this in mind so you are not offended by their blunt criticism. They do not mean it personally, in fact they feel they are just doing their part to make the world a better place. Unfortunately, little do they understand how being perceived as offensive is a sure way for someone NOT to listen to you.
- Don't kick the sleeping dog
Supposedly if you kick a sleeping dog it will wake up startled and bite you! A similar behavior is shared with so called "sleeping dog" employees. But instead of 'biting' you they will just inundate you with information just to prove their existence.
These are folks who have been in the company 20+ years yet nobody can figure out what exactly they do. An example is the 'stapler' guy in the movie Office Space.
It is only when someone 'kicks' them that you see them spring to action . As soon as you engage their participation, they come to life with pages of emails and discussion about the subject at hand. It is like opening pandora's box. So do not make the mistake of assuming these quiet and reserved veteran employees have little to say or contribute!
- Do what is right for the real customer
It is unfortunate that large companies place higher importance on their internal customers than actual customers. It is the actual customers who buy your product that pay your salary. Your internal customers and you both work for the same company, so neither supports each others survival.
Always ask yourself if adding more cost and bureaucracy to a process benefits your real customers? If not, then do not do it! But you have to resist it subtly so as not to offend your internal customers.
- Respect the difference between the real world and corporate culture
The rules that apply to corporate culture do not carry over to the real world. Acting all "professional" with small business owners will only annoy them as you waste their time with inefficient superficialities. Furthurmore, you will frustrate them with your unrealistic expectations.
All businesses do not operate with multi-million dollar budgets to fix trivial problems. In the real world money talks. The smaller the budget, the less time and effort people are going to put into solutions. It is particularly most annoying when you see people apply their corporate behavior to running non-profit organizations.
- Never criticize volunteers
You should avoid criticizing anyone, but especially volunteers. They are the ones to be most hurt by any criticism, no matter how well intentioned it may be. Volunteers are not being paid, so one can not have any expectations from them. If you criticize them then you better be prepared to pay them for their efforts.
Volunteers spend thousands of hours of their own time to build something useful. You can not compare their work to professionally run commercial ventures.
- Watch out for office politics
The smaller the pie the bigger the politics. Nothing explains the complexity of politics better than that trite saying. Another way of defining politics is expressing concern over trivial things that would be inconsequential in times of surplus. For example, office politics is common when a company is in financial dire straits and is looking to cut back its workforce. As soon as employees begin to doubt the value and security of their job they look to politics to stand above their peers. In other words, employees start concerning themselves with what times they come/leave work and other seemingly innocuous behavior.
- Think before you act
As the saying goes, there is no reality, just perception. Your goal should be to create the best perceived image of yourself as possible. If you are unsure about how something may come across, then step back and put yourself in other people's shoes. Look at what is considered normal and ask if you are deviating too far from it.
- Avoid writing, "Please advise"
"Please advise" is used as a passive aggresive way to drop the ball in the other person's court. Much better to come out and ask for help. Or state what your real question is. When people use this, they expect you to figure out their problem for them.