Communications Leadership Council 10 Things to Never Say at Work

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Communications Leadership Council

10 Things to Never Say at Work
Posted on 16 December 13 by CEB Marketing & Communications

Things can get tough at work. But lots of times, people myself included, sometimes! get bogged down to the point of negativity and non-constructiveness. In other words, we complain about challenges instead of doing what we can to meet them. Everyone does it sometimes, but its important to avoid consistently giving the impression that youre not willing to do what it takes to get the job done. In that spirit, here are ten things to avoid saying at work: 1) Thats not my job. The Great Recession, and the reduction in headcount that came with it, has put workers in a tough spot: theyre increasingly asked to do things that were not a part of their original job description and that conflict significantly with their core duties, necessitating longer hours to compensate. Were doing more with less! The next request you get from your boss very well might not be your job, but a more proactive approach is to treat time and expertise as a constraint, and manage against them. Well, I have project X and Y due next week, and Im not sure how to use Database Z, should I push those projects back, and who should I link up with to discuss the database? (CEB Comms members, check out our latest project on project prioritization.) 2) Im too busy. Again, with headcount dropping, it can often feel like were completing and managing a dozen tasks at once, all with near-in deadlines. And, inevitably, the time will come when youre asked to do a task thats simply a bridge too far the straw that broke the camels back, so to speak. This is a difficult situation to be in, and in difficult times its easy to let emotions take over and brusquely respond that youre simply too busy to take on the task. But the better way is to be proactive, let people know what kind of deadlines youre looking at, and ask what, if anything, should be sacrificed to take on the new task. 3) I dont know. As tasks get more complex, there will almost certainly be the occasional gap between what you know and what you need to know.

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12/20/2013

Communications Leadership Council 10 Things to Never Say at Work

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The key thing to do here is to get specific and figure out a strategy for meeting those gaps. Im happy to help, but Im not sure exactly what the project plan is for this campaign, who should I talk with to learn more? 4) This is how weve always done it. Simply put: for many companies, there is no better time than now to begin re-thinking the way youve always done it. Many corporate business models are under fundamental attack from startups able to compete at scale through the web, and the gradually-improving economy means there will be lots of chances for growth and process changes that make growth possible in the near future. That said, there needs to be a good reason to overturn an established approach. Next time someone wants to throw out the playbook, ask How will these changes help us meet our goals? 5) I dont have anything to do. In our modern, complex corporate environment, there is almost zero chance that this is true. If youve run out of paper to push, start thinking about ways you can improve your personal or team processes to make your work more efficient. If youve optimized those, ask people if they need any help with anything. If no one else needs help, start thinking about new products or services your group could create that would add value to your firm. You get the idea. If you think of your job where you do a defined task for a pre-determined length of time, then go home, your chances of getting ahead are small. Take advantage of lax times to add even more value to what youre already doing. 6) Thats not fair! OK, first things first: it probably isnt. By the time most of us reach working age, we have a pretty well-developed intuition about right and wrong, fair and unfair, and if something strikes us as unfair, theres a good chance that were right. But the problem is that doesnt matter. Life in general isnt fair, and life at work is particularly unfair. That being said if youre being seriously taken advantage of, speak up; if something legally-actionable is happening to you, dont stand for it. But for more everyday unfairness for colleagues that get paid more for doing the same job as you, for being passed up for the promotion for the fifth time dont just complain, make a plan to end it. 7) I have another offer, but I want to stay here. Can you match? This doesnt mean you shouldnt go get other offers. You should! Aggressively seek positions thatll pay you what youre worth (whether its in money, work/life balance, job satisfaction, or some combination thereof). But leveraging outside offers for raises with your current employer rarely works out. It isnt fair, but bringing another offer to your boss almost certainly will be seen as a sign of disloyalty, and itll be assumed that youll ship out as soon as a better offer comes available. You might find yourself at the top of the layoff list and paradoxically out of a job not too long after. 8) Dont ask me, I just work here. http://www.executiveboard.com/communications-blog/10-things-to-never-say-at-work/ 12/20/2013

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I just work here is the quintessential expression of powerlessness. I just work here says while I am here, I dont do things, things are done to me. Its usually something someone says when theyre not a part of key decisions that affect their jobs. The key to making this better isnt to complain about it as tempting and as cathartic as it might seem. You have to find a way to make yourself part of those key conversations that will impact the way you do your work and how youre measured. 9) Its all my fault. This is a tricky one. Obviously, its good to take ownership over mistakes youve made and figure out how to improve. Trust me, people who own up to their mistakes ultimately make it farther in life than people who pretend that they do no wrong. But dont own up to too much not because you want to avoid responsibility, but because unless youve been actively negligent or destructive, chances are its not really all your fault. Our work occurs in a complex organization called the corporation, and things that happen in one part of the corporation can very easily affect other parts without there being fault involved. So admit fault when necessary, but think systemically why did the failure really happen? to ensure you and your team move on and improve. 10) I deserve a promotion. You probably do! But remember, corporations and life in general arent fair, and things go to those who a) ask for them and b) have earned them however earned might be defined. Chances are, if your organization is a big one, there are somewhat-objective standards for promotion to the level that you want to advance to. Find out what they are, and outline exactly how you compare against those standards. Beyond that, what have you personally done for your boss? What kind of unique, relatively irreplaceable contributions can you point to? How do you make your team work better? Note: This post originally appeared on our sister program, CEB Marketing Leadership Council, and it has been re-published here for a communications audience. Read the original here.

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12/20/2013

Communications Leadership Council 10 Things to Never Say at Work Commenting Guidelines

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12/20/2013