Do you remember your first day at school? Do you remember the first day in your current job? However, confident you are, you probably felt a little nervous, maybe edgy and probably however hard you tried, not fully on your top game. Yet, you tried. You probably tried very hard. How about replicating that each and every day? The benefits to yours and your work colleagues’ productivity will be very noticeable.
Be nice to others
We all have bad days. more often than not they are bad because of the attitudes of the people we encounter, so if we were all nice to each other, we’d probably have far fewer nice days. That doesn’t mean be a push-over or allow mistakes to go un-noticed, just think about how you deal with things a little bit more.
Organise your day
That first day was probably very regimented. You probably had a timetable of inductions, sessions and meet and greets handed to you. Having that similar structure to your day won’t be possible every day, but if at the start of every shift you know what you need to get done, want to get and should get done you are helping your efficiency from the out-set.
Don’t assume knowledge
Nobody likes being told how to suck eggs, but using mouthfuls of jargon or assuming everybody is as technically-minded as you, can be fatal in the network of understanding. What if one of your audience is on their first day? Your rant may have just been completely over their head, even if it isn’t and it wasn’t, human nature is that many would have heard but not listened or certainly not fully understood, with few willing to put their hand up an ask what it was you actually meant. Keep it simple and ironically the level of understanding goes up.
Pack up and go home on time
OK, realistically you probably can’t do this every day, but make sure every once in a while you do. Whoever much you love your job, that relief of stepping out of the office and going home, on time is a feeling that needs to be enjoyed every now and then. Use that time as your time. Don’t login for the rest of the night. No quick glances at your emails or a quick call on the way home. Leave work on time and leave the work until tomorrow.
You see if you treat it like it is yours and everybody else’s first day not only do you make it better for others, you make it better for you and are likely to improve efficiency all round. That has go to be a good thing.
What other tips do you have?
