When we were in school, guidance counselors checked in with us to see how we were progressing. As adults, well, let’s just say we could go a long time without thinking about whether we’re still headed in the right direction. This week’s roundup looks at a simple quiz to help workers be their own guidance counselors. Plus: how to kill collaboration, not that you’d want to, and how to work with those co-workers you wish would find another job.
(Photo Credit: Samuel Zeller/Unsplash)
Laura Garnett at The Muse: Quiz – Are You Living Up to Your Full Potential?
“How do you know if you’re truly making the most of what you bring to the table?” asks Garnett. “Is the career and job you’re currently in the best place for you to keep moving forward, or would you be better off making a change?”
To assess the situation, take her quiz. It’s food for thought, even if it turns out you are, in fact, living your best life and career.
Anita Bruzzese at 45 Things: How to Kill Collaboration
“While companies often tout their collaborative culture and employees cite their ‘collaborative’ style during annual performance reviews, the difficult truth is that not only has collaboration failed to thrive in many organizations – it’s a downright disaster,” writes Bruzzese.
See if some of the mistakes she lists sound familiar to you. (If you’re like most of us, you’ll start nodding grimly right around the first point, “Creating teams, just because.”)
Eva Rykrsmith at The Fast Track: 5 Difficult People and How to Work With Them
An oldie but a goody, this post looks at the toughest colleagues you’re ever likely to have, and how to work with them anyway.
Here, for example, is that classic bad co-worker, the Blatant Slacker:
The slacker simply doesn’t like to work. They push their responsibilities on to everyone else around them. They show little initiative and deadlines are merely suggestions to them.
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What can be done? Focus on your work and your work only. As a colleague, ask yourself if you are enabling their behavior by picking up some of the slack. If you are feeling pressured to “help out,” and you know this is a person who doesn’t reciprocate when the tables are turned, voice your concerns to your boss before taking on the extra responsibility. If you are their manager, this is one situation where micromanaging can be effective. Give small tasks with tight deadlines and follow-up persistently.
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