We have different vibes when it come to dealing with our workmates inside or outside work. Many times we became a family and many times we became rivals or greatest competitors with one another. Your underlings are your workmates too, their performances will also affect your reviews by your head. It will always look like a tribe.
Your boss as the great captain and you as the sorcerer who will lead the turf or your team to great victory on a war going forth.I work with many people in the industry since I started in the ventures of a construction company. We often dealt with big industries and even compete with other big contractors during bidding's. At first I always bring my fears in losing every time we bid for projects but as years goes and my experiences widened I now bring confidence together with my team.
We also learn about life through our workmates. For example, making quotations for a big projects. So as a team leader you need to lead your group and segregate each with assignments. On who will do the estimation, the costing, the programming, and after we brainstorm about our presentation and make some extra plan if ever the first one fails. Getting new clients in our main goal that's why we sometimes make the office our home especially during deadlines hahahah.. Some bring their extra clothes and not go home for couple of days to get the work done with no flaws. See, their hard work really shows and you got to realize that they really love their work much that they get to sacrifice some Sundays just to get the job done. So you as the presenter should make the team proud and get the client by hook or by crook.
If you read about "The Alchemist" you can see your team as the tribe in the dessert that spent days and nights walking in the lifeless dessert afraid of war and coming to an Oasis and felt a sigh of relief after a long journey. The team also experienced being in the dessert like making all the preparations for the presentations and while thinking about the fear of failing and not getting big projects. And then comes the day of the presentation and the bidding and the oasis became the success of winning the bid and getting the project. The restless days paid off.
And here comes the progress on working on the project. We always get building projects like shopping malls or condominiums. So the next thing you need to deal is the daily updates on the worksite. Your people is your workmates too so in order for the project to be successful you need also to treat your underlings as your companions.
Well for me they are like a family to me also. I'm younger than them so I respected them like I respect those older than me. At sites, during their breaks, they have talks. You can see how pure they are by their laughs. Even though the work is very hard they never complain and always put a smile on their face when they saw me. They always told me that i'm a strict person at work but I am nice outside. I always told them how sorry I am if I ever scold them for their mistakes at work but they understand and told me that it's all part of work and me being strict is what a construction needed in order for bigger improvement.
After work we do hangout with the staff and there were also days that I get to treat the employees in the site. The staff are more composed than the site but I didn't care though. I always have my way in dealing with my people not to get them intimidated by my presence when we go out and have some meals.
The hardest part in a company is when someone want to climb the ladder and ended up hurting those close to them by doing so. When someone want to be promoted, they'd do anything in their power to get the position they desired not realizing that they already lost the one's more important than the position they are aiming and end up being unhappy. You get the position you want but you lost the people who trust and believed in you. You say work is work and your workmates will not the one who will feed your family but is that what really is? Does having a position really worth it? I also often asked that myself.
Before,being a newbie, I apply as an encoder and ended being a timekeeper of a project, after the project is completed I became an office staff who works as a utility and then became an encoder and then became an admin staff. Before I handle worksheets only,and then handle cleaning tools at office then encoding simple data to more expenses data.
Now I became an Admin Assistant who got loads of work and I handle people and teams on projects. Every successful person work from scratch to plain. Walk a long rough and rocky road until they came to a plain concrete road. In a company your dedication and performance are the most important key. Imagine, I studied college but I ended up being a timekeeper and a utility first until I became an Admin Asst. For some they could easily give up and find other work suited for their academic background but to me work is important than my background. You get to learn and experienced all the kind of work so you will not be ignorant in dealing simple task given to you.
I always think of my workmates as family. We may have different parents but i feel that we are bound to be together in one company as a team.
There are times when we bicker like kids, on whose gonna order food for take out, or whose gonna print the documents for quotation, or whose gonna send out the materials for the projects. These simple things make us bond more. We even argue on whose going to be the MVP during NBA leagues hahahaha.
When I am with the team or with the construction crew I feel like I'm at my own home. Although messier than my house but the people seems like members of the family. Some I treat as elderly or as parents while some became my brothers or sisters. Having too much work alone will give you stress but having a hand that can help you lift the burden is lighter.
Oh the funny thing about me with the employees is, when I am doing my daily rotations in project area they are mostly afraid of my presence as they said because when I am at work I rarely smile and I am plastering a serious face while working and they are intimidated that's why when I asked updates about works they should give me the exact report that I want because I sometimes scold them with their lapses(Yeah! i'm very serious and strict at work and it's my strategy to make my employees follow and learn from me).
But outside work premises I always check on them and talk to them in a friendly manner. I always correct myself to them especially to the new comers because sometimes I separate work and personal when it comes to my underlings. If you are more loose to your subordinates they might think of you as nothing else like trash unlike when you keep boundaries so that they may know their place when talking to you at or outside work. And my underlings respect me for that kind of way I'm treating them.
So as an advice, we better treat our workmates as members of our own family. Yes, we may never know their motives but you just have to be vigilant sometimes and know more about the person close to you or your work. If you are chose to be their subject of success it is up to you on how to handle it but handle it with the wisdom of not hurting others. Respect your workmates as much as you respect your superiors and your work. As what the Bible said " Do unto others what you want others do unto you." So cherish them as much as you cherish yourself and your work.
Some days maybe stressful for you but just think about the bond and friendship you have made with your workmates. Surely it will make your heart lighter and happier than you have ever been.
Leaving you with some of my fave quotes when it comes to dealing with people at work:
"Co-workers are like Christmas light. They all hang together but half of them don't work and the other half aren't so bright"
" Good colleagues are those who understand that team goals are more important than egos."
And the best quote ever that I always told to myself most of the time:
If you think your boss is stupid, remember: you wouldn't have a job if he was any smarter. - John Gotti
