Every issue, we feed your questions into the Job Machine for expert responses. This month’s question:
How do I deliver bad news?
01.
Elevator music is bad. Elevator speeches are good. Make it memorable and sincere.
02.
What you need is a big, strong hand; To lift you to your higher ground. In other words, express yourself. Have confidence. There is nothing worse than bad news that is badly delivered.
03.
Because feeling in control is so crucial to resilience, and unasked-for-change can leave us feeling very out of control, try asking yourself this question during the day: What am I free to choose right now? Choose to be in control.
04.
No one has to be coached to think more negative thoughts. But positive thoughts require focus, effort and discipline. Be disciplined and focused.
05.
You will not know what to do in every situation. Turns out that “fake it till you make it” has validity in brain science – the thoughts you hold and actions you take really do create new pathways in your brain. Accept this and move on.
06.
Circle the wagons when you must, and be prudent, diligent and, most of all, circumspect. You are the face of your company.
07.
Take the time to notice the moments in the day when you feel like your best self. Act during these moments and you’ll make the best decisions even during the worst situations.
Fed into the Job Machine
Dr. Judith Sills, pep talker, psychologist and author of The Comfort Trap (or, What If You’re Riding a Dead Horse?)
M.J. Ryan, author of AdaptAbility: How to Survive Change You Didn’t Ask For
Harry S. Truman, 33rd president of the United States, one-time haberdasher, friend of Winston Churchill
Madonna, singer, dancer, businesswoman extraordinaire
Katharine Hansen, Ph.D., creative director and associate publisher of Quintessential Careers
Each issue, our newly minted Job Machine (patent pending) will provide the kind of detailed and useful answers to your job-related queries you won’t find anywhere else. We’ll send your questions to a wide arry of experts, feed their responses into the Job Machine, and reveal the best answers here each month. Send your head-scratchers to jobmachine@unlimitedmagazine.com, or leave them as comments now.
FED INTO THE MACHINE
]]>
How can I tell if I am doing a good job?
The Job Machine (patent pending) provides the kind of detailed and useful answers to job-related queries you won’t find anywhere else. We send your questions to a wide array of experts, feed their responses into the Job Machine, and reveal the best answers.
01.
Eighty per cent of success is showing up. Make sure you are taking care of all that is assigned to you. Don’t fish for good feedback. Spend that time doing your job better than anyone else.
02.
Toot your own horn. Not that you need to cry out “I did it” after you finish every task, but don’t be afraid to claim credit where credit is due. You need to be able to explain your own output in the supervisor’s language. That means tracking your own production, taking good notes on what you accomplish, and using those notes at your next performance review. You’re not bragging. You’re explaining the value you bring to the organization.
03.
Although wealth cannot buy you happiness, happiness does seem to be able to “buy” you money. Project the impression of knowing you’re doing a good job and it will influence how people – including yourself – think of your performance.
04.
Many receive advice. Few profit by it. Listen when a boss or colleague has a suggestion. Learn from the good or bad habits of those around you. Study how your employer interacts with others: does she like to hear about your day-to-day tasks or does she prefer a less frequently updated environment that requires more self-reliance and self-actualization? Remember you are piece of a puzzle, not the puzzle itself. Your boss has way more on her mind than just you.
05.
Reflect on whether the work you’re doing resonates with what’s important to you. If it does, you’re probably engaged and you’re likely doing a good job. Most satisfaction in your work life will come from the work you actually do.
06.
In an organization, the work you do ultimately contributes to the work others do. As the people you work with if you are helping them. Are you surrounded by talented, engaged teammates who like coming to work and doing their job? The faces you see every day provide a mirror into how you are doing at your job.
07.
Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. Always look for new ways to do your job better. Be self-correcting. Train yourself to see your mistakes without having to be told.
08.
Derive happiness in oneself from a good day’s work, illuminating the fog that surrounds us. Break your work into measurable tasks that allow you to tell immediately if you are making progress – not to mention giving you a sense of instant accomplishment. Set goals for yourself, when they are achieved you will know you are doing good work. Did you meet your sales targets this month? Try to surpass them next month.
09.
Don’t rely on others for validation – it has to come from within. Ask yourself what is possible and measure yourself against this.
10.
When you get to the endzone, act like you’ve been there before. Take time to celebrate if you score a big account or win a big client, but make sure no one around you thinks you have peaked. Be forward-thinking. Act as if every success is merely preparation for the next one. And always move toward to the next challenge.
Fed Into the Job Machine
How Do I Hold Onto the Job I Have?
The Job Machine (patent pending) provides the kind of detailed and useful answers to job-related queries you won’t find anywhere else. We send your questions to a wide array of experts, feed their responses into the Job Machine, and reveal the best answers.
01.
There will always be factors that are out of your control, like the economy. Employers try to keep employees who are key contributors. Become a key contributor. Ask yourself if you are doing all you can to help your company.
02.
Spend more time listening than you do talking. No one ever listened themselves out of a job.
03.
Embrace and initiate change. Employers will keep employees who can adapt to all the changes their organization is going through with professionalism, determination and optimism.
04.
If you are a salesperson who is having a hard time finding new accounts, now is the time to step up your service to the ones you have. Find out how the economic situation is for them and become a problem-solver for your clients. They won’t forget it when things swing up again.
05.
Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. So was your company. Don’t treat your job like a right; treat it like a privilege.
06.
Make sure you are always on time; do not extend lunches; only use sick days when you are really sick; take care of personal errands on your own time. No personal web usage. No chat. No text. No IM.
07.
Emergencies have always been necessary to progress. It was darkness that produced the lamp. It was fog that produced the compass. It was hunger that drove us to exploration. And it took depression to teach us the real value of a job. Remind those around you that opportunity exists just as much in a troubled economy as it does in a boom time. Maybe more.
08.
Avoid the water cooler gang. Office politics and gossip do no one, including yourself, any good.
09.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ’em, “Certainly I can!” Then get busy and find out how to do it. Now is not the time to put limits around what you will or won’t, or can or can’t do. Share client leads or ideas to generate revenue even if that’s not part of your job description.
10.
I don’t want any yes-men around me. I want everybody to tell me the truth, even if it costs them their jobs. Here’s where diplomacy comes in: Be the one who tells the boss the truth tactfully. This is about collaboration and communication.
11.
People forget how fast you did a job, but they remember how well you did it. Get work done on time, and without the need for a supervisor to spend a day fixing your mistakes.
12.
To focus on protecting your job is missing the point. People should be asking themselves how they can create true value in the organization. Look at your place in the big picture. Ask yourself: How do I contribute to the organization’s strategy? How do I contribute to the bottom line? How do I build shareholder value? Be specific, and make it clear for your boss that you see the big picture, too.
13.
Be enthusiastic and positive. Demonstrate faith in your organization during the tough times and the chance of that being reciprocated will increase.
14.
There are still many opportunities out there for talented people. The job market for high performers has not dried up. Be a leader in your organization regardless of your title. Help people be the best that they can be and focus on creating value.
Fed Into the Job Machine
- Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of the United States
- Stacy R. Cowan, president, Urban Recruitment
- David Gibbons, consultant, the Refinery Leadership Partners
- Samuel Goldwyn, film producer
- Victor Hugo, writer, activist, statesman
- Steve Jobs, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Apple
- Alan Kearns, founder, CareerJoy
- Hugh MacLeod, cartoonist and professional blogger
- Anita McGillis, vice-president of sales, Venture Publishing
- Howard Newton, writer
- Connie Podesta, business consultant
- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States
- Flexo Smith, editor and owner, consumerismcommentary.com
- Matthew Teitelbaum, CEO of the Art Gallery of Ontario
- Mark Twain, sage, failed inventor, father of American letters