THINGS TO SAY, NOT SAY, DO, NOT DO! The THINGS ONE Should Know!

It’s 2019.  Google is your friend and contains a world of information. However recently I’ve encountered and met some people who although appear to be polished, professional and college educated and yet haven’t a clue on how to behave in a corporate environment.

Reality is stranger than fiction.  There are some people you meet that you really cannot believe the things that they say or do.  I had someone tell me that I’m always becoming a mentor at the jobs that I consult. Well apparently this position is not different. It would seem that this company is stuck on bringing in amateurs that require not only educational training but social and communication training as well.  Nevertheless, there are somethings you say and don’t say in the workplace.

Now you guys know the regular things:

1. Not discussing salaries and when you do, not letting management know that salaries have been discussed!
2. Not disclosing information about our colleagues
3. Never tell your manager that something is “not my job”
4. “It’s not fair” – We aren’t in Elementary School

Let’s go deeper:

5. CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES – NOT EVERY ISSUE is worth debating or discussing! When you’re in the workplace, think:  How will this affect my money?  Is it important enough to fight about it? MOST IMPORTANTLY, Is it my fight?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the workplace, there are standard issues, rules, concepts and ideas. Sometimes the entire team is affected, but to speak out for the team is dangerous and not necessary.  People will vent in groups with others about those concepts, but their venting should never become an invitation for your actions!  That’s not the same thing nor is it what they are expecting.  Most co-workers venting against management is meant to stay among the co-workers, expressing those feelings to management on their behalf is NEVER a good idea!  You cannot speak up for other employees without causing confusion!  Majority of states are “At Will”, which gives the employer the ability to manage his or her business and release employees without just cause.

• Secondly, the employer could easily label you as the ‘trouble maker’ and release you immediately.
• Thirdly, never assume that what employees say to other employees is how they really feel and if they are comfortable expressing those feelings to management.
• Fourthly, It is presumptuous to assume that your thoughts will change management. Employees see things in part, like a piece of a pie and not as the baker of the entire pie. While employee ideas can be good, they can also be one-sided. You don’t have a clue what management has experienced in the past or the employees that have gone through that office and the things management fights daily, weekly, monthly or annually. There isn’t anything wrong with wanting to make things better in the workplace, just remember if your ideas are all about you then how are you different from the people you critic?
• Fifth, speaking up for another co-worker does nothing for that co-workers reputation! Even if they receive the benefits of what was spoken, he or she lacked the confidence to speak it. Will that person always depend on someone else to speak for him or her? Then there is the question of how many people knew BEFORE management knew?  Is management responding because of other people?  If management responds, how many more demands will be made?  Again, employees tend to see things very one-sided and simple.  Owning a business is more complex than most of them can even imagine but yet somehow they seem to think that they know what to do and what not to do! Without being exposed to the ‘Big Picture’ of ownership, their thoughts as well as judgment, is small and narrow.  An employee who cannot speak up for his or herself is one that can seriously cause conflict discussing things with others that should be handled on a management level.  Basically, sowing discord among the co-workers rather than addressing issues on a level where they can be handled, managed, changed or explained!

6. THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK! NOT EVERY THOUGHT IS APPROPRIATE FOR THE WORKPLACE:

• RELIGION
• RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
• POLITICS
• POLITIC ISSUES
• WHO YOU VOTED FOR

Need I go on?  Call it what you like, but the days of just saying things and not expecting others to call you on it is gone and rightly so!  While I can agree that people go too far on issues, I can respect the need and desire for ALL PEOPLE to be respected in the workplace!

7.  Conversations among Co-workers REMAIN THERE
8.  Information gained or learned from others IS NOT TO BE REPEATED to MANAGEMENT!
9.  NEVER ASSUME that things you want or think to do, haven’t been tried before!
10. LISTEN MORE THAN YOU SPEAK, especially coming into a new environment, You’ll learn more that way instead of trying to contribute too early!

I didn’t think things had to be explained until I met this co-worker who couldn’t stop talking and then never understood why it was wrong!  She was provided information to assist her in navigating through the company. (EVERY Company has its own dynamic, atmosphere).  She in turn, would repeat things she heard, information given to management as if she knew and had experienced the situations first hand. Management was bewildered at first, and then soon begin to watch her conversations, the people to whom she spoke etc… In just two months, her inability to keep quiet changed the atmosphere of the workplace.  Until her arrival, management had no idea the thoughts of the employees or their displeasure and even after her arrival, it would appear she was the trouble maker and too talkative. Her actions landed one employee under scrutiny and his role changed slightly, and to her surprise, it didn’t accomplish the chain of events she had hoped.

Simply put, she tried to do too much, too soon, without any knowledge or even a request for help! Corporate America is tricky and complicated. There are rules and there are unwritten rules!

NAVIGATE!

GET HELP!

ASK QUESTIONS!

LEARN THROUGH OBSERVATION!

BE QUIET!

FIGHT YOUR OWN BATTLES!