Workplace adversities
ADVERSITY is omnipresent; it can strike us any time and anywhere, including our workplace. Life, be it in our personal or professional life, is a constant battle against difficulties. A successful person is one who can deal with these adversities and emerge triumphant.
The common adversities we encounter at the workplace can include a difficult boss, unfriendly colleagues, lacklustre job, an unfavourable work environment, or not receiving the much - awaited promotion.
Maintaining harmonious interpersonal relationships is essential for success at the workplace. Easier said than accomplished! Sometimes your relationship with your superiors, colleagues, subordinates or even your customers may not be all that happy. You may find your boss too demanding, a workaholic who expects others to be so too, or maybe is not very helpful when dealing with problems. You can have a boss who holds prejudiced views, does not empathise or maybe does not give you due credit for a job done well.
As for colleagues, they can be uncooperative or unfriendly. Other difficulties can be inefficient subordinates. If you are in a service-oriented job, you may have to put up with difficult and demanding customers.
Interpersonal relationships can be improved if one is effective in communicating with others. Relationship with your boss has to have the right mix of formality and informality; try to establish a good informal effective relationship with your boss such that you both can work more efficiently based on the close rapport you share. As for your peers and subordinates, be open; let them know what exactly you want in terms of work. Nevertheless, be friendly and cooperative with them.
Certain other difficulties at work can have their origin within you. You may find your work too demanding, monotonous or strenuous, affecting your personal life sometimes. The solution for a demanding job would be to increase your efficiency further. If you have subordinates, effective delegation of work can take some load off your back. If the job is too monotonous, try to make it more interesting by expanding the work scope.
Infrastructure shortcomings like poor lighting, uncomfortable seating arrangements, a noisy work place, etc. too can hamper our performance. Even though it is more of the management's responsibility to create a conducive work environment, you can always improve on these drawbacks by making your workspace better by adding a light here, a potted plant there or decorating it with pictures and posters.
Often, the management should play a vital role in creating the right atmosphere at the workplace to inspire employees to give their best. It can make a highly demanding job better with clear job delegation among employees and allowing frequent breaks to recharge their batteries. If the work is monotonous and requires high level of concentration, job rotation among employees can keep motivation levels high. As for promotions, appraisals should be fair and honest so that every employee gets what he deserves.
To solve interpersonal issues among employees, managements should constitute a heterogeneous team consisting of members with diverse skill sets in such a way that each other's talent is complementary. Informal gatherings of employees, for example, like lunchtime at the cafeteria or parties and get-togethers can go a long way in improving interpersonal relationships.
So, the next time you think life is not all that good at work, think again, for every problem there is a solution and the winner is one who tackles adversities head on and comes up with appropriate solutions.
HEMA G
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