Characters at work
People at work
Even in this artificial “team” situation at school, you may have noticed some traits that will exist in the workplace. Here’s a couple of people who will likely be your team members:
The achiever/ leader
A results orientated person.
This is fine for simple or short tasks. Enthusiasts like to take over and get the results, without the involvement of others.
But generally team “work” tasks are not short or simple. So the achiever will probably have difficulties in relationships at work, especially if the achiever does all the work for the team. The achiever may be seen as overriding the feelings of others or of “not being a team player”.
Also you can’t shoulder all the work in the workplace - unless you want an early grave. So the achiever better learn some skills about teamwork, both as a contributor, as well as some tips on negotiation, delegation and communication to bring other team members along with you.
The bystander/ spectator
At the other end, there are the lazy sods. Co-workers who are lazy usually find themselves frozen out, overlooked for more meaningful work, and generally lead very boring lives at work.
As a new starter, don’t get upset with the lazy people you will find at work.
They are actually doing you a favour. You should be happy to find these people! They are leaving opportunities for you, and making you look good! They’ll still be stuck in a rut with boring work when you are getting the meaningful work that keeps you engaged and happy.
So in a real work situation, you will find that getting collaboration from team members and co-workers is a lot harder than for a school project.
You will be dealing with co-workers who:
• Have no interest in whether you succeed or not
• Are willing to help, but it’s not a priority for them
• Prefer that you went away and left them alone
• Would be pleased to see you fail
• Want to steal any praise that you may be entitled to
If you as a new starter ignore how to achieve results, and don’t care how to get results, then you’ll soon be having difficult relationships with your co-workers.
Pay continual attention to your personal relationships at work.
Being excellent at work means respecting relationships.