I was talking to Greg yesterday about a
discussion he was having with Chris about
job skills every employee should have.
Okay, so I don’t remember exactly which ones they came up with, but I
know what my thoughts are, so here’s a list of skills I think everyone
should have when it comes to the workplace:
Disagree and Commit (or, “You don’t have to like it, you just have
to do it”): You will very rarely be on a project involving more than one
person and come to consensus on how the project will go. There will be
times when the project leaders ask for your opinion, you provide it, and
you’re overruled. Once the decision is made on a direction to go, once
all parties have been heard and it’s been decided, you don’t have to
like the decision, you just have to follow it. Fighting it every step of
the way and continuing to bring decisions back to the table when they’ve
already been made is entirely counterproductive. (My personal corollary
to this one is that I retain the right to complain about it all I
want, but I’ll still go with the flow. Maybe that’s still a tiny bit
counterproductive, but it’s the only way I’ll be okay with doing
something I disagree with.)
Commitment Follow-through: If you say you’re going to do something,
do it. Don’t tell people in the meeting that you’re on top of something
when you’re not. If you aren’t going to be able to meet the commitment
you made, at least notify people early on so a contingency plan can be
arrived at. If people are counting on you to get stuff done and you’ve
committed to it, do your best to get it done.
Ownership and Personal Pride: When you’re working on a project,
give it your all. Take ownership of the thing (yeah, “ownership” is one
of those buzzwords) and have a little pride about it. The way your end
of the project turns out reflects on how people see your quality of
work. Have a little pride and do a good job. “Good enough” is not always
good enough.
Writing 101: Everyone should know how to write with, at a minimum,
reasonable grammar and correct punctuation. I’ll give a little on the
spelling, but you should know at least how to spell simple words. Learn
the difference between “its” and “it’s.” Know when to use “their,”
“there,” and “they’re.” Figure out how to use apostrophes and commas.
Knowing how to write (say, at an eighth grade level?) will help you to
better convey your ideas and to be better understood.
Phone Etiquette: Not the “greetings and salutations” portion of
phone etiquette, but other stuff, like “when it’s okay to use the
speakerphone” or “how to leave a voicemail message.” For example, just
because you have a speakerphone doesn’t mean you should call everyone
on it. It’s still okay to use the handset (or headset). (Oh, and it is
never okay to get your voicemail over the speakerphone, particularly
if you’re in a cubicle environment.)
Under-promise and Over-deliver: You’ll come to find that when
you’re working on a project, if you say it’ll take 5 days and it takes
10, that’s not so good. That’s what makes a project go over schedule and
over budget. Plan for contingencies and worst-case scenarios. Provide
time and budget estimates for both, but expect to take the longer amount
of time. If you come in ahead of schedule and under budget, that’s a
pleasant surprise; if you come in late and over budget, you’ll be
disappointing folks at the least. I’m not recommending you sandbag and
double every time estimate, but the concept of under-promise and
over-deliver is a good one to maintain.
