Lately, I've been trying not to pull my hair out because of work. I realized that everything got so busy when my co-worker quit. This meant that during our busiest season, I started doing the work of two people. While losing my sanity isn't a big deal, being a grown up about work situations makes you look less of a whiney bitch in the grand scheme of things.
I ended up making a list of things that you should always do when you're going to quit/whine/express negative feelings towards your job. Mostly it's a list for my coworkers, but I know they'll never read it.
1) give a two weeks notice when you quit a job
Listen, it just makes you a little bit responsible. You come across as a considerate person to your current employer and set yourself up to get an awesome reference when your perspective employer calls.
This also helps prepare the hiring team look for someone new to replace you. Giving your two weeks is especially important if you share a position with someone. Like say you're the "co-class coordinator" and it's been pretty busy in the office and you see your co-worker struggling to keep her head above all the work. Don't drop the ball the Friday before you start at your new job.
No hard feelings though.
2) don't lie if you fail
I know this can be hard. Especially If you have a lot of pride. But swallow it and admit that you're not as awesome as you pretend to be. No one is going to hate you if you say that you weren't able to get someone to buy classes. No one is going to hate you if you couldn't figure out how to build a brand new website. No one is going to hate you if you couldn't fix the printer.You'll just get a different project. An easy project. But don't lie.
3) commit to your responsibilities
If you have an appointment every Friday at 12. Keep it. Unless there are more important matters pending, like you're getting emergency lifesaving surgery or you have to attend a funeral.
Or if you're given extra responsibilities, an you're supposed to start on Friday, don't avoid your boss after Friday because you forgot. That's just dumb.
Also, don't depend on someone else to remind you of your committments if they're not your personal assitant.
4) don't complain to the new people you haven't gotten a raise
This is hard. Believe me. I worked somewhere for 4 years, and I got a 25 cent raise a month before I quit (This is not the reason I quit). I feel your pain, but don't complain about it openly. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, don't tell the NEW employees that. They're going to get the wrong impression of the work place. On top of that, you're not entitled to a raise because you want one. I want to earn $1,000,000 per hour, but doesn't mean I will.
Did it ever occur that maybe you haven't gotten a raise because you're not doing an awesome job? Just saying.
5) if someone is in charge of the schedule, don't change it without notice
Ah, my favorite point. I am in charge of the master schedule. I know where everyone is at all times. Some people have access to the master calendar and change things around. Normally, it's not a big deal because I can look up the email trail and figure out why an appointment thing was changed. It becomes problematic when someone changes something and there is no email, no voicemail or no sticky note letting me know why Event A is no longer at 7:30 on Tuesdays but at 6:00. And Event B was supposed to start at 5:00 by person leading Event A.
That scenario is not too big a deal. But I've had one situation where someone rearranged their entire schedule for a MONTH without letting anyone know. WTF?
What advice would you give your coworkers if you could?
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