Stop Worrying About What Others Do at Work
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There are a few people that I work with that are constantly worried about what other people are doing. I’m amazed at how they have time to worry about other people yet their own work performance lacks. Their concerns seem to stem from the thought that they are somehow doing more work than other people. They often don’t feel it’s fair. So they constantly question what other people are doing.
At my job, we pull calls from a queue. Sometimes one of the agents will put their phones in a mode that will allow them to do something other than take calls. This is when it begins. People start asking “What’s BillyBob doing?” or “Why do I have to take calls and BillyBob doesn’t?” What BillyBob is actually doing is working on a pressing case, or the company web site, or anything else that might be more critical than taking phone calls.
How about letting managers deal with the other workers? It’s not for you to worry about! Come in, do your job and shut your mouth. Workers that do that are the ones that get promoted.
4 Comments
Michael Forian
July 29th, 2008
at 9:08am
People are too f$#*%&$ nosey.
Michael
Jeff
July 29th, 2008
at 10:10am
You said it. People can be such pains!
Like the folks I work with think all I do is read blogs all day.
Sheeeesh, get a life and leave mine alone!
Oh, liked the quick blog on Cuil, amazing.
Marcus Hamaker
July 29th, 2008
at 10:28am
I hear you! Been in that situation myself. The only time I felt the reverse side of the (wondering why I am getting bombarded with calls) is when I would end up alone on the phones while my group (albeit small) were all doing other activities.
You are correct, but you need a strong manager to make sure that people aren’t taking advantage.
Frank Schnyder
July 31st, 2008
at 10:52am
I’ve worked in call centers for about 5 years now and this is the first one where everyone is allowed to install the software that says the status of everyone’s phone: on a call, ready to take a call, not ready or on an outbound call. It actally has no bearing on my job, so I leave it off because I noticed that I would obsess over it sometimes for the reasons in the article above. Some people just work differently than others, that’s all. I’ve learned to put it out of my mind and just focus on my own performance.
The co-worker in front of my slams his fist on the desk and says “Jesus!” every time it rings. Yeah, that makes for a real comfortable atmosphere!