So this morning, I got a stern reprimanding from one of my bosses, and I was not too sure what the exact problem was. Ok I lie; I knew what it was, it was that I had forgotten to relay some information to a key person involved in the project. But allow me to explain, there are two key people who work more or less in the same office and I simply forgot to cc one of them.
Clearly this was a bigger deal than I had ever dreamed by the volume intensity of the conversation. Well, I stood my ground and let my boss express herself because I know better than to try and be smug.
So, here are a few afterthoughts:
- When you are wrong, and you know it, don’t stress by trying to think of billions of reasons why there is no way you could be wrong. The definition here is don’t be a kichwa ngumu. There are some colleagues who at times can pretend to be rather difficult to deal with, and for no apparent reason. They do stuff just because they can with no specific reasons. Being opening to other people’s views is part of being a team player, so don’t think your solutions are the only solutions that can possibly be used.
- Its nothing personal so don’t think of it is that. Some people are just over sensitive to the point where you wonder how they can survive the cut throat corporate life. In the working life you will always meet vultures who are fierce either by nature or they have simply learnt how to be one. So maybe try learning a few pointers to be one, don’t always feel like you’re the victim and the whole office is against you. Hey, its nothing personal so don’t waste your time trying to make it.
- Hear your boss out and keep cool even when the ears are burning. Not sure about you, but my ears tend to get hot when I’m being blasted, especially over the phone. The only thing you can do in this case is to keep your cool and look composed even though you imagine yourself bashing down that phone with a loud bang. Instead, gently place it back in its cradle and smile to yourself.
- Don’t panic and make excuses about what may or may not have happened to cause you to be told off. There is nothing as pathetic as trying to push the blame elsewhere or make excuses for not pulling your weight. So, the bottom line is, do your job right the first time round and there won’t be room for any reprimand.
So I deserved every single word I got, and believe me I wasn’t even upset about it afterwards. Ordinarily I would be furious is I was being blasted by a boss but I obviously knew that I had no good excuse except ‘I forgot’ which is actually an unacceptable excuse when you think about it. What’s been your workplace reprimand experience?
Image credit: fadaguiga