The best work advice you ever got

[SunsetBeauregarde]

I’ve just come through a tricky couple of days at work, but got through it due to a mumsnet thread and some golden nuggets of advice I got from a brilliant manager in the past. I thought I’d pay forward the kindness I got on my thread and start a new one for the best advice you ever got at work:

Never begin a difficult conversation on the same day you realised the need for one.

Never enter a negotiation without a clear idea of the outcome you want.

Never ‘meet them half way’ - reduce your offer in gradually reducing increments, never more than 10% at a time.

Never make yourself a threat. Work with your opponent never against them. ‘Us’ is much easier to sell than ‘me vs you’

Make your opponent feel ahead of a problem, not behind it. They are more likely to offer a resolution if they feel like they’re creating a ‘near miss’. ‘Let’s work out how to stop this becoming a problem’ is much more motivating to come to the table than ‘this is a problem, what are you going to do about it?’

Never quit on a bad day.

Pick up the phone - it's quicker and less open to misinterpreted tone.

"He who asks is a fool for 5 minutes, he he who never asks is a fool forever."

Good enough is good enough

No such thing as a stupid question.

As long as you ask it at the beginning of a project, not the day before a deadline 🤣

It doesn't always have to be perfect. Sometimes good enough will do just fine.

I'm going against the grain and saying never give anyone the shit sandwich!

Just be open and honest, with kindness.

I had a wry laugh at the “nobody dies” comments. I was a hospital doctor…!
Good advice I absorbed over 40 years ago was always to remain emotionally detached from patients. You can’t deal professionally and calmly with their life threatening conditions if you’re empathising, emoting and upset about them. And it would hurt too much when you inevitably lose some.
Switch feelings off until you get home, otherwise the tide of human suffering overwhelms you. I imagine a calm professional attitude is useful in any workplace.

I agree. It's so 80's management style. Be constructive, fair and kind but just give the feedback.

Don’t be passive aggressive/try to point score, you just look like an arse.
“we aren’t building incubators for babies” ie get some perspective along with “nobody dies everybody goes home”.
people aren’t wrong because they dont do it the way you would
work like life isnt fair, it’s just not. Get over it and accept it.
when they are making people redundant they won’t care or remember that you always stayed late.

I knew I liked her. She’s in the same mould as Margot from the good life.

but that’s really good advice. Don’t get drawn into drama. Obviously different if something really bad is happening of course.

I agree. I hate the shit sandwich.

I go with 'mostly no one dies.'

As a priest I have learnt not to delay when someone is said to be and the end of life and the family want me to visit. Sometimes you rock up and they have days to go. Sometimes they don't.

A very wise priest said to me once 'it's not your grief' and that has got me through some really emotional stuff.

Also the importance of a transitional object such as keys, ID badge when I worked in a hospice or uniform which means that you leave work at the door and don't bring it home.

Never throw into the wind.

Treat the people around you right on your way up, because you will meet them all again on your way down.

From my dear old Dad. A very wise man. Miss him every day

My job isn’t very important, so I second

‘Act your wage’.

and I also tell myself that the company could replace me in a week - but to my family I am irreplaceable.

Sure, I’m poor, but I have a healthy work/life balance

I was given 2 pieces of advice y a senior manager.

"If you drop a bollock make sure you catch it before it hits the ground"

"Never present a client with a problem always present them a solution"

What does that mean? 🤔

I assume it means don’t change jobs later in life? Weird advice if that is what it means!

It means keep 4 alive so you can suddenly attend 4 'funerals'...

Nope still don't get it 🤦🏼‍♀️😁

Oooooh now I get it! 😜

Ha! Brilliant.

I've had a couple of corkers that I've never forgotten:

Never go to war without an army - basically always make sure you have all your facts and details straight before entering in to any arguements/negotiations etc.

Piss on the sparks before they become flames - don't ignore the little problems (sparks) as they'll soon become big problems (flames).

Never be afraid to ask a question even if it seems stupid or silly to you! We always tell new starters at work that we'd rather they bothered us with the question than tried to guess the answer and get it wrong.

Don't get sucked in to office gossip - it'll only cause you issues down the line! Learnt that one the hard way at one of my jobs when I got sucked in to the wrong crowd in the office.

This thread is great! I'd say if the company is willing to pay, take every training opportunity you can (NVQs, etc). You'll save thousands, and it opens up more doors if you want to go for promotions either there or elsewhere.

The best ones I had were:

Never apologise for asking someone to do their job

Ask for forgiveness, not permission (obviously, this one depends on the job a bit!)

And finally, you don't need to have all the criteria to apply for a job - I think there was a study a while ago where men would look at a job description and see they have say 50% off the criteria and give it a shot, but women tended to only apply if they could justify all of them.

Gross

With the addition of step-grandparents - remarried grandparents and parents of step-parents, the cunning employee could quadruple this.