What Makes A Good Employee?
By: Emily Bottegal
We all have stories about our coworkers. Some we love, some we love to hate, some we tell our entire life story to, some we never say more than a hello, some we just complain about when we get home. But what makes someone a good employee and coworker? Is it just someone who has a good personality? Who is reliable? Who brings donuts to the office on a Wednesday morning? Or is a good employee someone who is efficient, contributing to the company, answering emails and phone calls, meeting deadlines, and never saying ‘that’s not my job?’ While I love the idea of donuts, I want to be in a work environment filled with individuals who are efficient, effective, and hardworking. I want to be viewed by my coworkers as someone who is contributing in this way to the company as well. So how does one go about being a “good” employee? What does this look like?
Your Workspace
Similar to a student’s desk, our office space should be organized. I have walked into a lawyer’s office and had to tiptoe over briefs, file folders, and newspapers from another season. Yes I know, there is a method to his madness, but to me, it was just madness. So what could he do to get his office organized? Bookshelves, color coded folders, desk folders, wall calendars, taking the time to put briefs in the correct legal files, throwing away or shredding papers that weren’t needed. Keeping an organized and clean space helps us stay focused. A cluttered office often leads to a cluttered mind. Take the time at the end of the day to clean up your space so you don’t walk into a stressful office the next day. Simplicity is key to having a clean and open space to work. When there is clutter, the mind is cluttered as well. Try to get rid of things that are not essential to the space and then incorporate systems and organizers to help manage the items that do need to be kept in the office.
The Ever-Growing To-Do List
Emails, phone calls, meetings… sometimes the communication at work never seems to end. We are constantly bombarded with things that need to get done, and right when we think we have finished the daily list, boom, an urgent email shoots through our inbox. So how do we manage the multi-tasking scenario where sometimes everything seems to be labeled EMERGENCY!? Using a task management app (like GoogleKeep, 2DO, or Remember The Milk) is a great starting point. I’m a bit old fashioned and prefer the simple pen-and-paper list. I also suggest printing out emails with the task- you can write the date it needs to be done or even breaking down what you have to do to get the task done. Pin the email to your bulletin board so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. Most computers also have a “notes” feature, similar to sticky notes on your computer screen that you can leave on your desktop. Simply jot what you need down and delete what you’ve finished to keep the list current and effective. A great strategy to use with to-do lists is to write down how long the task will take you to get done. You can set-up time blocks for your day and identify very specific and focused goals for each chunk of time. This strategy helps us organize our day.
Meeting Notes
I once worked at a company that had an incredibly small central office but still had “team” meetings almost everyday: finance meetings, development meetings, staff meetings, main office meetings, grant reports meetings, school meetings, etc. Were meetings a good use of our time? Did we have enough time between meetings to actually get anything done on our action list?
Unless you are in charge of the company, you cannot control the meeting schedule. However, what you can control is your time during and after. Make sure you are actively listening in meetings. Ask questions when you need clarity. Take notes, especially when it has to do with your job responsibilities. Make sure you leave the meeting with action steps and deadlines: what am I responsible for doing in the next 7 days? Once you get back to your office or cubicle put those notes somewhere visible so the information doesn’t go in one ear and out the other. Try adding the action steps to your to-do list, or even plugging them in on your calendar to make sure you are setting aside time to get them done. If the task does seem daunting, remember to take the time to break it up into smaller steps. That way you’re not dedicating an entire day to one task that you thought would only take you 45 minutes.
Prioritizing
Prioritizing our which tasks should take up our time, whether at work, at home, at school, with our families, or even with our friends can be a juggling act. Maintaining an up-to-date calendar is essential. Think back to tricks you used in school (or what you could have done in school): write due dates on your weekly calendar or next to the to-do item, have reminder alarms set, have a color coding system to help with the “priority scale”, and write out essential to-do items at the end of every work day or first thing in the morning to help you stay on top of assignments/projects and keep focused. You can also use a “parking lot” page where you write down things you have to get done but not at that exact minute.
Take A Walk
Your employer does not expect you to stay glued to your chair for 8 hours a day. Make sure you are taking quick breaks to get water, saying hi to a friend, or grabbing a bite to eat throughout the day. When I work with youths and adults, I always talk about the game Sudoku- when we stare at the game and try to plug numbers in for hours at a time, eventually everything starts to look alike. The minute I step back, do another activity, and then come back to the game, I quickly find a box I was missing. Same with work - keep your brain hydrated and relaxed. Taking breaks also helps us stay motivated and ultimately be much more effective and efficient throughout the day.
Work email is for work - personal email is personal. Don’t flood your inbox with spam mail, store circulators, and sale notices. Check your email daily. Most emails will allow you to create subfolders - so if you are working on the LEC project, drop all those emails into the LEC folder. This helps your inbox stay organized and you aren’t constantly searching for that one specific email.
Create a strategy of attack: if you have hundreds of emails coming in a day, make sure you are setting aside time throughout the day to check the email. Respond to the ones that are quick and simple. Leave the ones that need more thought or additional action steps as “unopened” or flagged until you have the time to get to them.