One place I believe I developed a good reputation was among
my co-workers this summer. I had an
internship, and worked with about 15 people (give or take depending on the day)
on a daily basis. Some of the things I
tried to do every day to help develop and maintain a good relationship with my
co-workers were as follows:
I was always on time.
This was very important to me, I think when someone is always on time
they display a certain level of reliability that’s necessary for a working relationship. Also, its can be disrespectful to be late to
a meeting which can hurt a relationship.
One can also appear unprepared if they are consistently late. This also includes getting my work done in a
timely manner, which I tried to finish before any deadlines I may have been
given.
Another thing I always tried to do was be respectful, polite,
patient and friendly to everyone I interacted with. One thing I really liked about my work environment
is that everyone was like this as well. Almost everyone in my office was very easy to
work with, and willing to give advice and offer help where they saw the
opportunity.
Lastly, I always tried to volunteer to take on more work or
help anyone with theirs. I think it’s important
to display a strong work ethic, and this helps build a strong relationship with
your co-workers. Working hard is
rewarding and people appreciate the offered help. I definitely did whenever one of my
co-workers would do this.
Thinking about times where I might stray from this behavior,
I believe I would be tempted to not be as friendly if I didn’t enjoy the
company of my co-workers. If someone was
rude or disrespectful to me I would be inclined to not treat them as
kindly. If I didn’t believe my hard
work/help was being appreciated, and that my manager would never notice any
added effort, than I would also be inclined to not perform as well. Luckily, I did not have to deal with these
situations and thus did not have to risk my reputation by behaving in an
unfavorable way.
In game theory there is a strategy known as tit-for-tat which says to mirror what the other player did the last time around. So if they were cooperative, then be cooperative in response. And if they were rude, respond to that in kind. It sounds like you were playing something like this. And since everyone else started out cooperating, it led to good outcomes.
ReplyDeleteThere is a question of whether doing that was difficult or not. For example, did you have to get up especially early in the morning to make it to work on time? Di you have to say up late getting your assigned work from the previous day completed before you came into work?
I presume that in the background there was the hope that this cooperative play while an intern would lead to a permanent job offer. In this case, the other people you work with can serve as references, even if you don't officially name them for that purpose. On the other hand, if there were other interns there at the same time, they too would be hoping for a permanent job offer. Then, possibly, you were in competition with them. Did that issue come up at all?
Sometimes it would be difficult to make it to work on time. In an effort to never be late, I would wake up about 30 minutes to an hour earlier than necessary, to accommodate for any unexpected delays. That was sometimes difficult.
ReplyDeleteYou presume correctly, it was my intention to make the best impression so that I may be considered for a full-time position. This definitely influenced my behavior. I was the only intern in the office, so there was no competition for me.
Sometimes it would be difficult to make it to work on time. In an effort to never be late, I would wake up about 30 minutes to an hour earlier than necessary, to accommodate for any unexpected delays. That was sometimes difficult.
ReplyDeleteYou presume correctly, it was my intention to make the best impression so that I may be considered for a full-time position. This definitely influenced my behavior. I was the only intern in the office, so there was no competition for me.