Lessons from someone trying to understand the business sector
So today I had a meeting in which I learned the value of communication. When I left my house this morning and made my way to my place of business, I was positive that I was going to have a good meeting. I waited my turn to present my information to the staff, and it was during this time that I learned my lesson.
I have 2 bosses (not ideal I know), and their is a 10 hour time zone difference between them. I have the expectations of the owner for my particular department, as well as, the operational manager that oversees how my department affects her department workers. The owner expects results, and the manager expects to be left alone and for her workers to not be involved. You can see the picture building. I want to make the owner proud with my work, since it is my first chance to expand into uncharted territory on my resume, but I also want to have the backing of the manager, since she controls the workforce that I need. Part of my job is to bridge the gap between what the owner wants and the manager demands.
As I went ahead in my presentation I was confronted by the manager. She expressed openly in the middle of the presentation that she had not had confirmation of the tasks that I was assigning, so as it played out she was discontent with the orders I was giving her team. It was during this time that I learned my communications lesson. Even though I reacted emotionally and passionately about my stance in the importance of the tasks I was assigning, I learned that I can not be reactive to the fact that I was cut-off and under-minded in front of the entire team.
I was confronted by both my bosses and was told that I should apologize for the miscommunication that was not completed by the manager, and that I need to handle all the tasks by myself for the time being. It was during this time that I went to class, some what livid because of the audacity of the apology, that I talked to my PR professor and I learned that it is not important that my message was lost, confused, altered, shifted, or ignored, but that I should move forward and see how I can learn from this incident. Plus that I should not think of the "blame" that needs to be distributed, but rather just work ahead and ask the people involved to recite the meeting back to me, so that I can see what was understood by the staff. This way I will know what was understood, what is the best way to communicate in the future, and how to understanding incentives needed behind messages that presented.
From this incident I gathered the following lessons
In business "blame" is like violence! It doesn't solve anything, and it makes you look disorganized and unprofessional.
Get to know the incentives needed to motivate action behind workforces besides just the paycheck they receive (I learned this in my management class, but I guess it was lost somehow)
Make sure to have paper trails for every official conversation to refer to later (it is easier to prove a point with evidence)
Be ready to have many slices of humble pie, and continue to work side-by-side to people that are to "blame"
Always look into how you can improve rather than how others need to improve
Keep this bullets in mind and you will succeed in the business sector.
jacobvanloon
2087
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