Sharing. No name calling. Making sure everyone gets a turn. Somewhere between college graduation and your morning commute you might recognize how other people have forgotten the sandbox rules. It is as if these guidelines never applied to them. These were the basics which gradually transformed into what should be common courtesy in the workplace. In time you will find yourself being instructed to collaborate with these individuals who forgot their shovel at home and now demand claim on part of your freshly built castle. No one is saying it’s fair, but work still needs to be finished. With that being said, be sure to draw the line in the sand where “playing nice” and cordial co-worker begins and ends.
Sharing is not for everyone
Do not allow your work or your tools to be used and abuse by others who do not know how to care for them. Sharing your talents or knowledge are equally as valuable as your tools. If you lend someone your bucket, and they return it to you with a crack why would you continue to share with them? Take care to do the same with those whom you collaborate with. Your time and skills are used to build projects and relationships. If these are not cared for when shared with others, then your playmate should go get their own.
Everyone Can’t Be Your Playmate, and That’s Ok
You may find yourself in a sandbox with too much sand and not enough shovels. Being selective about who we work best with is apart of life, but is not usually a choice in the workplace. Its never fun finding yourself paired along side the individual who often forget his/her shovel or pail. But I have found its more how you engage with those individuals that shapes their impact on your experience with them, than their presence, generally. You have options in managing your interactions.
Weigh the variables and dig on:
1. If they are willing to learn and will use the information teach them how to build the castle properly. Remember to share with care.
2. Delegate a different task to them that will still increase productivity, while not affecting your momentum. Some people are be off filling the moat than building the castle.
3. Direct them to someone else in the sandbox. You are not digging alone, there are others with tools, so share the load.
Building strong team morale and culture is the responsibility of everyone on your team. In a perfect world everyone would work together seamlessly. But this is not the case. Maintaining a business social interaction rather than one of friendship is simply the best way to maneuver if you intend to shovel along side those individuals. Realizing you need not befriend everyone in the sandbox is a mature and realistic view of another day in the workplace.
When the sand box gets a bit too crowded there’s no reason to stay in the same box. You can always venture out to another park and find another sandbox elsewhere. There’s no identical sandbox, and each will come with their own new challenges. One thing you need not worry about is the issue of “playing nice”. As long as you take the opportunity to play fair, boldly, and beyond the borders of any box you will find success. If you can’t do that on the sand you are sitting in, then venture out to the shore, there’s plenty room to dig.
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