Five Work Principles You Should Know About - Part 4

So far we have talked about the learning curve and the first two principles - studying the environment and listening well before you speak.

These are very important things to consider but so is the third of the five work principles:

Don’t beg for the boss’s approval every time you complete a task.

There are several reasons for this.

First, your boss wants to know that you can do your work and not need to be coddled every time you get something done.  Your boss wants to know that you are confident in your abilities and do not need someone to come and check on your work all the time.  Your boss wants to be able to leave you to do your job so your boss can get work done, too.  That’s why you were hired.

That is not to say that you shouldn’t ask someone if you are not sure if the job was done right.  If you need help, it is often better to go to one of your co-workers for advice first.  Chances are that your boss is not the one training you anyway.  You are likely being trained by someone that has done your job before or someone that is still doing a similar job.  Talk to them if you need to make sure that you got it.  

When you start a new job this is common.

Before you do that though, you can check your own work.  If there are written instructions, go through them slowly after you have done the work.  Make sure that each point has been addressed and that you have followed the instructions to the letter.  Also, go through your work as if it was not yours.  Proofread, look at the details, and ask yourself if you were the client/the boss would you be happy with this work.  Finally, you can compare it to work that was done previously.  If you put together a spreadsheet, find another spread sheet and compare the width of the columns, the layout, the font, and the calculations.  If you go through your work like this you will often find mistakes that you wouldn’t want your boss to see anyway.

The other reason that you should not always be running to the boss is because it will create a bad feeling with other co-workers.  When someone is always on the boss’s lap, co-workers will think that they are kissing up.  They don’t like that.  In my opinion, half of finding a job you like is creating a good rapport with your fellow workmates.  If your co-workers think badly of you, they are likely to make it uncomfortable for you at work and in the long run, very little else will matter.

Prove your worth by being able to work independently and check your own work.