Developing and Maintaining Positives on the Job

What motivates people to do their best to be effective on the job? Is it the fame and glory? Winning? Being the best at all costs? Personal satisfaction?

Being effective on the job ties in again with our particular beliefs and values. And being positive helps us to be more effective in our jobs. Positive attitudes such as:

	doing a good job the first go-around saves time in the long run
	trying to do better keeps life interesting
	lending a hand and getting a hand is easier than doing something yourself

Help people get their work done effectively and creatively, and establish pleasant and cooperative relationships with others.

Dealing successfully with our duties and the people we work with, often helps us reach some of our goals. Sometimes that's easy to do; other times it's hard. There are no simple answers to how we should handle each and every work situation. Our circumstances and relationships with people vary. The attitudes and approaches we use determine how successful and effective we will be.

Part of developing and maintaining positives on the job means being a responsible and mature worker. And that, in turn, means knowing we are responsible for:

Some of the tips and suggestions outlined may be familiar and they may already be part of your daily work life. If these ideas aren't new, simply use them as helpful reminders!

Maintaining the Quality and Quantity of Our Work

How well we do our work is often as important to us as how much we do. How positive we are affects both the quality and quantity of the work we produce. What motivates most of us to do our best is simply our pride and our own expectations of ourselves. It's not the expectations of others that provides the true motivating force or inner drive to do things the way they should be done. It's our own expectations that drive us to do our best or to develop our potential.

By taking pride in what we do, we show that we care about how things are done and that we have a sense of our own personal worth. We each have values and attitudes that account for the way we operate. Personal values such as:

	I try to learn something new every day
	I care about my work
	I always try to improve

These attitudes go a long way in motivating us to be positive and effective anytime and anywhere.

Meeting work standards, quotas and deadlines is personally satisfying; as an added bonus, these also meet the needs of our employers. Realizing how important our contributions are to the overall goals of the firm we work for also encourages us to finish our work as quickly and as well as we can.

Tips for Improving the Quality and Quantity of Your Work

1. Understand the instructions provided for any task before you start work. It's okay to say "I don't understand" or to ask questions. If you think you might forget, make notes for future reference. Follow instructions exactly the first few times you do a new task. From time to time, check over your instructions to make sure you have not forgotten anything. Ask your supervisor if you're doing things right.

2. Do your work as correctly and carefully as possible. Thoroughly check your work before handing it over.

3. To err is human. No one is perfect and all of us make mistakes. Learn from yours - challenge yourself to improve the next time.

4. Work at a steady pace. Be known as the one who always gets things done.

5. Learn the tricks of the trade from experienced staff.

6. Be willing to accept new ideas which can improve your work.

7. Assume responsibility for your work. When you have finished one task, move on to the next activity without waiting to be asked.

Sometimes finishing a task may mean working through coffee or lunch breaks or past quitting time. The satisfaction of having completed the task usually outweighs the inconvenience. The occasional overtime will usually be balanced by slack times, leaving early or getting time off.

8. Keep up-to-date on new developments and advances in your field. Learn what the competitors are doing. Read as much as you can and talk to people who can give you new information.

9. Be confident in your abilities and potential to learn new skills.

10. Use your own initiative to use your time effectively and to improve on the way things are done or find new ways of doing things.

Making Positive Changes

	Instead of saying "I don't know", say "I'll find out".
	Instead of seeing a problem for every answer, try seeing an answer for every problem.
	When a mistake is made, instead of saying "It wasn't my fault", say "I was wrong".
	Instead of saying "That's not my job", see what has to be done about it.
	Instead of making promises, make commitments.
	Instead of looking at what can't be done, look at what can be done.
	Instead of side-stepping most issues, try making decisions.
	Instead of saying "I'm not as bad as a lot of others", say "I'm good but not as good as I can be".
	Instead of saying "That's the way it has always been done", say "There ought to be a better way".
	Instead of saying "It may be possible but it's too difficult", say "It may be difficult but it's not impossible".

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