A Bad Week with a Good Ending

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A Bad Week with a Good Ending

• Or how communication improved between my boss and
  I.

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Description
It was one of those weeks when everything that
could go wrong did go wrong.
Things werent going too well for my boss
either. His boss was off unwell and he had lots
of extra responsibilities!
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I made several errors in an important document,
even after my 3rd draft. I sent someone off in
the wrong direction looking for my boss because I
was referring to the wrong day in his
calendar My essay for my distance learning
course was due in and my computer at home was
broken I sent the wrong minutes and agenda out
to 8 members of staff
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Before I had even sat down to discuss the issue I
already assumed I was going to be told. I was
expecting the worst and went into the meeting
feeling stressed and anxious
When I received a meeting request from my boss I
new it wouldnt be good
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I am noticing mistakes and I saw you working on
college work during working hours. I have made a
list of all the mistakes I have noticed in the
past week
I thought that because of my poor performance
that week I might loose my job. I got upset
trying to explain and defend myself. Really my
boss was only flagging up a few concerns and was
still happy with my work in general
I blow the meeting out of Proportion
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Feelings
At this time I was so caught up thinking about
how my boss had been keeping a list of my
mistakes, and how unfair this was. I let my
belief that I had been treated badly cloud the
real issues
I Felt

• Ambushed
• Humiliated
• Stressed
• Defensive
• Afraid that I was making a bad impression
• Worried about loosing my job

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I Tried to Explain..
One of the biggest assumptions made by both
parties in this incident was that we would could
know what one another was doing or thinking
without actually having to communicate with one
another
I agreed that I had made several careless
mistakes that week. I had been giving the filing
system a much needed overhaul and had been coming
in early and staying late to get it done. I was
so focused on getting that finished that I had
rushed other work I also explained that I was
when he had seen my college assignment on my
computer screen I was spell checking it and
printing it out. Since I did not take a lunch
break that day I felt that the 15 minutes that
this took was out of my own time. I thought that
we had had a good relationship and felt that his
friendliness towards me whilst compiling this
list made him seem devious and duplicitous and
made me question whether I could trust him.
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He Said..
I did not know you were taking on extra work. I
only notice when you are making mistakes and then
wonder if you are making more mistakes I have not
noticed. This makes me anxious. I realise I have
jumped to conclusions but you should keep me
informed about what you are doing so that I get
the full picture
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After the meeting I had a lot to think about
Evaluation
Analysis
What can I do to improve this situation. What is
the real issue here?

• I spoke to my friends and colleagues to try and
  get an objective view of the problem
• I put my hurt feelings aside
• I thought about the issues raised and how they
  could prevented
• I tried to imagine what an ideal work situation
  would look like and compared it to the one I had.

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I drew up an agenda for a daily morning meeting
in which we
Conclusion
Action Plan
Communication

• Talked about the progress of current work
• Discussed priorities for the coming week
• Addressed any issues arising

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Conclusion
The conclusion here seems to tie in up and put it
all down to communication, solved by the Morning
Meeting Agenda. Now that I have looked closer at
all my reflections on the work setting I can see
patterns emerging which point to deeper more
fundamental issues at hand. If I had been more
able to cope with confrontation, and if I did not
have preconceived ideas about what my boss was
thinking and about the safety of my job then the
meeting could have gone a different way.
Improving communication has really helped me know
what is required of me in my job. I feel
confident and have a clearer focus. I know that
what I am doing is what is needed and my
understanding of the organisation and material I
work with has increased because there is time to
ask questions. Frustration does not build up
between my boss and I because we address issues
on a daily basis.