We can all acknowledge that each of us have our own bad work habits that we can improve on. Unfortunately, some of these poor habits can ruin our reputation or even lose us potential jobs. Pay attention to see which bad work habits might be keeping you from your next promotion:
Although every office and culture defines punctuality a little differently, in general, it’s a good rule to not keep people waiting for you. Showing up late undermines your professionalism, makes you look sloppy and is disrespectful to your colleagues or whoever you’re meeting with.
Bad attitudes and negativity are toxic. Don’t be that person who brings everyone down. If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. A toxic individual whose attitude negatively affects the office and productivity will be the first to get cut from the team.
Forwarding inappropriate emails to your boss or making unprofessional comments about someone in the company to your colleagues are just a couple of ways your bad judgment could get you into trouble. Err on the side of caution and professionalism at work – even if your office is pretty casual. Make smart, conservative decisions when it comes to your behavior while doing your job and talking to colleagues.
Managing your time wisely is vital to having a successful career. Someone who waits until the last minute to get their work done is at risk of sending in shoddy work and might even miss their deadline. Whenever you’re assigned a big project and deadline, plan out the work schedule ahead of time and stick to it.
If you’re spending all day on social media or talking to your friends, your hardworking colleagues will notice. If everyone is receiving the same pay, everyone should be putting in the same amount of work hours. Stay focused on your work and don’t let distractions like Facebook keep you from having a successful career.
It’s important to use correct grammar and be polite in any written correspondence. Email communication is vital to a successful work environment, so it’s important to be able to appropriately respond to colleagues and bosses. Also, maintaining positive and professional verbal communication with coworkers is similarly important. Make sure to avoid swearing or using overly colloquial vernacular.
Although independence can be a very positive quality in an employee, workers that are unable to work with others can be a huge problem. It’s important to be cooperative and communicative at your job and willing to work with others to make the entire team stronger. Be independent, but always willing to cooperate.
Everyone has had a horrible day at work. It’s OK to sometimes hate your job – you just can’t be open about it at work. When you’re feeling overly stressed, annoyed or frustrated, take ten minutes and leave to cool off. Get out that pent up frustration on your own time, instead of making your colleagues uncomfortable.
Deadlines help everyone get on the same page in terms of meeting goals and moving projects forward. If you miss your deadline, you are letting down your team. Consistently missing deadlines is bad habit to get into and could potentially cost you a promotion.
Sources: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/bad-habits, https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/252276, http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2012/10/17/14-bad-habits-that-can-cost-you-your-job/#7e29bb6b711e
Photo 1. based on handshake, by 드림포유, CC-by-ND 2.0
Photo 2. based on [Social Media Week] E se fossero i Social Media ad usare Voi?, by Simone Lovati, CC-by-SA 2.0
Photo 3. based on Mark Stumm’s Old Office, by Dru Kelly, CC-by-ND 2.0