The Silent 'U' In Team

'How are we doing with that report?' Officespeak. It's the stuff we say in the work place when we momentarily lose the skills to speak English.

This is one of my personal favourites and it happens every time we refer to the group of us instead of to the person we're actually addressing. Obvious responsibility is extracted and replaced with obscurity masked as teamwork. Other examples include 'Have we managed to find out where the discrepancies came from?', or 'Do we think we'll make the deadline we've been given?' There's the suggestion of joint responsibility, but don't be fooled - you're still The Man.

It's almost as if the Asker has been involved in something all along but has now forgotten the status of everything and has approached you to help them remember. They're almost referring to themselves in the third person, and a forgetful third person at that. The Asker lacks the confidence to ask a direct question so they soften and mask it in such a way that you feel like you're on a team for a split second. Until you realise that you're still completely responsible and the only involvement of the Asker is to ask confusing questions, apparently. 'What do we think the reason for the issue is?' Despite the suggestion that both parties are solving a problem, there is not usually an opportunity to respond with 'Since we're both thinking about this in concert, why don't you give me your take first.' This would usually be inappropriate.

[If you have an image of Bill Lumbergh from Office Space in your head right now, coffee mug in hand, I wouldn't be surprised.]

It's important to appreciate at this point that there are many well-meaning, concerned managers who lack the self confidence and relative aggressiveness that is sometimes required. The intention of this post is not to create resentment between you and them, but rather to help us all avoid confusion and be the model employees which we need to be.

'Would it be possible for us to work late tonight?' There are layers within this one. On the surface it sounds like the fake teamwork thing which turns out to be a masked direct question, which you'd identify quite swiftly if you'd read this post, but then you realise it's not even a question. It's a statement about what's expected. So, you'd be about to respond with 'Sure, I've been hoping for an evening with you instead of my family..' when you realise that not only will the Asker not necessarily be in the building but that the question was rhetorical. Previous learnings about teamwork and actual responsibility almost prepare you for this one.

Be vigilant folks. These people need our support, and understanding them is the first step.

Work Is Like A Pocket of Marbles

Work is a transaction.

It sounds a little impersonal. 'Transactions' are not really things which happen in relationships where there's warmth and care, but rather sounds like stuff between people on opposite sides of armoured glass. At it's core, though, this is what work is. Let's break it down a little to see if the reference is valid.

John introduces himself to The Corporation and presents his skills, experience and time. All three are an attractive bundle for The Corporation (because none of them would be useful individually) which has certain needs. But it's a transaction, so John now allows The Corporation to present itself. A positive environment, plenty of opportunity and an amount of money are offered in exchange. A piece of paper is signed and John agrees to sell a portion of his day to The Corporation in which he will use his skills and experience for their betterment instead of his. Seems fair, I mean, this is what happens.

It's important to identify where the 'sacrifice' is sitting. John enjoys using his skills and The Corporation already had a positive environment which they benefitted from, so neither are a sacrifice. John's time and the money offered for it are both sacrifices, as he would rather spend his time spraying his roses and The Corporation could be spending the money on new cutlery for the staff kitchen. And maybe a sandwich toaster. This is the core of the transaction, time and money. The rest of the items on the signed paper are peripheral and add some colour to the arrangement, but it is these aspects which either create balance or imbalance. John's perception of what he is receiving for his time will ultimately either bring contentment or anxiety.

Now, let's imagine that all aspects of the daily transaction are represented by marbles. Not the ones with green shapes in the middle though, because they look like snake eyes. John receives marbles monthly which represent all which the Corporation is offering him, and he uses up the marbles as he gives of his time and uses his skills and experience at work. Let's ignore money for now because it isn't really variable like the other things. For the sake of the analogy, John walks in with a pocket of marbles daily and pops them into a box next to his desk during the course of the day, representing all that he is contributing, until the end of his day. Because the employment arrangement is equitable, all marbles are used up daily.

Then the fun starts. A demanding project means that John has to put in some extra hours. He works late for a period, starts to skip on his exercise routine and misses his daughter's first word one evening. It happened to be 'dog' but that's not the point. John finds himself dipping into his personal stash of marbles (time, perhaps) in order to deposit all that is required into the box. Now there's an imbalance and John is 'poorer' for it. But then John's commitment is noticed by The Executive who show their personal appreciation and suggest that this could fast-track his progress. Balance is restored as the previously-lacking marbles are replenished through hope and prospects. Then the project at work ends but a new expectation has been created and John struggles to dial back his hours as more responsibility is placed in his capable hands. Displays of competence can do this. Then John's immediate Manager suggests that he's being creative when completing his timesheets. The tone changes, and the long hours and spirit of mistrust mean that John starts running out of marbles by mid-afternoon, again, having to dip into a personal supply. The Executive become aware of the situation. They don't want to remove him from his important accounts which are flourishing, and avoid addressing his Manager because she's related to the MD, so start discussing whether the window seat will restore balance for John. It won't cost them money, and it's pretty easy to move that other guy to the copy room.

This is the transaction which takes place daily. Balance comes and goes sometimes several times a day, and the equity of the whole thing can really only be determined by the employee in the middle of it. But if any imbalance is left unaddressed then we're all at risk of missing more than the word 'dog'.