December 8, 2009 at 12:10 pm
I would step back and ask if it is really a choice. 'Help' is sort of a convenient word used in many workplaces for an order in disguise. I'd usually help the guy rather than risk him calling my boss and my boss calling me with a polite yet subtle 'I'd appreciate it if you can help so and so'. Again if it is someone by boss doesn't care about i'd probably decline, even if i like the guy personally i dont want to be in my boss's bad books. In my experience - 95% of requests are orders in disguise. The remaining 5 percent you have a choice - if it is someone you like, someone you think will help you similar or you just feel like doing a good deed go on and do it that is all.
December 8, 2009 at 2:30 pm
I think most people are generally good and would help out. I'd like to put this spin on it. Look at this from a custom service point of view. If you called any customer support and they said "Yeah... it's Friday and I'm heading out" you'd probably give that fella a bad review later on some survey. Good customer service tends to pay off in the long run. Consider it an investment and help the poor fellow out.
December 8, 2009 at 2:30 pm
dwilliams-766857 (12/8/2009)
Default, by nature, is to help out.I also use the "I'll do it but then you owe me" routine. I may not take them up on it but it seems to prevent some coming back for more.
Another way to look at this is that I'm building slack to be taken at a future date. If I have nothing pressing I do try and help out. That way I can say no without guilt when I really do need to get out of there or what's being asked is complicated enough to not want to race through at the end of a day.
Ken
December 8, 2009 at 3:00 pm
The answer here is pretty simple: leave at 4:30 🙂
James Stover, McDBA
December 8, 2009 at 5:13 pm
We are in a customer service position are responses should reflect that.
We should also be proactive and asked questions, why this occurred and can we do something different to avoid situations like this in the future.
😎
December 8, 2009 at 5:18 pm
I think it still depends on the circumstances at hand.. like what was said in the article, if I have an important appointment at the time the manager asked for help, then I might just have to decline.
It's always good to be able to help, but sometimes you just have to say no. 😀
December 10, 2009 at 7:32 am
I found this article profound to the point that I forwarded it to my wife.
Going the extra mile will only help you out in the long run.
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December 10, 2009 at 11:54 am
I think I generally fall in with the majority on this one - help, but with wisdom and discernment. If this is a person who tends to abuse the system, I'll push back, sometimes pretty hard. If it impacts a customer (through no fault of theirs), I'll try to do what I can, but will definitely bring it up as something that needs to be considered in the future. I'm pretty blessed to not get a lot of last minute, "urgent" requests anymore. There have been some, but not nearly as many as I've had at prior jobs. If someone comes up with a late request that is urgent, it often is and we don't have many (if any) who abuse that process.
Some good thoughts and yes, being helpful can have a lot of intangible benefits besides just being known for helping out.
October 15, 2014 at 1:12 am
It is a common tactic, that I too employ, to be helpful until the requestor asks one too many times (when they haven't needed to). Then you can fall back onto existing procedures.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
October 15, 2014 at 1:58 am
On occasions when particular managers have said something's urgent my first thought has been 'I'll be the judge of that'. Often a quick phone call has revealed that the report is actually running as it has done for months or years and has just been thrown by a corner case. It rarely takes long to establish that for the once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence there's an easy manual workaround and coding to eliminate the problem is likely to take weeks. These managers usually still ask for the changes to be made ASAP and then I hit them with my Kryptonite, 'You'll need to fill a change request and put it through the BAs'. That phrase can make a perceived problem go away in a split-second. It's amazing how rarely we actually receive the request following an 'urgent' problem.
That said, if it's genuinely a fault and a fix is required then I'm usually more than happy to oblige. Of course all the usual caveats apply but if I can do something and, more to the point, I need to do something, I will.
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October 15, 2014 at 2:52 am
I largely agree with previous posters - if you haven't got a firm commitment to someone else elsewhere then you do your best to help on that occasion and keep watch for repeats and that person trying to take advantage.
One of the things that I don't think has been mentioned is that where you are part of a team you also need to be wary of setting a precedent for your colleagues by doing something that you are happy to do as a one-off bending of the correct process, but which then becomes expected of everyone else in your team.
October 15, 2014 at 3:17 am
RP1966 (10/15/2014)
...One of the things that I don't think has been mentioned is that where you are part of a team you also need to be wary of setting a precedent for your colleagues by doing something that you are happy to do as a one-off bending of the correct process, but which then becomes expected of everyone else in your team.
Good point. It is one thing to accept additional responsibilities oneself but to do so on behalf of your peers is possibly unpopular and definitely unmanageable if allowed to continue. In some respects it breaks the chain of command i.e. due process.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
October 15, 2014 at 4:16 am
Sometimes the real big wins are in helping out people not at work at all but where you have massive levels of comparative advantage.
I bought myself a litter picker the other day. And once a week for ten minutes I go out and clean up the pavement in front of my flat. Makes a massive difference / I don't get paid and you could say its the council's job. I just think it pays off for everyone. Cleaner for me when I go out, cleaner for visitors to the shops - they get more clients pushes rates up - makes my flat more valuable. My neighbours are cheered up by it and it motivates for instance my neighbour who does our communal gardening ( I do nothing to the garden don't like gardening). Plus I have a massive comparative advantage over the council. They use exactly the same tools as me (a litter picker) but I have no fuel costs and no time to travel plus I know whether its clean or not. They might actually have to travel out just to find that it doesn't need a clean. It literally takes a minute to pop down to the street. I definitely benefit from this. Also I hope that it encourages others to be cleaner (no evidence for this though) but in my imagination it sets up a positive feedback loop.
cloudydatablog.net
October 15, 2014 at 5:00 am
Dalkeith (10/15/2014)
...Also I hope that it encourages others to be cleaner (no evidence for this though) but in my imagination it sets up a positive feedback loop.
I think that in some that it does (the ones who might have gone "it's a mess so I might as well drop my rubbish as it won't make a difference") and some that it doesn't (the ones who probably would say "someone will pick it up").
I think that there is little hope for the latter type but a positive change in the former.
Dalkeith, I doff my cap in your direction.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
October 15, 2014 at 5:11 am
I often look at the request from my managers point of view, then consider convenience to me. If they want me to work late so they can get something ready for Monday I might suggest that I'm busy that evening but can look at it Saturday morning, I also make sure they will be contactable to check it all out when I finish.
I've had too many occasions where I've stayed until 7pm and call them only to be told they left the office as soon as they had passed the buck.
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