If you’ve recently left the military, chances are that you’re used to working together with your team to solve problems. In some cases, especially if you were deployed, your life might have depended on that team work. Therefore, it can be a bit of a shock to join a rat race where the predominant mindset is “every man for himself.” What? That’s not the best way to do things!

Of course it isn’t…but the fact remains that it’s a dog-eat-dog world in many business environments. Working on a team is a great experience, but in most cases, you need to make sure that you don’t…well…get eaten. Here are some tips for surviving in a business world where “teamwork” is all about “me” instead of “us.”

• Never trust someone to do one of your tasks unless you’ve specifically cleared the reassignment of the task with your boss or manager. Let’s say that Bob offered to print your report for the big meeting tomorrow. What will you do if Bob decides to take a personal day instead or suddenly leaves for vacation? If you are assigned a task, do it yourself.

• Back up your work. If you give your only copy of something to someone else, there’s a good chance you’ll never see it again. Make multiple copies or have the file on a memory stick/floppy disk so that you can reprint easily.

• Assign all “team members” specific tasks. If you do have to work on a team, don’t assume that everyone will simply pitch in to get something done. For many people, the workday ends at 5, no matter if the job is complete or not. Divide the project into smaller tasks and work together to decide who will be doing what. If possible and practical, submit a copy of the tasks list to your boss so that if part of the project fails, he/she knows who’s fault it was.

• Avoid being friends, at least during working hours. If you have to work on a team with others, keep your friendship out of it until you punch out for the day. It’s great to go to happy hour with your coworkers or even hang out with them on the weekends, but if your let that friendship enter the work you have to do, you might find your coworkers trying to capitalize on that friendship. Don’t let anyone take advantage of you.

• Have ethical business practices, even if others don’t. It’s tempting to cheat, plagiarize, lie, etc if it makes your job easier. And if everyone else around you is doing it? Well, even the most moral person has to make some tough choices. However, it’s important to stick to your guns. If the environment where you work is totally corrupt, find a job job if possible.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 15th, 2007 at 10:06 pm and is filed under Career Change, Career Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.