There are many ways to frustrate your boss, but here are a few common negative behaviors that can lead to a bad performance review. Work on the areas below that you know need attention and improve your performance review.
Take Personal Calls
Keep your cell phone on, talk incessantly to people in your personal life (kids, spouse/partner, parents etc.) no matter what is happening around you and your boss will become frustrated. The workplace is the place to work, not to plan your life outside of work. Certainly quick personal calls and urgent personal calls are acceptable to most bosses, however many employees take advantage of this privilege.
Chat with Coworkers
Exchanging niceties and saying hello is one thing, chatting with a coworker for over 30 minutes about your wedding dress selection and then going on line to search for shoes to match is beyond reason. Limit your chats on topics outside the professional realm to 10 minutes and you’ll keep your boss satisfied. If your chatting is disturbing other workers, you’ll hear about it at some point so be careful. Professional conduct involves respecting your coworkers.
Exude Negativity
Do you constantly complain about the amount of work, the systems in place, the environment you work in but ignore any suggestions or methods available to you to improve the situation? Are you difficult to please and always have a beef about a change in process or procedure? Be careful as you could be seen by your superior as a morale drainer.
Ignore Requests
Do you only like to perform certain tasks and let other slide by until someone else picks up the task? This will cause resentment over time if you are allowed to cherry pick your assignments.
Miss Deadlines
Ignoring deadlines, asking repeatedly for extensions, routinely giving excuses for why tasks are not completed will all frustrate a boss that is trying to deliver. Understand that your inability to manage your time will affect not only your performance review but the team’s overall performance if projects are delayed. Look into ways to improve your time management now.
Show Up Late
Take long coffee and lunch breaks, regularly show up late for work and leave early, call in sick often – these are all red flags to a boss that you are not engaged and committed to the work.
Resist Change
Change is inevitable as new technology is developed or companies introduce new products and services to compete in the market place. If you want things to stay the same and resist any changes that are implemented, you run the risk of being seen as uncooperative and not progressive. Adapting to constant change is a critical skill to develop. Focus on the positives this change will bring and demonstrate your buy-in to your boss with a smile.
Communicate Poorly
Managers are busy people. Long winded phone messages or emails can cause frustration and worse, they may not listen or read the message. Sending multiple emails a day can also be very frustrating to leaders. Instead, summarize all of your questions or status reporting to short, sweet bullet points.
Ignore the Cause
Bosses want not only your support on key initiatives but to back them up when the going gets tough. They want to see loyalty and a spirit of cooperation from their team when they are striving to succeed against tough odds.
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