If asked, define your workplace, what would your answer be. A place that that’s
fun, exciting and stimulating or one that’s staid and dreary. Most likely we
will go with the second description. Ever wondered, why? Why we have to get up
every morning or even night and force ourselves to go to a place which, given an
opportunity we might set fire to but then we know life is cruel and not all our
dreams come true.

What makes our workplaces so boring and arid? To start with we need to
understand that
offices are mini societies and we have a role to play in it. The air might be
serious and formal but that doesn’t imply that we become android, in the way we
think and act. Workplaces need discipline, but one that doesn’t try to alter our
personalities to the extent that we start feeling that we are loosing ourselves
and trying to be somebody we are not. 

Irrespective of where we are, we will still be humans and exhibit aspects of our
personalities, good or bad. We often forget that we are dealing with real people
in our workplaces and not mere human resources. Interactions here are of a more
complex nature, as one has to be politically correct and abide by the rules,
nevertheless at the end of the day we are dealing with human emotions. It is in
this context that behavioral aspect of an employee becomes important. It is not
rocket science, it simply means that we pay attention to things that have a
direct impact on the way we conduct ourselves. We have to open and unbiased when
dealing with people and situations in our workplace.

Our attitude, anger, stress management abilities, interpersonal skills,
communication skills, leadership qualities, emotional intelligence, being
introvert or extrovert all have a major role to play in creating a world around
us where either we can be at peace with it or just dislike it. When we don’t get
along with our colleagues or when our seniors seem to find us incompetent for
all the wrong reasons, instead of frowning and getting annoyed we should
endeavor to understand what are the real reasons behind them behaving in that
manner. Sometimes, people might have genuine problems, which we fail to see or
understand, or the person in question has a problem outside the office or maybe
some people just like it that way as it is their only way of getting attention.
There could be several reasons; it is up to us to decide whether we really want
to solve this mystery that is getting obscure everyday or want to leave it
unresolved.

Remember, you can make the difference. Be nice to people and yet be firm. Try to
make your workplace that you don’t loath going to, make it a place, which has
warmth and relaxes you and your friends and is fun to work in. It is easier said
than done, with the deadlines to be met, clients calling in, reports to
submitted, getting late for an appointment and all that goes on in a regular
office but that’s what work is all about. Its up to us to learn to handle the
situations positively and learning something new from them, however small. It
takes a lot of practice, perseverance, right attitude and most important of all
the willingness to do so. It is all in our hands and it starts with first
questioning ourselves- ‘what kind of world have I created around myself’?
Because what we give is what we get.

By: Rachna Singh, Delhi, India