What's So Hard About Following the Rules?

One of the things that a boss hates more than anything is when he or she meets with staff, outlines everything that is needed to do, and then after the meeting, absolutely nothing changes!  Staff proceed to go about their day as if they hadn't been warned about wasting time, meeting deadlines, communicating with leadership and co-workers, and a host of other things.

For those who want to be working for another company about this time next year, go ahead, make your bosses' day, do things like you always do and then watch what happens.  Awhile back, I experienced some serious changes on the job  and I will tell you that when the boss called many into meetings, they came in smiling, but walked out frowning.  Change was inevitable and some were going to have to tow the line or else.  The atmosphere was tense for a couple of weeks after a series of meetings and only got worse.  Things became so bad that no one was allowed to stop for a moment and say, "Good morning" to their co-workers.  A simple greeting was avoided for fear that the boss would jump out of nowhere and write someone up for excessive talking.  Management was concerned that if the friendliness picked back up again, people would talk too much and work wouldn't get done.  It was overkill, but some of us understood and were quiet as mice, but others not so much.  "I don't care what they say, I'm going to talk if I want to," a rebellious temp said in a loud voice.  About a month later, the young woman was out of a job.

Sometimes people aren't going to follow instructions no matter where they work.  They are going to go about their business as if they never received a memo, email, phone call, or sat in on a meeting.  Unfortunately, the only thing you can do with people like this is remind them what you need until you exhaust yourself of telling them over and over again, then take action.

Nicholl McGuire is an author, blogger and Internet Content Producer.  She worked in a variety of industries offline including: telecommunications, sales, marketing, publishing, and customer service.