- Show up early – about 10 minutes early is usually fine.
- Don’t leave a mess for others. Generally, it’s okay to leave when your hours are done but make sure your things are in order before you go. Also, make it clear that you care more about doing your job right than getting out right on time.
- Get clear on how to do your job properly. Ask questions until you’re confident you are doing things right. It might help to organize your questions and ask them in one sitting unless getting an answer is very urgent.
- Always find ways to be helpful. If you’re finished with your assigned task see if you can find something useful to do. Never wait for someone to find another task for you. If you’re not sure what you should be doing you could say something to your supervisor like “I’m done with inventory. I was thinking I could clean up the stock room. Is that alright with you?” If you do this your supervisor will appreciate that you’re thinking creatively about how to be helpful – and that you’re checking in to make sure that’s the best thing to do.
- Stay positive. Do not put others down or put down the job itself. Find the best in people around you and in what you are doing. Never, ever backstab or gossip about anyone!
- Handle conflicts respectfully. This includes respecting yourself as well as others involved. Rather than making the conflict personal, keep the focus on doing your job well. Seek to understand the other person’s point of view first. This strategy alone can have amazing results. If you run into people that refuse to act respectfully toward you, the website jerksatwork.com has advice on almost every situation imaginable.
- Own up to your mistakes, then learn from them. Everyone makes mistakes. The quicker you own up to yours the better. Get clear on the best ways to avoid the mistake in the future. Come up with your own ideas. Then ask your supervisor and teammates for their ideas.
- Use the technology at work for work only. Remember, it’s not hard to track everything you do on work computers including every email you send and receive – and every website you visit.
- Learn, learn, learn! Find people who do your job extremely well and learn from them. Ask questions. Read. Make it clear to others that you are interested in doing as well as you can.