Taking Things for Granted

As the manager / head of department, sometimes we take things for granted because we know our subordinates will do the job for us. So we skip the details. Sometimes we don't even read correspondences and reports. All we do when we receive them was to forward the correspondences and reports to the subordinates and let them deal with all the information. We wait only for the summary.

Sometimes we take it for granted that the staff knows what he is doing, when actually he doesn't. We take it for granted that the staff likes what he is doing, when actually he is not interested at all. We take it for granted that the staff is healthy and well, when actually he was struggling with health issues.

At times, we take it for granted that all our subordinates were trustworthy so we didn't check on what they were doing, even when they were dealing with cash. Delegate, by all means. But don't just let it go 100%. As the head of department, we are still responsible for what the staff does and we are accountable for their actions. Donald Trump wrote this in his book Dream Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life : "Employ the best people, but watch them like a hawk".

As a subordinate, we should not take things for granted just because we have the head of department to 'protect' us. We are at work, we are supposed to be able to work independently with minimal supervision. We are not reporting to teachers like we are in school or reporting to professors at the Universities. We are supposed to have the initiative to make things happen, not to just wait and see; not even to ignore what is going on around us.

We should not take things for granted by thinking that the head of department is doing lesser job, so he should have all the time to check on the documents that we have submitted or to follow through on what we were supposed to do. 

But some people take these things for granted. For example, when asked to prepare the minutes of meeting, they would do it just because they were asked to. Not because they thought the minutes of meeting is an important document that could be used as a point of reference in the future. Not even because they thought they could learn something from the meeting or even learning how to improve their writing skills or written language while doing the minutes. Important points were not captured, grammar wasn't checked, spelling wasn't correct and at times even the formatting was wrong. Probably because they thought someone would surely check on it (or someone won't!). 

At times I would get a simple "I'm not sure" response when asked about a particular information. There wasn't even a glint of effort to tell me that they will at least try to get the information. The least they could do was to say "Let me check on the details and get back to you". It makes a lot of difference. To me the former just shows that they were taking things for granted and they didn't even know what was going on.

People who take things for granted probably think they are indispensable from the company. Probably they are already in their comfort zone and so they thought there is no need to work harder or to know more because what they are having now is good enough. Probably they think if they know more, their responsibilities will be greater and they don't want additional responsibilities. They just want to be where they are. They didn't realise that 'employability' or 'marketability' of a person depends on how resourceful they are. The less resourceful they are, the lesser their 'employability' and 'marketability'.

Lest we forget, nobody is indispensable.

If heads of departments take things for granted and leave it all to the subordinates, you will have problem when your subordinates fall ill or on leave. Worse, if they leave the company, taking their knowledge (and their skills) with them!

If subordinates take things for granted that the head of departments would be there to answer on their behalf or even to 'protect' them, they are in for trouble when there is restructuring in the organisation or when there is a shift in leadership. Worse, if they are asked to leave the company. Where would they go? What would they do? What value have they gained for themselves in order to increase their 'employability' and 'marketability' ?

So lets not take things for granted at the work place. Take responsibility on what we are doing. Own it.