work ethic

A strong work ethic is vital to a company. Every employee, from the CEO to entry-level workers, must have a good work ethic to keep the company functioning at its peak. A work ethic is a set of moral principals an employee uses in his job. Certain factors come together to create a strong work ethic.

Integrity:Integrity stretches to all aspects of an employee's job. An employee with integrity fosters trusting relationships with clients, coworkers and supervisors. Coworkers value the employee's ability to give honest feedback. Clients trust the employee's advice. Supervisors rely on the employee's high moral standards, trusting him not to steal from the company or create problems.

Sense of Responsibility: A strong sense of responsibility affects how an employee works and the amount of work he/she does. When the employee feels personally responsible for his/her job performance, he/she shows up on time, puts in his/her best effort and completes projects to the best of his/her ability.

Emphasis on Quality: Some employees do only the bare minimum, just enough to keep their job intact. Employees with a strong work ethic care about the quality of their work. They do their best to produce great work, not merely churn out what is needed. The employee's commitment to quality improves the company's overall quality.

Discipline:It takes a certain level of commitment to finish your tasks every day. An employee with good discipline stays focused on his goals and is determined to complete his assignments. These employees show a high level of dedication to the company, always ensuring they do their part.

Sense of Teamwork:Most employees have to work together to meet a company's objectives. An employee with a high sense of teamwork helps a team meet its goals and deliver quality work. These employees respect their peers and help where they can, making collaborations go smoother.

The Essence of Communication:Effective communicationis a key factor in business success. Results in business are dependent on three vital ingredients of Communication - Understanding, Trust and Co-operation.Creating Understanding is the Problem and Promise of Communication. Our communication is effective only if it is properly understood.So, our emphasis while communicating needs to be on Understanding: Understanding the Self, Understanding Others, Understanding Situations and then, consciously working to create better Understanding leading to trust and co-operation.

Engage Your Audience.Make eye contact. Whether you are speaking or listening, looking into the eyes of the person with whom you are conversing can make the interaction more successful. Eye contact conveys interest and encourages your partner to be interested in you in return.

Use gestures. These include gestures with your hands and face. Make your whole body talk. Use smaller gestures for individuals and small groups. The gestures should get larger as the group that one is addressing increases in size.

Don’t send mixed messages. Make your words, gestures, facial expressions and tone match. Disciplining someone while smiling sends a mixed message and is therefore ineffective. If you have to deliver a negative message, make your words, facial expressions, and tone match the message.

Be aware of what your body is saying. Body language can say so much more than a mouthful of words. An open stance with arms relaxed at your sides tells anyone around you that you are approachable and open to hearing what they have to say.

Manifest constructive attitudes and beliefs. The attitudes you bring to communication will have a huge impact on the way you compose yourself and interact with others. Choose to be honest, patient, optimistic, sincere, respectful, and accepting of others. Be sensitive to other people's feelings, and believe in others' competence. Develop effective listening skills: Not only should one be able to speak effectively, one must listen to the other person's words and engage in communication on what the other person is speaking about. Avoid the impulse to listen only for the end of their sentence so that you can blurt out the ideas or memories your mind while the other person is speaking.

You can't win a conflict at work. Winning a conflict means getting the outcome 'you' want regardless of what the 'other' person wants. Since the underlying issue has not been solved, it will simply reappear later. Much better than winning a conflict at work is resolving it. Unresolved conflicts make people unhappy at work and can result in break-down in communications, inefficient teams, stress and low productivity. Here are the essential steps to resolve conflicts at work.

1.Realize that some conflicts are inevitable at work. Whenever people are committed and fired up, or change

and new ideas are emerging, conflict and disagreement are bound to happen. This does not mean you have to revel in conflict or create trouble just for the heck of it, but it does mean that when conflict happens it’s not the end of the world. It can be the beginning of an interesting learning process. Conflicts mean that people care enough to disagree strongly. The trick is not to allow the conflict to go on forever.

2.Handle conflicts sooner rather than later. Resolve a conflict when it starts, as it only gets worse with time.

Conflicts at work arise not from something that was said, but from something that wasn’t said! Everyone’s waiting for the other to admit he’s wrong and gets more unpleasant after the conflict has stewed for a while.

It's essential to interrupt the "waiting game" before it gets to that point.

3.Ask nicely. If somebody has done something that made you angry, or if you don’t understand their

viewpoint or actions, simply asking about it can make a world of difference. Never assume that people do what they do to annoy or spite you. Sometimes there’s good reason why that person does what he or she does (even the things that really get on your nerves).

4.Invite the other person to talk about the situation. A hurried conversation at your desk between emails and

phone calls won’t solve anything. You need an undisturbed location and time to address the issue.

5.Apologize. Apologize for your part in the conflict. Usually everyone involved has done something to

create and sustain the confli ct. Remember: You’re not accepting the entire blame, you’re taking responsibility for your contribution to the situation.

6.Appreciate. Praise the other part in the conflict. Tell them why it’s worth it to you to solve the conflict.

This can be difficult as few people find it easy to praise and appreciate a person they disagree strongly with, but it’s a great way to move forward.

7.Identify the consequences. What has the conflict led to for you and for the company? Why is it a problem?

Outlining the consequence s of the conflict shows why it’s necessary to resolve it. It also helps participants to look beyond themselves and see the conflict "from the outside."

8.Request. Ask for specific actions that can be implemented right away. For example: "I suggest that we

introduce a new rule: At meetings when one of us suggest something and the other person disagrees, we start by saying what’s good about the idea and then say how it could be better. Also, if we start to attack each other as we have before, I suggest we both excuse ourselves from the meeting and talk about it in private instead of in front of the entire team. And, what do you say we have a short talk after our next project meeting to evaluate how it went? How does that sound?"

9.Get mediation. Some conflicts cannot be solved by the participants alone, and mediators can help.

Mediation involves a neutral third party who has been trained in mediation principles, who is experienced in mediation, and who is trusted by the people involved in the conflict. A good mediator will help the disputants find their own solution, not provide advice or push them toward any particular solution.