Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Reasons Why Your Labmates May Dislike You

I was impressed with the forthrightness of a post I recently read called “Why Your Co-workers May Dislike You”. This post was featured in the ACS Career Blog and was written by Dr. John Borchardt, a well-respected chemist and writer who sadly passed away earlier this year.
Your behavior in the workplace can make coworkers dislike you. Often you are unaware that what you say or do might annoy other people. Managers often avoid discussing these behaviors with you because they find it uncomfortable. Irritating behaviors can be like a bad habit and bad habits are hard to break. However, the first step in breaking bad habits is to be aware of them. So let’s review some bad workplace habits that result in people potentially disliking you.
Read the full post  ...

Here are the key issues that Borchardt’s post focused on:
  • You’re condescending
  • You talk before you listen
  • You set coworkers up to fail
  • You waste coworkers’ time
  • You don’t say please or thank you
Reading this piece, I reflected on how this translates to the labmates we have within graduate school. Like coworkers in any setting, your labmates can either be your closest allies or your greatest threats or foils. How you interact with them can color your entire laboratory experience. They can be the force that gets you through the toughs times or they can be the force that drives you down into the ground. Likewise, you do the same for them. Are you considerate? Do you take time to think how your behavior may be affecting them?  For your consideration here are some of the top reasons on Ranker "Why Your Labmates May Dislike You". Please vote!

Why Your Labmates May Dislike You