How to be a good fellow

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Do you consider yourself a good fellow on personal and professional level? When cohabitating and relating ourselves with other people, fellowship is a quality we should cultivate. It strengthens our relations with other people and the trust they place in us.

Be it working as an employee or being self-employed, we relate to other people; from suppliers to clients, from collaborators to colleagues and bosses. Then we cohabitate with people. We also relate with family, friends and acquaintances. But though the human being is a social animal by nature, tensions and misunderstandings can arise.

Let us see why that happens and how we can contribute to a good environment for work and co-existence. Ultimately, how can we be good fellows.

What characterises a bad fellow

Maybe you can think of quite some things that annoy you about your colleagues. Some examples of bad habits, behaviours and characteristics are in my opinion:

• Does not greet.
• Does not say please or thank you.
• Has the habit of interrupting others when they speak or work.
• Does not seem to respect others’ work, interests and ideas.
• Is selfish and intolerant.
• Spreads rumors.
• Does not respect the environment of co-existence and common resources.

Besides we should take into account that each of us has our own expectations of what is good or bad, of how we want others to behave or work. That is why tensions or even discussions can arise.

What is a bad #workcolleague to you? Find out the characteristics and what our #expectations have to do with it. #goodfellow #fellowship Click To Tweet

What characterises a good fellow

Now, let us see how a good fellow is. Basically I could enumerate the contrary of the previous list. But let us have a look at the concepts more in detail.

Show good manners

The first thing for good co-existence in my opinion are good manners. However, sometimes we might have so much on our mind that we neglect small but important gestures of courtesy.

• Greet your fellows.
• Call them by their name when talking to them.
• When asking for something, do not forget to do so politely and saying “please”.
• Say thank you for the information, job delivered, favor or whatever.
• Show appreciation for their ideas and gratitude for their help and advice.

How is a good #workcolleague in your opinion? See if you agree with these #behaviours and characteristics. #goodfellow #fellowship #colleague Click To Tweet

Accept others

We all have our knowledge, background and expectations. Due to all this, frictions with fellows can appear, be it due to how they behave or work. If we want to avoid unnecessary conflicts, I recommend you accept all your colleagues as they are, same as you want them to accept you.

This does not mean you cannot try to improve the situation causing the friction; but that you do so from a place of acceptance. If you do it with frustration, your fellow will only get defensive. However, first of all I suggest you check your expectations. Are they very high? Your discomfort is due to you being irritated or stressed? If you still consider your request reasonable you may draw your colleague’s attention to what annoys you or suggest a better way of getting a job done. But do so calmly and kindly.

We all have our #expectation of how things should be and how others should behave. To be a #goodfellow accept others as they are. #colleague #fellowship #acceptance Click To Tweet

Show respect for others’ work

Respect your colleagues’ work and priorities. When you need information or input, be specific. What do you need and when do you need it. Indicate a realistic deadline depending on when you need to deliver your part.

What is more, when working on a subject, take time for preparation. Consider the necessary steps and if you will need somebody else’s contribution. That way you will be able to request it in advance whilst you progress on other steps of the project. You should not expect your colleague to just stop their work in order to attend your request right away. If you ask for the information in advance, your fellow will be able to organise their work.

Do not interrupt if not necessary

Moreover, same as you need moments of peace for concentration, grant it to your colleagues. Before interrupting somebody, consider whether you can send the request by email. Then they can attend your request in due time instead of being interrupted when you remembered the issue.

So, consider if your matter is really that urgent that you need to interrupt your colleague. Even if it is that urgent, I suggest you ask yourself it is has been due to a lack of foresight and planning on your side. If that is the case, learn from it in order to avoid it next time.

Respect your fellows’ working hours

In connection with the previous sections, I suggest you respect your colleagues’ working hours. Do you really need to bother a colleague during lunch time or can it wait for their return? Do you actually have to request something when they are about to go home or can you send an email for them to see the next day?

Do you respect your #colleagues' work and time? How to be a #goodfellow. #fellowship #respect Click To Tweet

Help your fellows

Seen from the other side, when your contribution is requested, help your colleagues. However, you should not neglect your priorities and goals. I am saying things because you should consider the big picture and common good. So, prioritise your tasks and the requests for help depending on their importance and urgency. Consider what contributes most to the company’s, your department’s and your own objectives and which are the deadlines. According to that attend to the requests in order to contribute to the smooth progress of the company operations.

Do not makes promises you cannot keep

Before making a promise, consider if you can and want to keep it. Are you only saying yes because you do not dare to say no and want to be liked? Taking into account your priorities and your load, will you be able to stick to the promise? Having someone wait for you to do something you will not be able to keep is worse than declining kindly and assertively.

A good #workcolleague contributes to the smooth operation of the company by attending #requests according to their #importance and #urgency. #goodfellow Click To Tweet

Make good use of the resources

Being a good fellow, and in general a good worker, to me also means making good use of the work means and resources. A good colleague leaves the facilities and work means in a suitable state for the use by the following colleague.

Have you finished off the printer paper or toner? Then replenish it. Have you used the meeting room? Tidy it up so your colleagues may use it. Have you left the microwave dirty? Then clean it up for the next one to use. I am sure that you can think of many more shared resources. If you feel annoyed when you do not find them in a proper state than do not do the same to others.

Relate with your colleagues in a healthy way

We spend a lot of hours at work so we might as well have a good time. A nice chat with the colleagues and a bit of laughter brighten up our day and put is in good mood. Getting to know the person behind the work makes co-existence in the office more pleasant.

However, one thing is relating to your fellows and catching up. Another thing is wasting time by spreading rumours. Gossip only poisons the working atmosphere. So, before commenting something I suggest your apply the triple filter of Socrates:

• Truth filter: Are you absolutely sure that what you are going to say is true?
• Goodness filter: What you are going to say is something good or not?
• Usefulness filter: What you are going to say is useful or necessary?

So, if what you wanted to share, does not pass the filter, what did you want to achieve by telling it? Just having something to say and to talk about?

Do you participate in the office #gossip? What the triple filter of #Socrates is and why you should apply it before commenting something. #goodfellow #fellowship Click To Tweet

Are you a good fellow?

Do you have more example of what takes away from or adds to good fellowship? What do you value most in your work colleagues? And more importantly, do you think you are a good fellow?

[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Sharing is caring!