I Didn't Meet My Objectives
26 January 2009
Read by 1970 persons
Thomas Soupault, who completely neglected one of his objectives, was nevertheless promoted shortly after his performance review. Like this IT consultant, you haven't met all your employer's requirements? Don't panic: this isn't necessarily a deal breaker, provided you know how to present things.
Disagreement. At the time, Thomas, a thirty-something, was an IT security consultant in an IT services company. He deliberately left aside one of the objectives that had been assigned to him: to formalize documents and procedures for certain products. "I didn't agree on the usefulness of these documents," the young man justifies, "because the products change very quickly." He was also preoccupied "by ever larger projects in terms of stakes and time," in which he now had to "manage other stakeholders, interns or juniors."
Warning! Even if Thomas's results and those of his team were good, the consultant still "prepared his answers" in case his manager asked him for an account of the documentation he had not written. "I had notably calculated the number of projects sold and days spent on assignment at the client's site." The manager did not finally raise the question, but Thomas was ready to acknowledge his shortcomings: "An essential professional quality," analyzes the young man, who now manages five people. "It's not about asking for forgiveness and begging for pity, but being able to say: "If I find myself in a similar context, here's how I'll do it so that the problem doesn't happen again." The golden rule? "Don't appear irresponsible." "It's throughout the year that you have to communicate, and if necessary, warn that you won't be able to meet your objectives," stresses Thomas. "You can always modify, repair, help. The fault is not to warn," the manager continues, who repeats to his team "I'll forgive you anything, except for warning me too late."
Show reliability. Three months after the interview, Thomas was promoted to manager – and he is no longer asked to deal with documentation. Despite this strong show of confidence from his employer, Thomas admits to having "put in a little bad will" by refusing to write the texts he was asked for, "actually not completely useless." If he had to do it again, he analyzes, "I would still try to write some documentation, for example the one that interested me the most. It would have given me even more reliability."
Posted on January 26, 2009
pourseformer.fr
Disagreement. At the time, Thomas, a thirty-something, was an IT security consultant in an IT services company. He deliberately left aside one of the objectives that had been assigned to him: to formalize documents and procedures for certain products. "I didn't agree on the usefulness of these documents," the young man justifies, "because the products change very quickly." He was also preoccupied "by ever larger projects in terms of stakes and time," in which he now had to "manage other stakeholders, interns or juniors."
Warning! Even if Thomas's results and those of his team were good, the consultant still "prepared his answers" in case his manager asked him for an account of the documentation he had not written. "I had notably calculated the number of projects sold and days spent on assignment at the client's site." The manager did not finally raise the question, but Thomas was ready to acknowledge his shortcomings: "An essential professional quality," analyzes the young man, who now manages five people. "It's not about asking for forgiveness and begging for pity, but being able to say: "If I find myself in a similar context, here's how I'll do it so that the problem doesn't happen again." The golden rule? "Don't appear irresponsible." "It's throughout the year that you have to communicate, and if necessary, warn that you won't be able to meet your objectives," stresses Thomas. "You can always modify, repair, help. The fault is not to warn," the manager continues, who repeats to his team "I'll forgive you anything, except for warning me too late."
Show reliability. Three months after the interview, Thomas was promoted to manager – and he is no longer asked to deal with documentation. Despite this strong show of confidence from his employer, Thomas admits to having "put in a little bad will" by refusing to write the texts he was asked for, "actually not completely useless." If he had to do it again, he analyzes, "I would still try to write some documentation, for example the one that interested me the most. It would have given me even more reliability."
Posted on January 26, 2009
pourseformer.fr
