Things You Can't Control at Work

Using the grapevine: Let's admit, it's not just women who gossip, even for men gossip is like a fresh air, and until and unless you are not a saint, no matter how hard you try to stay away from it, you'll end up bitching about your colleagues. So rather than avoiding it, enjoy it but make sure that's it's done within the workplace limit, and not in the presence of boss's rats. Also, some companies have zero tolerance towards workplace gossips, so measure the risk before uttering a single word that out of the professional purview.

What we read: 65 hours per year are spent on gossips and 61% of the professionals enjoy it.

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Someone said: Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead. - Benjamin Franklin

People getting jealous of you: If you are doing good and your bosses have acknowledged it in your appraisals, your colleagues will get jealous and chances of you being tagged as the boss's favourite will suddenly become high. Same goes for you. If you are good and competitive, you will get jealous of someone whose name shines on the list of people set for a raise, while management hasn't shown its mercy towards you. There will be times when you will be ahead of someone and then behind a few people, so thinking a lot about workplace jealously isn't the best thing you can do.

What we read: 77% of employees expressed to have experience work related jealously in a University of Notre Dame survey.

Someone said: A negative judgment gives you more satisfaction than praise, provided it smacks of jealousy. - Jean Baudrillard

Your name on the exit list: It doesn't matter how well you do or how short have you been falling of the targets, when they make the list of people they want to get rid off, it's mostly your closeness to the people who matter that will decide whether your existence in the company. Having said that, it's not just the ass-licking that will save you from falling from the grace because even your boss needs a ground to save you.

What we read: 90% of the departures are because of the conflicts.

Someone said: I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. - Steve Jobs

A bad appraisal: If you are not directly reporting to the owner of the company, you can't really blame anyone for a bad appraisal because it's just the top management that decides who gets how much of raise. So, it's like they say Karam Ker Phal Ki Chinta Mat Kar type of attitude that you will have to work with. The sooner you accept it, the lesser you will crib. The only way to get a good hike is to shift to a new job.

What we read: 2012 witnessed an average salary hike of 11.9% in the country according to human resource consulting firm Aon Hewitt. What good can this negligible hike do to your life?

Someone said: I wouldn't mind taking a rest for three or four months, but I have to keep on making films for the sake of my crew, who just wait for the next film because they're not on a fixed salary. - Satyajit Ray

A conversation with negative co-workers: While researchers have proved that merely talking to someone who constantly cribs can affect your productivity, fact is you can't avoid them because such people are part of every workplace. So, just make sure that you don't get so comfortable with them that you become the dumping point of all the negativity that such difficult employees tend to always carry. Talk to them, but within limits.

What we read: 80% of the conversation that chronic negative co-workers try to have with you will somehow affect you.

Someone said: Some people work hard in this business and become really popular, really big stars but they never receive an award from within the business. Somehow, when your colleagues and friends believe in you to the point of handing you an award it means so much more. - Sharon Stone.

Coming face-to-face with work place bullies: There is no dearth of people who would always want to be the center of every conversation, flaunting their I-am-the-boss type attitude, and constantly mocking at you knowing that you won't strike back for the sake of hierarchy. Here, you need to take a tough stand if you are not one of those spineless creatures because if you allow them to take you class once, they'll repeat the act as much as they want to.

What we read: 81% of the work-bullies are bosses according to a 2003 survey conducted in India.

Someone said: It is easy to frighten a bull from the window - Anonymous

What someone else thinks about you: It's one thing that you can't control no matter what you do. People will make opinions about you no matter what you do and then force this opinion on other people in the company. So, don't give a lot of thought to what someone will think if you do something because it wouldn't serve any purpose.

Someone said: Haters are confused admirers who can't understand why everybody loves you. - Paulo Coelho

From the December 2012 issue of FHM India.