Understand how to agree working arrangements
1.2 - In the workplace almost anyone will be faced with a situation that will require them to change the times they do their work. whether its a family emergency or something trivial like the trains being delayed, there will come a point you will have to change your arrangements.
Ways to do this tactfully and to ensure your working relationship is not damaged is a simple case of consideration for your colleges and those around you. for example:
If you have been delayed in transit to your workplace ensure that you call in, explaining the reason and possibly giving an estimated time for your arrival. This way you can let your team or colleagues work around your unfortunate delay.
Booking holiday is something we all enjoy doing. To ensure your not putting your team in a situation where they suddenly lose you for 2 weeks while you party in Malaga, it is advisable to book any holiday at least (I would say) 2 weeks in advance, this gives your colleagues time to work around your absence and for you to put in place measures for easing the increased workload they will encounter.
Calling in when sick rather then just taking the day off to lay in bed, at least informs the workplace of your
absence allowing them to workaround it while also simply letting them know you wont be in, as in some cases people are know not just take the day off and email. but often emails can go unnoticed and leaves the employer waiting on your arrival.
2.1 "Explain the importance of balancing the needs of tasks and people"
Often at work people can quickly become inundated at work by taking too much on. But work life is a balance you need to prioritize your own workload and keep in mind the workloads of other people. Just as you cannot draft up some contracts if your out at meetings all day other people cannot get on with their day without them, these situations are often finalised by negotiation and prioritization of tasks and even delegation. Making sure your not putting people out by being late with your work or not having certain things done in time for them can also work against you as when the tables are turned they may not take you as seriously as someone else who has consistently been able to liaise effectively with them.
2.2 "Explain the importance of sharing information with other people"
Communication is key, this is something that has been drilled into us apprentices over the course of this ....course and only now are we realising how true this fact is. Sharing information whether it be your progress on a project, an estimated date for your finish, ringing other colleagues to inform them of changes around your workplace. Communication is key to ensure that you are working effectively with those around you and making a contribution to the team effort, as an employee who doesn't let others know they're plans or progress can leave other members of the team in the dark or have them assume that they are further along then they are. It helps to communicate to not only manage expectations but provide a helpful and more effective working environment for all involved.
2.3 "Identify ways of tactfully requesting others to change working arrangements to improve own productivity"
There are ways of asking for things in life, and often the best way is the polite way. In the workplace there are ways of approaching people and asking for things, often called negotiation but I personally call it general manners. For example if you needed the person who dealt with the post each morning to go collect it 20 minutes earlier as your break for lunch starts before they give your post meaning you end up opening your post over your lunch break, you can approach that person with your dilemma and ask them if they could possibly arrange to pick it up slightly earlier than normal. the way not to ask for this is to talk to others around the office complaining of the fact your post is late and generally creating bad blood between you and the office postman. Tactfully basically implies that you are asking politely and considerately, if your request is within the realms of reason it should not be a problem as long as you are honest and come forward with a workable alternative to how things are made at the moment, often if you explain how getting this post would improve your workload and efficiency (even possibly helping with theirs as well), the problem can be quickly and effectively sorted out, but most importantly it will be sorted in a way that helps build your relationship with that person and help improve your productivity.
2.4 "Describe how to explain own decisions clearly and constructively"
When you have an idea in a meeting or discussion there are ways of going about it to not look like you are shooing down anyone you are speaking to, again tactfully is the word you need to keep in mind. If you have come with a criticism or a flaw in someones idea you can communicate it in a way that is better than "NO, YOUR WRONG THAT WONT WORK". You must approach these situations with consideration of who you are speaking to as often they will be someone you are working with on a day to day basis as well as giving clear and concise reasons as it wont work, otherwise you are offering criticism with no basis. Its more of a point of making sure that what you say isn't misinterpreted as you attacking the person directly but merely coming up with an alternative to their proposal. Often i find the best way to ensure that is to say things like "I understand you point, but have have we considered this..." its often a case of ensuring that you are wording yourself correctly and coming up with alternatives rather than creating bad blood by the constant shooting down of others.
When it comes to making decisions yourself you must always be able to explain the reasons behind them, for example when asked why you you have taken all the files on a computer and saved them on a hard drive rather than shrugging and saying something like "oh, it will help" consider giving the actual benefits of this exercise "I put the files on there to ensure that if we were to lose this computer to an electrical fault we have a backup, as well as allowing us to transfer files over easier. I hope thats OK" things like this can only help your relationships at the workplace.
2.5 "Describe how to resolve conflict situations or dissatisfaction"
Everyone hopes they can go through life without conflict, this unfortunately is not how things often pan out. So if the situation arises in the workplace where you find yourself in a conflict situation such as you have forgotten to post something important, or not finished uploading a file somewhere, rather than become insular and take whatever reprimand you will no doubt receive. Give active, helpful solutions of how you can begin to rectify the problem (if at all possible) or if not make sure you are telling the person of the measures and the steps you will implement to your work persona or workload to avoid another confrontation or dissatisfaction in the future.
2.6 "Explain the importance of liaison with colleagues to productivity"
Working as part of a team is essential in most media jobs, from an animation to a talent agency teams are reliant on each other to grow as a unit as well as individually. Liaising with your colleagues on a project can be a great way of cultivating your skills as well as using the strengths and skills of other professionals around your workplace to collaborate on a piece of work to ensure it is finished. With liaison you can delegate tasks, re negotiate certain parts of projects that could potentially not work as well as having people to bounce ideas for the future with. This as well as being able to learn from other peoples experience and by that method improve your own productivity. This can be done simply such as emailing your colleagues letting them know your thoughts on the project, giving them helpful tips. Holding meetings to see where you would like to go forward as a collective as well building the trust between yourselves that you are in contact with someone who will get back to you and is able to work with you on future productions. For as we all know...
....Collaboration is key.
