Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi All,
So to give a general description, I'm apparently doing ok according to my new employer, indeed been told im 'really good' from them and given plenty of room to manoeuvre - all good , but got several critical emails from client with 'i'm dissapointed' in it.. ( this to me is game over, all or nothing thinking, just find another career) but i understand its typical language and not personal but inwardly I really can't compute the difference. I'm riddled with anxiety, i don't feel that i am really navigating the cut throat business world - i'm just trying to be the honest me (im *** otherwise) which i think puts me at a disadvantage.
I feel I need to correct this soon or I am going to fail somehow and i'm anticipating losing my job soon. I'm wondering how others deal with similar negative feedback despite doing your best.
Some people will complain just because they can, and in business perhaps they think complaining will get them a discount? Some people are generally unhappy and it spills into everything. Some people have unrealistic expectations and don't take into account others differences or newness to a role.
In my last job I eventually made a friend who almost understood me and I could ask her to explain things from a different perspective, which helped me calm down after similar emails. When someone was disappointed in me I couldn't see anything but my failure she would help me see where the mistake lay (if there was one) or see why the customers expectations were not reasonable.
If a particular issue comes up often could a manager/colleague help you work out ways round it? I was in data analysis and realised I wasn't asking enough questions of the customer because I assumed they knew what they were asking for, a lot of the time they didn't. I wrote down questions and kept them by my computer so that when anyone asked for something I had a guide of things to ask them when they phoned. I would then email them back with my understanding of their requirements asking them to confirm. This reduced issues somewhat. Without that I would end up doing a piece of work multiple times because they would see the results and say, oh I forgot we need to include/exclude this.
If the business world becomes unbearable maybe look for public services to which your skills could be transferred? Local government, NHS etc generally have very clear (if odd) ways of working. It's not so cut throat , although that is changing slowly.