Is just good enough good enough for you? Or do you want to strive for excellence? What is your work ethic? Do you try to do things the best you can or is mediocre OK with you? Many times I see a new employee come into the office ready to prove themselves and full of enthusiasm. We react to that attitude very enthusiastically in return and do everything we can to encourage the team member to continue their great performance. Then, after about six months their progress seems to stop. It's almost like they decided, I can do the basics, now I'm where I need to be, I can relax and coast along.
This is a frustrating situation for a manager. By this time, the employee has become part of the team. You know they are capable of learning and improving, but the will just seems to fade away. You try being patient, finding new ways to communicate, honest performance reviews, stating your expectations, all to no avail. The employee's heels are dug in, they ain't budging. Why in the world does this happen? Beats me.
If you see yourself in this description, ask yourself why you don't want to keep improving. Sure, it may be easier to stay average, but you may be holding the rest of the team back. Others may be getting stuck working harder to make up for your lack of initiative. That can quickly break a team's spirit. Your rut becomes the team's ruin. It happens slowly, but insidiously. Somebody gets exasperated with carrying the extra weight and remarks about it to someone else. Then they start to notice it and they don't like it either. Finally there is a fog of resentment surrounding the team and it can only go one way; up in an eruption of bad feelings and accusations. Then the tears start and the drama begins. It's hard to put this back together again and it rarely makes a team stronger. So what can you do?
Well, if you're the person who has been taking the easy way out, you can look for opportunities to learn more so you can increase your value to the team. If you are in a clerical position, ask someone to show you how to prepare instruments for sterilization, set up rooms, etc. Then when the team is swamped, jump in there and lend a hand. Don't worry about who's job it is. They'll love you for it. If you are clinical, go up front when you have downtime and do some filing or offer to confirm appointments. When you're at work, do just that, work. It's fine to take a break, just don't let it last 40 minutes. You'll have days when good enough has to be good enough. That's fine, as long as it's not the norm. Take a good look at yourself and what you do. Do you enjoy it? Are you proud of your performance? If not, maybe you should think about what you might be more enthusiastic about. If you do like what you do, set some goals for yourself and strive to achieve them. You'll find great satisfaction when you do.
Here's a question to ask yourself, if you were the boss or the patient, would good enough be good enough for you?