As a conscientious and determined businessman, you do everything in your power to make smart decisions and take fruitful actions. You do your best to avoid mistakes, but may still be making bad moves every day. They're not the kind of errors that will stand out to you, because you're used to making them. They're bad business habits; knee-jerk, routine actions made without forethought but carrying plenty of consequences.
Because they come to you so naturally, you may find nothing wrong with them. But you can be sure that if you're guilty of any of these nine habits, your superiors and colleagues are wrinkling their noses.
1- You're addicted to your Blackberry
Being organized is all very well, but if you spend most of your day updating and checking your Blackberry, all that organization is pulling you away from actual tasks. Imagine the business you could be bringing the company in the time you spend on your obsessive key-ins. This habit is even worse when practiced in a social environment -- it shows an unhealthy fixation with work.
How to break it:
Work on your Blackberry at home or during your lunch hour.
2- You send out useless group e-mail
It's one thing to send out helpful articles and information to your coworkers. Clicking "Send" every few minutes and filling your colleagues' inboxes with useless comments and humorous forwards, however, wastes time and guarantees that your few important messages will be disregarded. Likewise, writing e-mail replete with acronyms, jargon or bad grammar will get you frowns. You don't speak that way, do you?
How to break it:
Send out relevant information only and ensure that the content of your messages is always clear. You can ensure this by verifying that each one answers the "5 Ws" (who, what, when ,where, why). Comments that don't require everyone's attention can be saved for personal interactions.
3- You rely on business clichs
You tell your coworkers to "think outside the box" in order to "take the low-hanging fruit" and attain "cutting-edge," "scalable" results -- because it's "mission critical!" Like any clich, these business phrases have been used so much they don't really mean anything anymore -- they're just prepackaged terms for the lazy communicator. The most you'll get out of spewing them are rolling eyes.
How to break it:
Say exactly what you mean and come up with fresh ways of saying it. Avoid overused lingo and dead metaphors at all costs.
4- You call meetings about everything
Excessive meetings provide ideal opportunities for workers to doodle on company stationery and exchange virtual giggles on their Bluetooth PDAs. If you call a meeting every time you want to discuss a menial thing, like your personal offense at something that was said or what flavor of Kool-Aid should be served at the company party, you diminish the importance of and set the tone for all meetings, paving the way for disaster at the ones where you close deals and discuss strategies.
How to break it:
If you feel something needs attention but it doesn't involve everyone, discuss it only with the relevant parties. Follow an agenda and avoid dragging out meetings and dragging down your coworkers.
5- You parade whatever you're doing
Even if you're closing a $10 million deal or you saved the company $20,000 by using recycled products, you don't have to advertise it. Being a braggart will not help you win people over. Think about it: Do you admire someone who roars on the phone while walking around the office so that everyone can hear what he's doing? Neither does anyone else.
How to break it:
Let your results speak for themselves. People will notice what you've done without the aid of self-promotion, and they'll admire you all the more for it.
6- You interrupt others
Do you think that what you have to say is so important that you can step over others? You may think you're being a go-getter by trumpeting a better solution before the other person has finished his thought, but by doing so you're coming off as nothing more than rude and obnoxious.
How to break it:
Listen when others speak and offer up your two cents when others are done talking.
7- You constantly provide criticism
It's one thing to offer tips on improving performance at work. But if you're hovering over workers and nitpicking about the way someone uses the copier or staples a report together, then you're frustrating people more than helping them. Though your intentions are good, your execution isn't. In fact, you come off as a micromanaging freak, especially if you don't fully understand what the person is doing or why. Besides, there's more than one way to do things, right?
How to break it:
If you have criticism regarding anyone's work, make sure to offer up a solution with it. Understand what you're talking about before opening your mouth. Most importantly, resist the urge to offer your advice on non-essential things.
8- You do everything by the book
You internalized everything the schoolbooks taught you, but if you still haven't realized that in the real world not everything works the way it does in the printed one, it's time to shut the tomes for a while. Theory gives us a foundation for our knowledge, but protocol can and should be broken at times. The unpredictable commands creative solutions that your professor never taught you. If a coworker is on edge and about to burn out, do you regurgitate some prepackaged claptrap or respond as a human being?
How to break it:
It's all about being aware of the current situation and working with it. Learn to trust your gut and apply solutions that seem ideal, not the ones outlined in books.
9- You over-expense everything
It's one thing to expense a trip to New York for a business meeting, it's a whole other ballgame when you feel you must stay in the president's suite and eat at four-star restaurants. Who do you think you are, an Enron accountant? Spending the company's money casually may and will be regarded as blatant disregard for the company.
How to break it:
Apply the same smart frugality that you use in your business to your expenses. Save the company money and you will be recognized for it.
Rewire your business sense
Bad business habits, like all habits, are hard to break. It's an automated action triggered by a given stimulus. Once you recognize your habit is hurtful, you're halfway there. Now try to catch yourself in the act and stop it in its tracks. Then tell yourself what you should do instead. With persistence you'll have that tic dispelled in no time.
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