To Wait or Not To Wait...

Have you ever been waiting around for someone? 

It is pretty annoyinng at times isn't it?

When you are working in a larger organization like a college or university, there are multiple departments and people you need to work with.  There tends to be quite a bit of overlap across the multiple departments.  An important item to understand is to not wait around for someone to do something because sometimes you can miss a critical deadline while waiting for them.

But you have to be careful as well because there is a fine line between not waiting and taking initiative and becoming the guy or girl who "does everything".  Initiative is good but doing everything will lead to burn out.  Nobody wants to burn out.

When I arrived at my position there were a lot of tasks and procedures I just jumped into and began to learn and figure out myself. People are busy and I didn't want to wait on getting things done for someone to show me how to do something.  This is a good and bad approach:

Good - I figured out ways to do things better and more efficient than others had in the past

Bad - I messed several things up because I tried to do them without proper understanding of how to do it

Balance is the key in stepping out and waiting.  Strike that balance and you will be successful in higher education.

Here are some helpful tips I have found for myself:

• Search for previous documentation on a certain policy or procedure before you jump in
• If documentation exists, read it over and see if there is a way to adapt it to be more efficient
• Ask others how things have been done and why
• Put forth new ideas and ways of doing things (worst thing that can happen is that they get shot down)
• Be open to change...BUT don't try to change EVERYTHING

What are some things you have missed out on because you waited too long?

What things were better because you jumped in with initiative to make it happen?