Comments on: 10 Business Lessons I Learned from My First (Real) Job http://www.justinkownacki.com/2010/03/09/10-business-lessons-i-learned-from-my-first-real-job/ Armchair Sociologist & Perpetual Contrarian Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:02:46 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Dawn Papuga http://www.justinkownacki.com/2010/03/09/10-business-lessons-i-learned-from-my-first-real-job/comment-page-1/#comment-3712 Dawn Papuga Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:42:00 +0000 http://www.justinkownacki.com/?p=1839#comment-3712 I really like this post, Justin. I found myself nodding along as I was reading, and while I'm finding the Time Management issue to be particularly applicable currently, I have to say that I think #5 is the most important point on your list. It might seem like a small thing to have such great weight, but if you don't (establish and) follow company wide conventions, disaster is always waiting just around the corner to strike. When I was first introduced to this concept, I bucked and fought for my right to be individual and organize things in ways that made sense to (only) me.rnrnThen I took over giant accounts for high profile clients from a guy who resigned adn had been working with those clients for 6 years. When he left, he took 80% of the working knowledge with him. I had to spend two weeks just trying to decypher the filing system while trying to understand the nuances of these clients who were all too accustomed to being pampered and catered to in the very specific way he had done it. It was one long nightmare that only stopped about two weeks before I left the company to move to Baltimore. Had there been a naming, filing, and procedural conventions in place, my transition would have been simple enough. But then, it only works if everyone is on board. rnrnHaving been down that path already, and seeing how disasterous it can be for a company, and seeing that I don't intend to stay in my current position forever, every project I work on is organized so that anyone else could step in seamlessly if something happened to me (good or bad). Thankfully, my company is more fully aware of these kinds of ramifications, so it's not nearly as bad. I really like this post, Justin. I found myself nodding along as I was reading, and while I’m finding the Time Management issue to be particularly applicable currently, I have to say that I think #5 is the most important point on your list. It might seem like a small thing to have such great weight, but if you don’t (establish and) follow company wide conventions, disaster is always waiting just around the corner to strike. When I was first introduced to this concept, I bucked and fought for my right to be individual and organize things in ways that made sense to (only) me.rnrnThen I took over giant accounts for high profile clients from a guy who resigned adn had been working with those clients for 6 years. When he left, he took 80% of the working knowledge with him. I had to spend two weeks just trying to decypher the filing system while trying to understand the nuances of these clients who were all too accustomed to being pampered and catered to in the very specific way he had done it. It was one long nightmare that only stopped about two weeks before I left the company to move to Baltimore. Had there been a naming, filing, and procedural conventions in place, my transition would have been simple enough. But then, it only works if everyone is on board. rnrnHaving been down that path already, and seeing how disasterous it can be for a company, and seeing that I don’t intend to stay in my current position forever, every project I work on is organized so that anyone else could step in seamlessly if something happened to me (good or bad). Thankfully, my company is more fully aware of these kinds of ramifications, so it’s not nearly as bad.

]]> By: Dawn Papuga http://www.justinkownacki.com/2010/03/09/10-business-lessons-i-learned-from-my-first-real-job/comment-page-1/#comment-2550 Dawn Papuga Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:42:06 +0000 http://www.justinkownacki.com/?p=1839#comment-2550 I really like this post, Justin. I found myself nodding along as I was reading, and while I'm finding the Time Management issue to be particularly applicable currently, I have to say that I think #5 is the most important point on your list. It might seem like a small thing to have such great weight, but if you don't (establish and) follow company wide conventions, disaster is always waiting just around the corner to strike. When I was first introduced to this concept, I bucked and fought for my right to be individual and organize things in ways that made sense to (only) me.<br><br>Then I took over giant accounts for high profile clients from a guy who resigned adn had been working with those clients for 6 years. When he left, he took 80% of the working knowledge with him. I had to spend two weeks just trying to decypher the filing system while trying to understand the nuances of these clients who were all too accustomed to being pampered and catered to in the very specific way he had done it. It was one long nightmare that only stopped about two weeks before I left the company to move to Baltimore. Had there been a naming, filing, and procedural conventions in place, my transition would have been simple enough. But then, it only works if everyone is on board. <br><br>Having been down that path already, and seeing how disasterous it can be for a company, and seeing that I don't intend to stay in my current position forever, every project I work on is organized so that anyone else could step in seamlessly if something happened to me (good or bad). Thankfully, my company is more fully aware of these kinds of ramifications, so it's not nearly as bad. I really like this post, Justin. I found myself nodding along as I was reading, and while I'm finding the Time Management issue to be particularly applicable currently, I have to say that I think #5 is the most important point on your list. It might seem like a small thing to have such great weight, but if you don't (establish and) follow company wide conventions, disaster is always waiting just around the corner to strike. When I was first introduced to this concept, I bucked and fought for my right to be individual and organize things in ways that made sense to (only) me.

Then I took over giant accounts for high profile clients from a guy who resigned adn had been working with those clients for 6 years. When he left, he took 80% of the working knowledge with him. I had to spend two weeks just trying to decypher the filing system while trying to understand the nuances of these clients who were all too accustomed to being pampered and catered to in the very specific way he had done it. It was one long nightmare that only stopped about two weeks before I left the company to move to Baltimore. Had there been a naming, filing, and procedural conventions in place, my transition would have been simple enough. But then, it only works if everyone is on board.

Having been down that path already, and seeing how disasterous it can be for a company, and seeing that I don't intend to stay in my current position forever, every project I work on is organized so that anyone else could step in seamlessly if something happened to me (good or bad). Thankfully, my company is more fully aware of these kinds of ramifications, so it's not nearly as bad.

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