Every work environment comes with its perks.
At some places, the office jester who has a knack for lightening the mood and making everyone feel merry takes center-stage at each gathering. In a few others, it’s the strategic thinker, a visionary who barely says a word but has the capacity to take on responsibility and set standards that serves as the lubricant that the raises the scale in productivity for the firm.
While working with people who function at both ends of the spectrum evokes a sense of warmth, cohesion and efficiency, many have been saddled with a unique breed of colleagues who make it a primary duty to drive the team haywire with incessant totalitarian demands. These dynamic set of professionals are called taskmasters.
Although underneath the strict countenance is a sure nest of concern; either for the coworker under the microscope or for the general well-being of the company, it appears they cannot help but exude an air of militarism. They function like shadows, forever hovering above ones shoulder, ready with a marching order at every turn. Rebuke is never far from their lips; it’s an effortless procedure.
Even though working with the ‘taskmaster’ can be nerve-wracking, when handled properly, the situation can be re-engineered for the good of the company and personal peace.
Giving a clear understanding on why a few individuals are predisposed to ensuring that others around them live with very rigid systems in place, Adepetun Olaotan, the lead consultant at Reinhart Klein Consulting stated, “This is an interesting one but most taskmasters are the way they are because many of them were trained in the same manner.
“People cannot be totally different from those under whose tutelage they were raised, particularly during their formative years. So if, for example, there’s somebody that just has a natural inclination to push people to the limit all the time even to the point where others might hold back, it’s likely that man or woman only sees that as a means to getting results they want because that is how they were taught,” he said.
Although there are viable explanations that tend to draw empathy upon analysis, some experts state that it takes patience and wisdom to profitably co-habit with them. Nevertheless, if the reins are allowed to go uninhibited, it just may cause a rift in the fabric of qualitative enterprise, especially in a case where the taskmaster is not the boss.
Abimbola Daramola, the business manager at Falcon Gas Nigeria Limited, who at the moment works with an impressive team leader has had her fair share of experiences.
Revealing how she has handled dicey situations while working alongside this group, she said, “As much as possible, especially for the good of the organization, I do my [my part of the job] but when the person starts making requests that affect my productivity or tampers with what I was employed to do, I pass that request to the side. If it is something that has to be delayed, I tell the person to give me time. Anybody that is not my boss and is giving me rules and deadlines is just not sensible. “
It’s not all sour grapes, working with a person who functions with a rigid disposition. As Abimbola reveals, there are a few benefits to trudging the mill with an imperious colleague in tow.
She posits, “[Taskmasters] help you to work harder than you would have and cause you to give more than the minimal. In my case, if I am given a task to handle, I try to think like the person who gave me that task and get information from every angle so that when I am being asked questions, I already have the answers.
“Another thing I do is that I try to get somebody else to review my work before submitting. When I finish a project, I hold on to it for about half an hour and then revisit it so that I can look at it from a different angle. This also relieves pressure from me and that is how I have been able to work for the past 19 years.”
Like Abimbola, many others have found ways to weave through the dreary encounters they are confronted with by the company’s taskmaster. However if the incidents keep reoccurring, as a wise woman once said “Throw a little bit of wisdom in the mix, everything should be just fine!”
Rita Ohai
