On the Job by Anita Bruzzese Why Its Your Fault Youre Out of the Loop at Work

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese Why It's Your Fault You're Out of the Loop at Work Take a look at comments posted on workplace blogs or on social media sites, and it wont be long before you find an employee complaining that theyre often left out of the loop regarding business decisions. These employees complain that their boss doesnt keep them informed of strategic business decisions, whats in the pipeline for the next year or even how their work is part of the bigger picture. Senior leaders are even worse, they contend. Its a frustration Mike Figliuolo has heard before, and he has a simple response: Thats crap. Figliuolo, managing director ofthoughtLEADERSLLC, says that employees who complain that they dont know what is going on within their company simply arent trying hard enough. If anything, its easier than ever, he says. Just look at your companys organizational chart and find someone about two levels above you. Send that person an email and ask them to send you their departments latest strategic plan. With that information, youll be able to see whats going on and then be able to ask additional questions to determine how you or your department are affected by pending plans or possibly involved in a new initiative. Its just pure laziness to sit back and say, Im not being included, he says. If you cant take the initiative then sure, youre going to sit at the kids table and eat chicken nuggets. An inclusive culture Zappos is a company known for being transparent with workers. Employees not only receive detailed information about the companys performance, but are encouraged to share information about the company. CEO Tony Hsieh often shares company news via Twitter and Facebook, even announcing the layoff of 124 workers in 2008 via Twitter. Some employees may conclude that since they dont work for a company likeZappos, theyre forever doomed to sit at the kids table because their companys culture is different. But Figliuolo argues that many employees simply have never reached out to try and become better informed, and they just expect management to spoon feed them. But if youre an employee ready to become a strategic influence at your company, then Figliuolo suggests: Stepping into someone elses shoes.Instead of looking at an issue only from your perspective, try thinking of it from the position of someone in another department. For example, maybe youre an expert on the minutia of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. But thats not going to get you invited to the table, he says. The key is understanding howSarbanes-Oxley is going to impact the CIOand plans for future development in that department. If you can explain that Sarbanes-Oxley is going to impede those plans, then (read more here)