If you are looking for a way to gain respect from managers and colleagues, make a habit of telling the truth. It's tempting to tell workplace lies to advance your career or avoid getting into trouble, but someone is bound to find out if you are less than truthful. Stay on the straight and narrow by avoiding these common workplace lies.
1. Exaggerating Experience
When you apply for a job, it's important to emphasize all of your experience. Doing so gives you a better chance of finding a job that matches your unique combination of experience and skills. However, you should never exaggerate your skills or embellish your work history. Even if your manager doesn't find out right away, you don't want to land a job under false pretenses.
2. Faking Illness
If you are too ill to go to work, you should stay home and recuperate, but don't be tempted to call in sick just because you want to enjoy the nice weather or play a new video game. Faking illness is one of the most common workplace lies, but it's one that puts your colleagues at a real disadvantage. Every time you lie about being sick, someone has to cover for you at work.
3. Giving Inaccurate Feedback
One of the biggest reasons people tell workplace lies is to avoid hurting feelings. You may not want to tell your colleague his report is riddled with errors, but it's important that you do so. If you don't provide accurate feedback, your colleagues don't have the opportunity to improve their work.
4. Faking Job Satisfaction
Most people don't enjoy every aspect of their job, and that's fine. You don't have to enjoy long meetings or late nights at the office. It becomes a problem when you hate almost everything about your job and try to cover it up with a fake smile and cheerful demeanor.
5. Blaming Others
No one wants to get into trouble for making a mistake, but you need to accept responsibility for your work. If you mess up, tell your manager immediately and look for a way to fix the problem. Don't lie and tell your manager someone else made the mistake.
6. Lying About Emails
One of the most common workplace lies centers around communication. If you forget to do something, don't tell your manager you never got the email with the assignment. Just fess up, and find ways to be more on top of things in the future.
When it comes to professional quandaries, the truth really does set you free. If you make a habit of telling the truth at all times, you don't have to worry about coming up with workplace lies to cover your mistakes. All you have to do is be honest with your colleagues.
Photo courtesy of winnond at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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