The following is a list of things you can complain about at work. It is not comprehensive but will cover a lot of the territory that I usually hear about. Take a slow read and ask yourself, “Have I ever complained about…
- The insensitive boss
- The long commute
- The irritating co-worker
- The food in the break room
- The slow computer network
- The health benefits
- The stress
- The customers
- The hours
- The smell of reheated burritos
- The temperature in the office
- The empty red licorice bucket
- The construction noise outside
- The distance to the parking lot
- The compensation of executives
- The work on weekends
- The people in IT
- The new crop of MBAs
- Sexual harassment training
- The workload
- The travel requirements
- The airlines
- The expense report forms
- Take your child to work day
- The lack of time for planning
- The co-workers who complain
- The uncomfortable chairs
- The people in HR
- The slow elevator
- The security people at the front desk
- The quality of the coffee
- The clueless interns
- The quality of the toilet paper in the lavatory
- The “others” who get all the attention
- The company travel policy
- The Monday staff meetings
- The performance review forms
- The lack of communications
- The office morale
- The printer always out of paper
- The people who constantly complain.
Any sound familiar? I suspect that some of the complaints can be heard on any given day in any office in the world. Guess what? No one cares much about complaints. Complaining doesn’t build relationships. Complaining creates a barrier — no one wants to talk to a constant complainer.
When it comes to job satisfaction, research shows that the friends we make and the relationships that we build improve satisfaction. It’s a no brainer, if you want to have healthy relationships at work, don’t complain.
If you are in a terrible situation at work, you have three options:
Option one: As is. For whatever the reasons might be, you need to keep the job. Stop complaining about it and look for good things.
Option two: Put a plan together to find a new job. Set a deadline and begin the process knowing that it may take a while. In the meantime, don’t complain. Your co-workers might need to be a reference.
Option three: Quit. Now there are no more reasons to complain about the job. Don’t find new ones.
Complaining is not your friend.