4 ms·
No good deed goes unpunished. It's sad but true. The key is to be helpful without being too helpful. If you get a reputation for being the one to call in an
by j_baker 15y ago
No good deed goes unpunished. It's sad but true. The key is to be helpful without being too helpful.
If you get a reputation for being the one to call in an emergency, you'll be the one who gets called in emergencies. If on the other hand, you get a reputation for getting back to people in a day or two unless there's an appropriate reason you need to get back sooner, people will expect you to get back in a day or two unless there's an appropriate reason you need to get back sooner.
- j45 15y agoThat was exactly the story of my life. I got a reputation for handling the work of many people and making emergencies go away (more) permanently. What did it do? More problems sent my way. I became the catch-all. The tough part was transitioning to the 24-48 hour response, not so much for me but the people who knew I can reply in minutes. I added an email auto response saying "I schedule my time in a new way --I check my email 2-4 times a day to reply to everything at once and work uninterrupted for 90 minutes at a time. Call if it's an emergency that hasn't happened before. Otherwise please send me all the details I'll ask you about anyways and I can get back to you right away with an answer in the first email instead of going back and forth. If you need something done right away please let me know what you can take off my plate while I give you a hand." After this, I simply replied to the best emails that let me write them a 30 second response. When you're the guy who helps solve problems, believe me, people will do their leg work to set you up to get back to them quickly. A lot of emails I just emailed them what I would google to find the answer, enjoyed that a lot too.