Safety Net
This post is a collaboration between Daruma Doll and Wall Genesius. We will be sharing our view on the use of a safety net from two different eyes.
I am into outbounds. It challenges me to better conquer the quest. My favourite is the Flying Fox. Most of the activities are done from a certain height and it scares me at times. Before starting the activities, we usually will be equipped with safety measures like a harness and safety net so when we fall we will be caught by the net and by the harness too.
The safety net is a term that can be used in many aspects of life. One example of a safety net related to finance is having adequate emergency funds just in case anything out of the ordinary happens.
In this post, we will be looking at two different perspectives. As I’m more familiar with the corporate setting, I will share my experiences on how the safety net is utilised. The second perspective would be coming from Devon Wiranata. He works in a creative agency startup.
Mature Corporation Setting
I have been having quite many discussions with my peers and seniors concerning work and leadership. A good friend of mine works in one of the biggest multinational companies. On one evening after work, we had dinner and talked about our work experiences. Early in her career, her team leaders set good standards to follow. They always give good examples on how to reach the end goal, and why they are doing certain things. She was equipped with these soft skills thus when regeneration happens, she will be ready to take over the role.
In a career, after an internship period is over, we would be promoted to staff. From the staff level, we would be promoted to managerial level, so on and so forth if we are deemed to be capable of shooting for the star.
Superiors and leaders at work hold essential roles especially in the early stage of our careers. One of my mentors told me this, “Leaders would be holding three different positions. They should be:
- Leading from the front means leaders to define end goals, and strategy to achieve it
- Leading from the side means walking together with the team members and making sure that everyone’s on board. It’s crucial in building a solid communication pipeline
- Leading from behind means they can use the helicopter view method to check whether the team has gone in the right direction. They would be encouraging and supporting fellow team members, and probably once in a while give a kick to motivate them, and pat them on the back after doing a good job.”
When I just joined, I didn’t have much experience as I just graduated from university. I am often invited to attend meetings. At meetings I didn’t say much, I was there to listen and learn new things. About 2–3 weeks later, my team was assigned an acquisition project — it was my first project. Throughout the duration, I observed how my superior gave the team clear directions on which end goal we should get, and what we should do.
Approximately a couple of months after the first project was finished, I was assigned a second project. I was more involved in the second one than the first one as I have successfully finished the first one. That’s how it goes until I was let to lead a project. My superior was always there.
She set the pace and direction at the start of the project and let me lead the team. She created a communication pipeline and made sure that everyone’s on board. As she can use helicopter view, she was able to identify some problems that I couldn’t see as I was to immerse in the depth of the tunnel. She made sure that everything went smoothly until the results were delivered.
My other more senior colleagues also once mentioned how leading by example is crucial. It allows their team members to know which direction to choose. On busy days, they said to me “luckily we have set the standard at the beginning. When there are so many projects due at the same time, we don’t have to worry too much because we know that they are capable. Remember, leaders are always here to support you whenever you need help.”
The role of safety nets may not be visible at first, but they are useful in providing comfort for us to walk through the challenge. This ensures that we continue to dare to move forward and need not have to be afraid of making mistakes. Of course not doing things arbitrarily but with the principle of prudence.
Startup Setting
Hi, it’s my turn, Devon from Wall Genesius. In my opinion, it’s a kind of different thing in the small business or start-ups area. Okay, maybe I can’t generalize all of them, but I will tell my perspective from working in a creative agency startup.
As a videographer in a startup company with 7 to 8 employees, it will be a bit difficult to find the safety net. We will be our own safety net. There is no example in the front because only me who does the video stuff, in the back there is no one to take over my job, but they can support me and assure me to get motivated.
It’s not a really bad thing when you don’t have any safety net. I see this as a challenge because we will learn everything from the experience. One more thing, we can use our very basic gear, it’s communication. Maybe it’s a little bit cliche, but, in my opinion, we need to communicate more and more to our employer and our team to make ourselves safe.
By communicating, we cut the lack of information which can lead to mistakes. As there is a big hole on the road, we can slip and fall into the hole if we lack information. On the other hand, if it’s already communicated, for example, from a board written “DANGER” we will be more careful.
Then how to communicate? We can start with questions. Some questions that I’ve asked my boss are:
- What is your expectation of me?
- What are the short-term goals? Or What is the Key Performance Index (KPI)?
- What are the Do’s and Don’ts? Especially the Don’ts, so we knew what we shouldn’t do.
The questions are helping me out to get the work done. I knew that my boss’ expectation was not a Marvel Cinematic Universe-que style of editing, just more simple content to do.
So, that’s all what I learnt about the safety net in my career. Maybe if there’s no safety net just try to do what you have right now. The most simple thing is communication. By asking opinions from others you can fix or avoid mistakes.
