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Are you among the over two and a half million people who are working temporary jobs? If so, you are part of a new class of nomads who are shaping corporations for the 21st century. Organizations that were once bastions of security, promising protection and pensions, are negotiating long-term contracts with employment agencies to fill temp positions. These jobs go beyond the clerical, industrial, and seasonal assignments typical 10 years ago. Today's work-force wanderers include information systems specialists, programmers, engineers, recruiters, marketers, health-care workers, and adjunct professors.
As a virtual worker, it's important to be aware of games in the temp sandbox and to tap your capacity for resilience, flexibility, and action. Here are seven suggestions to make temp work more productive and fun.
1. Create a game plan. Be clear about your own vision, mission, and objectives. Spell out your best features and the benefits you provide. Ask: What has value and meaning for me? What do I want to accomplish in life? What will move me closer to living my vision and achieving my mission? What do I have to offer that's unique? How will people prosper from using my products and services?
2. Project a professional image. Be courteous and pleasant. Exhibit a positive attitude no matter how you are feeling. Brush up on your presentation skills. Dress one-half level better than the person who signs your check. Never talk to anyone about the people who hire you except to praise them. Arrive early. Overestimate the time it will take to complete a project; then deliver the service or product early. Don't burden people with details. If their expectations are too high, tell them and provide a workable alternative. Express appreciation for assistance. Manage your own time (an IRS requirement). Bill double time after 6 p.m. and for over 40 hours per week. Bill triple time after 10 p.m. on weekdays and all day on Saturdays and Sundays.
3. Cultivate the art of instant familiarity. One drawback of position mobility is detachment from traditional avenues for forming relationships. In the world of ever-changing jobs, the gradual process of unmasking and revealing "the real me" isn't feasible. Temps must form new relationships quickly by accelerating the process of getting acquainted. Think of an experience where you found out a lot about a total stranger in a short period of time, such as a long-distance flight, a crisis situation, or a short-term living arrangement. Recall the skills you used. Be friendly and informal. Ask questions to find out what you have in common. Share humorous stories and anecdotes.
4. Learn to shape-shift. In the temp world, the only constancy is change. Work assignments call for involvement with different people, ideas, and activities. Coping with constant change takes adaptation and flexibility. If you march to a different drummer, go to band practice. Attend department meetings and social activities to understand the culture. Examine your assumptions. Become fluid and many-sided.
5. Master leapfrog linking. In some circumstances, permanent employees treat temps as second-class citizens. To counteract this tendency, look for ways to acquire power. The closer you are to power, the greater power you exert. Identify influential people in the organization. Learn to jump hurdles in order to connect with them. Add value to their projects so they will be inclined to maintain contact with you.
6. Be a clever traveler. Nomadic tribes moved as groups, carrying their possessions, relationships, and entire ways of life with them. Temporary employees often have to cope with feelings associated with relocation. Because you aren't connected to work groups from whom you can derive readymade values and professional identity, it's important to create a sense of home. Stay centered through personal integrity. Clarify what you will and won't do, based on your values. Develop commitments to special people. Follow the example of composer/musician John Cage who said, "We carry our homes within us, which enables us to fly."
7. Map the turf. To counteract feelings of being an outsider, get to know the territory. Develop a hip-pocket scheme for quickly sizing up processes, practices, and politics in organizations so you can hit the ground running. Be sensitive and responsive to group norms by learning how people do things. Emphasize aspects of your background and personal attributes that are a good fit for each environment while downplaying those that aren't.
Susan M. Osborn (sosborn@ix.netcom.com) is a consultant, public speaker, and author of The System Made Me Do It! A Life Changing Approach to Office Politics.
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