Is it normal to not feel professionaly competent

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My Boss is on vacation. And I'm kind of in charge of things. I'm 21 years old alone at the office with one even younger co-worker. I feel like I'm just pretending to have any clue what I'm doing. I might fuck up things and the clients will want to know why. And I'll have to come up with a logical reason, other then "I'm young and incompetent". I don't want to ruin our company's good name. How do I professionaly man up?

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Comments ( 2 )
  • dappled
    11 years ago

    Anything that's day-to-day business, stuff you've dealt with before, shouldn't be a problem.

    Anything that's out of your comfort zone, work out whether decisions can be deferred until the boss is back. Keep the customers informed about why there is a delay.

    If a decision absolutely has to be made, confer with your co-worker. Even if they don't come up with anything useful, it can crystallise your own opinion just having someone to bounce ideas off.

    If you do make a mistake, own up to it. Mistakes happen. My attitude when I'm managing people is not to blame but to look at how to stop the same mistake happening again. A single mistake rarely makes a big impact on a business, by the way, so don't worry.

    When the boss is back, ask questions. Be proactive in gaining knowledge and insight into why (s)he's making the decisions (s)he's making. Not only will you gain valuable experience for yourself, you'll get a flavour of how your boss wants things done and you'll have more confidence in taking charge next time. You might even get to permanently be in charge.

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    • kupokupo
      11 years ago

      I bet others who came to this pole with intent of replying saw what you had typed and just left again. That was possibly the best advice given I've ever seen on IIN.

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