define perception at work?

Answer 1

My boss says "perception becomes reality" - once you get a reputation for a certain type of behaviour e.g. being lazy or inept, then as far as your career's concerned it doesn't matter whether it's true or not. If that's what the grapevine thinks about you then individuals will tend to look for signs that it's true - if they look at all - and will never give you the opportunity to prove them wrong (e.g. by giving an important project to you when they could give it to someone else instead) because of the risk to them if you don't deliver.

Similarly, if you get lucky (and I think there is an element of luck, as to which projects you are put on and who you work with) and manage to impress certain key players early on, you become the golden child and you have to really mess things up badly and often in order to lose that status.

If those two people then made an identical mistake, one might find it raised at his appraisal as further proof of his incompetence, while the other would be told not to worry because these things happen to the best of us.

I have no idea whether this is what you meant but I think it's a good insight into the way large firms operate when the "team" is far too big for people to know each other well, especially those with a pyramid management structure.

Answer 2

Perception is profoundly personal; different people perceive their roles in a mode that is in their own comfort zone.

Answer 3

The sight of my work piling up.