WEBVTT - Help! My Co-Worker Isn't Working!

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<v Speaker 1>Hi, I'm Britney Saunders and welcome to Big Business Today.

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<v Speaker 1>You've landed in one of my bonus episodes, which come

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<v Speaker 1>out every Wednesday. Just in case you didn't know, I

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<v Speaker 1>have had a juicy question slide into my DMS from Kristen.

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<v Speaker 1>Shout out to Kristin for sending this through. Let's read

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<v Speaker 1>it out and let's give my advice. Even though I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know what I'm talking about. I do, but you know, okay?

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<v Speaker 1>Are you able to make an episode about employee conflict

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<v Speaker 1>and how you would expect an employee to approach you

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<v Speaker 1>or manager about another employee. I work in a very

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<v Speaker 1>small knit law firm and we have a receptionist who

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<v Speaker 1>completely messes up everything and makes more work for everyone else.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh that's a tough one. No matter how many times

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<v Speaker 1>you try and teach and explain how to do it correctly,

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<v Speaker 1>she never takes notes or changes her processes. Our files

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<v Speaker 1>are a mess. We've got missing documents constantly, and it

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<v Speaker 1>makes our job so much harder. Any advice how or

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<v Speaker 1>if I should approach my bosses? We are all blamed first,

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<v Speaker 1>and she never takes responsibility. That's really tough. Our bosses

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<v Speaker 1>never say anything, and I'm getting really over it and

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<v Speaker 1>tend to jump to her defense. I'm not sure if

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<v Speaker 1>it's even worth saying anything, but myself and other employees

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<v Speaker 1>are over it. That's a really hard scenario, so I

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<v Speaker 1>guess I can only speak from my standpoint. I guess

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<v Speaker 1>from my perspective being the boss, if there was one

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<v Speaker 1>team member in our workplace that was really kind of

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<v Speaker 1>dropping the ball and everyone else was suffering because of it,

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<v Speaker 1>and if it was something that I wasn't aware of

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<v Speaker 1>at all, I would absolutely want to know. But I

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<v Speaker 1>guess it depends, like how much you care and how

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<v Speaker 1>much your coworkers care. At the end of the day,

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<v Speaker 1>clearly you care enough because you know you've reached out

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<v Speaker 1>to me and you've let me know your trouble, So

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<v Speaker 1>obviously this is an issue that's bugging you enough that

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<v Speaker 1>I definitely think it's worth mentioning to your bosses. My

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<v Speaker 1>first question is, like, maybe your bosses are already aware

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<v Speaker 1>of this if like, surely they are, But then again,

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<v Speaker 1>like things can definitely go unnoticed. But I guess your

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<v Speaker 1>question is like, how would I expect an employee to

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<v Speaker 1>approach me about another employee. I think it's really important,

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<v Speaker 1>like for workplaces to have open communication, and I would

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<v Speaker 1>only hope that all of my staff would feel comfortable

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<v Speaker 1>coming to me to talk about anything, especially if it

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<v Speaker 1>is about one of their co workers. And I guess

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<v Speaker 1>one of the hard things when it comes to having

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<v Speaker 1>an issue with another coworker is you never want to

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<v Speaker 1>look like you're throwing them under the bus. And I

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<v Speaker 1>think a lot of people will have guilt surrounding that.

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<v Speaker 1>And in my experience, you know, I've had staff come

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<v Speaker 1>to me in the past to essentially make a complaint

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<v Speaker 1>about someone else. But the tricky thing from my end

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<v Speaker 1>is they've come to me and said, hey, Britt, this

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<v Speaker 1>problem is happening and this is the person that is

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<v Speaker 1>causing it. But I don't want them to know that

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<v Speaker 1>I told you. And so as bosses we get put

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<v Speaker 1>in a really awkward situation where we can't do anything

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<v Speaker 1>without kind of pointing out who came to us kind

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<v Speaker 1>of thing. And I've found myself in that situation where

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<v Speaker 1>I've had to say to someone, look, I absolutely want

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<v Speaker 1>to do something about this, but because you're the one

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<v Speaker 1>coming to me and the issue is lying between you

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<v Speaker 1>and this other person, like this is going to kind

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<v Speaker 1>of have to be all of us involved in this,

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<v Speaker 1>and I think as an employee, you just have to

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<v Speaker 1>not be scared in that situation of how that other

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<v Speaker 1>employee is going to maybe react or you know, they

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<v Speaker 1>might feel like you've dibb a dabbed on them or whatever,

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<v Speaker 1>because at the end of the day, as bosses, we

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<v Speaker 1>only want what's best for the whole team. We want

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<v Speaker 1>everyone to be happy, and sometimes we have to have

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<v Speaker 1>a really shitty, awkward conversation that's going to make a

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<v Speaker 1>few people feel really out of their comfort zone in

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<v Speaker 1>order to fix that problem and hopefully move forward all together.

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<v Speaker 1>So my best advice for you would be to maybe

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<v Speaker 1>speak with the other coworkers that are experiencing this same

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<v Speaker 1>problem and say, hey, like I think we should, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>take this to our bosses. Maybe there's two of you

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<v Speaker 1>that want to arrange a meeting with your boss together

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<v Speaker 1>if you'd both like to give your feedback, or maybe

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<v Speaker 1>you're going to be the one that's going to kind

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<v Speaker 1>of take one for the team, and I'd schedule in

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<v Speaker 1>a time to sit down with your boss, even write

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<v Speaker 1>everything out that you want to cover with them, like

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<v Speaker 1>give yourself some dot points all the things that you

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<v Speaker 1>want to go over. There's no shame in showing up

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<v Speaker 1>with a bunch of notes that you want to go through.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe there's certain things that have happened on certain days

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<v Speaker 1>or during certain times, and I'd just sit down and

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<v Speaker 1>as awkward as you'll feel, and you know, I want

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<v Speaker 1>to throw someone under the bus, I would just map

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<v Speaker 1>out to your boss, like all the things that are happening,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, how it's affecting your team, how it's affecting

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<v Speaker 1>you in your role. Is this person stopping you from

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<v Speaker 1>doing things that are more important because you're there just

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<v Speaker 1>constantly trying to pick up the pieces. I just go

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<v Speaker 1>to them, open and honestly, and hopefully you will get

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<v Speaker 1>a good response from the boss that they are willing

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<v Speaker 1>to look further into this and hopefully figure out a solution.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that's like my best advice, and you definitely

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<v Speaker 1>don't want to leave it, especially if it's impacting your

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<v Speaker 1>day to day job and your well being at work.

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<v Speaker 1>I'd just go in, have that awkward conversation and see

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<v Speaker 1>how your boss comes back to you, and it may

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<v Speaker 1>have to be them then taking this information and going

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<v Speaker 1>and speaking with the employee. I know this is what

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<v Speaker 1>I would do. For example, let's say you were working

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<v Speaker 1>for me and you have come to me and said, look,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm experiencing X, Y and Z with this other person.

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<v Speaker 1>I would take that on board and say, no worries,

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<v Speaker 1>leave it with me for the time being. Then what

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<v Speaker 1>I would do is I would go and organize a

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<v Speaker 1>meeting with the other person. And I would tread really

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<v Speaker 1>lightly to begin with, because you don't want it to

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<v Speaker 1>turn into like a battle between your two employees. But

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<v Speaker 1>instead I would go to the other person and i'd

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<v Speaker 1>just sit them down and just do a check in,

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<v Speaker 1>like how are you going with everything? How are you

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<v Speaker 1>finding your workflow? There's ways for us as bosses to

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<v Speaker 1>kind of bring up issues without you know, throwing you

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<v Speaker 1>under the bus, for example, and I would say things like, oh,

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<v Speaker 1>I've noticed this, I've noticed that if I'm in that

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<v Speaker 1>office or wherever every day kind of thing. Before I

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<v Speaker 1>would fully go and say this person has said, because

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<v Speaker 1>that's when it can get really awkward. But I would

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<v Speaker 1>only hope that That's what your boss would do for you,

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<v Speaker 1>is they would go and try and figure it out

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<v Speaker 1>with the other person, try and help them in their

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<v Speaker 1>role in any way before it gets to the point

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<v Speaker 1>of having to get everyone involved and everyone talking about

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<v Speaker 1>all of these issues in the sun room. So I

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<v Speaker 1>guess that would be my advice is just write everything down,

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<v Speaker 1>have the awkward conversation with your boss, and hope that

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<v Speaker 1>they will do something about it. And if they say

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<v Speaker 1>they're going to do something about it, and another month

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<v Speaker 1>goes by and nothing happens, like I just touch base again.

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<v Speaker 1>It is a tricky scenario, but at the end of

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<v Speaker 1>the day, I know, speaking from my experience, I want

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<v Speaker 1>everyone to be happy in their roles. I want everyone

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<v Speaker 1>to be fulfilling their roles, and I would be mortified,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, if one person was letting my entire team

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<v Speaker 1>down and I didn't know about it. So hopefully your

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<v Speaker 1>boss will be grateful that you are bringing this up

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<v Speaker 1>to them, and hopefully it can be something that can

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<v Speaker 1>be resolved, because there's nothing worse than just feeling like

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<v Speaker 1>you're constantly having to pick up after someone else if

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<v Speaker 1>they're not doing their job right, and that's not on

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<v Speaker 1>you to fix that. It's definitely on your boss or

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<v Speaker 1>your manager or whoever it is that you're going to

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<v Speaker 1>be approaching. But yeah, I guess that's that's my best

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<v Speaker 1>advice for you, Kristen. Let me know how you go.

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<v Speaker 1>Keep me in the loop, and sorry that you're feeling

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<v Speaker 1>this way. I feel like, unfortunately, this is something that

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of people probably deal with in workplaces, just

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<v Speaker 1>feeling like they are constantly having to do someone else's

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<v Speaker 1>job and it really is not fair because you really

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<v Speaker 1>should only be doing the job that you're designated to do,

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<v Speaker 1>and that is your role. So I hope that your

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<v Speaker 1>boss can pull some strings and help out the other

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<v Speaker 1>employee to be more efficient in their role, or maybe

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<v Speaker 1>workout somewhere along the line that maybe that person isn't

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<v Speaker 1>meant to be in that role. But who am I

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<v Speaker 1>to say who should be in your workplace because I

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<v Speaker 1>don't even know where it is and I've got nothing

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<v Speaker 1>to do with it. But thanks so much for sending

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<v Speaker 1>through your question. If anyone else has any questions that

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<v Speaker 1>you would like me to give my professional not professional

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<v Speaker 1>advice on Britney's advisory is open. Send me an email.

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<v Speaker 1>It's always in my show notes or slide into my

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<v Speaker 1>DMS or my Big Business Podcast Instagram account. And that's

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<v Speaker 1>all for today's episode. I'll be back next week. For

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<v Speaker 1>my man, so I'll see you then, mhm.