It is difficult to maintain a good working relationship with those who are unreliable or whose words we cannot depend upon. That’s only common sense. What surprises me is how many people I’ve worked with who remain undependable without recognizing the harm they do themselves.

Mitchell was such a person. I inherited him as part of a cost-estimating group when I was promoted section supervisor. Almost everything Mitchell said or promised to do was open to doubt without further verification.

When he said that he would have the estimating report done on Tuesday, he had it ready one or two Tuesdays later. When he said it would be done, sometimes the word “done” meant a rough draft, sometimes it meant an outline and only occasionally was it done reasonably well. When his production estimate for a machined part was two hours I was never sure whether it would include setup time as well as machining time. He was unreliable unless I pinned everything down in advance in writing. How or why his prior supervisor tolerated him I don’t know. I could not.

A person’s lack of credibility makes it impossible to work with them. When someone says, “This is what happened,” or “These are the facts,” one must have reasonable faith in what they say.

Reliability and credibility are essential in the workplace. Without them, positive relationships can not exist.