How I wish notice periods were

A notice period is when you let the company know that “hey, I would like a change of environment, so release me”. So you finally gather the courage and the right moment to quit and then you send in your papers.

Now there are two things when it comes to courage. One is when you are too attached to your team and you have to finally take the decision to leave them. Another one is when you really don’t like the team and want to leave at a moment when people will rarely care.

When it comes to the right moment also there are two sides. One is when you built something exceptionally awesome and everyone is speaking highly of you. Dropping papers would mean the last memory of you, amongst your team members, is of a good employee. Another one is when you have broken something and are resigning to show that you are really sorry.

Either way, once you resign and the company sticks to its words of releasing you as per the contract date with the full settlement you develop one of the two attitudes towards the company. One is I will try and complete all my pending work so that my team doesn’t suffer because of my incomplete work. The other is to let the building burn, I don’t need to do anything attitude.

Professionalism is when both sides stick to their words. The company remunerates for service and you provide the service. You want to be known as an ex-employee of this company and make the company feel proud of having you as an asset too. Maybe because of your goodwill you will get more references and even a chance to rejoin the team at a senior post too. The point is to be kind, it takes $0 for it.

Notice period kind of feels negative too. It automatically gives the impression that an employee won’t work anymore or he is being fired and stuff. We can start calling it a Wrap so that we know the member is completing his contract and moving forward with good memories with the team for life.