By Chaz Kyser
Advancing within your company and career overall requires more than years of experience and a list of achievements. You have to earn the respect not only of your superiors, but of your colleagues as well. How your coworkers view you, work with you, and respond to you can make or break your career path within a company. Here’s how you can position yourself within your workplace as someone others can count on.
Master Your Role: The most significant way you can get your coworkers to think highly of you is by doing your job—and doing it well! You could be the friendliest employee in the office, but it won’t do much for your likability if you frequently struggle with your tasks, skip steps, make errors, or turn assignments in late. On the other hand, it’s natural to like an employee who is so knowledgeable and so good at what they do that they make everyone else’s job a little bit easier. Be the person nobody has to worry about and your coworkers will greatly appreciate it.
Offer Your Help: Doing your job is expected, but helping others with their jobs goes above and beyond. By volunteering your assistance when others need it, you’ll demonstrate to your coworkers that you’re someone who’s in it for the company, and not just for themselves. You’ll also position yourself as a leader amongst your colleagues. Offer to stay late to help a team finish up a project. Set up for an office event. Bring in coffee for your department on a sleepy Monday morning. You may find your colleagues falling over themselves to return the favor and sing your praises.
Have a Professional Presence: Help keep workplace opinions of you professional by not giving your coworkers something to talk about. You can do this by making sure that you always present yourself in the best possible manner. Double-check that your attire is on par with the company standards. Keep your water cooler conversations appropriate. Act courteous towards everyone with whom you correspond. You should also keep in mind that happy hours, company parties, and out-of-town conferences are still work events and not the time to let loose. If you’re going to befriend colleagues on social media, make sure your pictures and posts aren’t anything that’s going to raise eyebrows.
Avoid Office Gossip: Getting wrapped up in who’s on the boss’ bad side, who should have gotten the promotion, and who’s seeing who outside the workplace, can be an easy mistake to make but it can come with hard consequences. Taking part in office gossip can be hurtful to people around you—some of whom could have a say in your career now or in the future. While bonding over stories might make you some quick friends in the short term, you won’t be taken seriously in the long run. Lastly, spreading a few things you’ve heard around the office might not get you fired, but should you accidentally leak confidential information, or say something that lands you in HR, you could find yourself in a bit of trouble. When faced with office gossip, it’s best to excuse yourself from the conversation or change the subject.
Play By the Rules: You may find at some point in your current position that there’s a number of things that you’re able to “get away with,” especially if you’re well-liked by your supervisors. While you could arrive at your desk a little late, leave work a little early, skip a meeting, or take an extra hour of lunch, all without anyone saying a word, it’s important that you don’t abuse these special privileges too often, if at all. It’s only a matter of time before your colleagues catch on that you’re not playing by the rules, and it will be hard for them to respect someone who’s allowed to be the exception.
Chaz Kyser is a speaker, author, and workshop facilitator focusing in the areas of women’s empowerment, career development, and business communication. Visit chazkyser.com to learn more.