Do your co-workers, employees, and boss listen when you offer an idea? Do they ask for your advice, seek out your opinion, and implement your ideas?
If you feel you would like more respect at work try these 8 tips:
- Speak Less, as it makes a Bigger Impression
Imagine a room where everyone is talking over one another, except for the one silent person who is just taking it all in. When that particular person speaks, the entire room goes silent and everyone listens. That person could be you. It certainly takes a great deal of self-restraint to stay out of the arguing, discussing, and to save your opinion for just the right moment. However, when you do that, others will see you as someone who carefully considers the issues and only contributes valuable suggestions to the conversation when you feel it is appropriate.
- Employ Actively Listening When Others are Speaking
Do not be that rude person checking their email or social media when someone else is presenting or leading a discussion. Instead, pay attention with your eyes, your ears, your heart, and your mind, in other words, truly focus on the speaker and what they are saying.
Do not be that rude person checking their email or social media when someone else is presenting or leading a discussion. Instead, pay attention with your eyes, your ears, your heart, and your mind, in other words, truly focus on the speaker and what they are saying. If necessary, even consider taking some notes. Then ask clarifying questions to show that you were respectfully paying attention. If you lead by example then others will be more likely to pay you the same respect.
- Encourage Others to Share Their Opinion During Discussions
Even if you already know what you want to do, take the time to invite the opinion of others in your organization. Ultimately you can share your thoughts and together you can create an action plan. When people are included in the process, you will get much more buy-in because they now have a stake in the outcome.
- Acknowledge Credit When it is Due
Be sure to make a concerted effort to share the credit for the ideas that other people have offered. This demonstrates your team playing abilities and enhances your relationships within the group. When you do this it lets people know that their suggestions are welcome and that you are open to listening. The if your contributions are sound, it will be difficult for others to ignore your input.
- Know When to Lead and When to Follow
Micromanagement is never welcomed or effective, in fact, it often causes others to tune you out and consider you arrogant and controlling. As a result, you will have trouble engendering support when you seek it. When you support the projects of others and encourage them to handle things autonomously, they will be more likely to align with you when you take the lead.
- Become an Expert in Your Area & Respect the Expertise of Others
Seek out classes, webinars, and seminars, read books on topics relating to your specialty and research the innovations of others. If you pursue all these avenues you will become an expert in your field of work. As you increase your knowledge base, your confidence and competence will also grow. People tend to gravitate towards those who are viewed as experts. Respect the strengths of your co-workers and leverage everyone’s skills to the advantage of the team. A high-performance team relies on the strengths of all its members and respects those valuable contributions as that is how the common goals are achieved.
- Be Confident, but Humble
Humility is one of the great lessons of life. You can always get better, learn more, and discover new approaches. You will feel good when constantly trying to improve yourself; however always keep an open mind about your growth and improvement. Search out others from whom you can learn and show gratitude to them for their shared expertise and experience. In fact, this is another place where you can give credit where credit is due.
- Pick Your Battles
It sometimes appears that few people have any emotional intelligence. Stay above the fray and act like an adult rather than a kid in the schoolyard. Be the person who helps to resolve conflict and takes the high road. It is more important to struggle for things essential to the achievement of desired results rather than pursuing issues that simply indulge your ego. Use these criteria as a litmus test for choosing your work battles.
We all experience moments of frustration at work when we feel unappreciated and ignored; when we know there is a better way of doing something but seem to lack the ability to make it a reality.
If you employ these 8 tips you will be well on your way to gaining the respect you need to influence others and when you respect your colleagues and demonstrate that respect, it will likely be reflected back to you.
