HOW TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY AT WORK

If you work very hard, then you know how frustrating it is when coworkers and superiors don’t take you seriously. You might not even know what you’re doing to deserve this treatment. Now, it’s time to change it.

Use these tips on how to be taken seriously at work.

1. Convey Confidence

Showcasing your confidence is one of the key ways to be taken seriously at work. When people can sense that you are speaking and moving confidently, they are more likely to give you the time of day and pay attention to what you say. Those who doubt themselves or move without conviction have a harder time getting respect.

2. Build Strong Professional Relationships

Connect with the people in your office and in your field, so that you can present yourself as a well-established employee. Knowing others in the field and having strong connections will show that you are an integral part of your company and that others can turn to you for advice or help.

3. Communicate Effectively—Work on Tone, Grammar, and Overall Rhetoric

If you want to be taken seriously, you need to work on the language you use. Your communication has a significant effect on the way people see you and interpret your level of intelligence. 

Work on your tone—talk in a firm, strong voice. Improve your grammar with mobile apps and online courses. Read professional books to become more articulate. Maintain eye contact during your conversations. 

4. Create Boundaries

To be taken seriously, you need to create boundaries for you and your coworkers. Having limits means establishing appropriate behaviors and what kind of treatment you will or won’t accept.

Creating and sticking to these boundaries will allow you to demand respect from your peers.

5. Display Accountability

Accountability is vital in the workplace as it ensures good company morale and overall success. If you want to be taken seriously at work, you need to be accountable for your actions.

That means showing up on time, completing tasks by their due date, and being able to take responsibility for any personal errors. By being an honest employee, others will respect you much more.

6. Ditch the Word “Try”

Instead of “trying” to do something, you should face all tasks with determination. Even if you don’t know what you’re doing, always put forth your best effort and learn from there.  

Saying that you will “try” suggests that you don’t know how to do it, or that you aren’t confident in yourself. Lose this word from your vocabulary and demonstrate your confidence.

7. Don’t Be Late—Manage Your Time

Time management can apply to many aspects of your professional life. It would help if you were never late for your shift, and never let projects go past their due date. Being late is a sign of mismanagement and disorganization.

Manage your time and work on projects ahead of their due date. Use a calendar, and stay on top of your responsibilities to be taken seriously.

8. Don’t Be Emotional

The best employees never let their emotions get in the way of their work. Emotions can cause you to lose focus, lash out, and make irrational decisions.

Keep a calm head, especially when making decisions or dealing with coworkers. By displaying a level of control at all times, people will be more willing to listen and respond to you respectfully.

9. Look the Part

Depending on the type of job you have, you will know what kind of outfit you need to wear. When you arrive at work, make sure you have good hygiene and are wearing the proper attire.

If you don’t, you run the risk of looking disorganized, disheveled, and unprepared. You will have a hard time gaining respect that way.

10. Stop Making Excuses—Take Responsibility for Your Actions

Excuses are a sign of weakness, and you don’t want to be stuck making them in your workplace. If you’re going to be taken seriously, take responsibility for everything you do — even if it’s hard.

If you’re late or make a mistake, it’s easier to own up to it than to lie. Employees will respect you more if you can handle the consequences of your actions.   

11. Respect Others

Give respect to others, and you will receive it tenfold. Employees will struggle to take you seriously if you are rude, bossy, or pretentious. Talk in a polite way, compliment your coworkers, encourage their ideas and let them finish their thoughts. 

Apply these tips to your daily routine, and you will begin to see more respect in your workplace.