Do People in Your Office Respect You?

Workplace performance and workplace respect aren’t necessarily connected; that is, you can be a really great, productive employee and still lack the respect of your colleagues. That’s not a good feeling; it can sap your confidence and, over time, restrict your professional momentum. After all, how many opportunities for networking or career advancement are you likely to get, if nobody respects you?

It’s worth asking, then: Are you respected in your workplace? And if not, why not? There are any number of reasons, and we’ve listed some of the most common ones below. They may provide you with an opportunity to reflect and even to make some changes to your workplace habits.

Why Aren’t You Respected at Work?

You’re constantly late to everything. Are you the person who’s constantly sending those “sorry, running late” e-mails right as a meeting is supposed to start? That kind of thing gets old quick; no matter how many great ideas you have once you finally do show up, people will resent you for wasting their time. Get your scheduling in order, and provide yourself with more of a buffer between appointments.

You’re glued to your phone. If you never look up from your screen or take out your BlueTooth—not even long enough to engage with the person standing in front of you, trying to have a conversation—don’t be surprised when people lose their respect for you! One solution: When you head to a meeting, just leave your phone at your desk. Avoid the temptation altogether!

You don’t dress for success. Even if your workplace has a loose, informal dress code, looking slovenly and hungover every morning is going to cause people to lose their respect for you. You can be casual without looking like a total slob!

You send rushed, typo-ridden e-mails. When your e-mails are so filled with errors that they’re hard to read or to decipher, you’re going to make people frustrated with you. Take some additional time to proofread before you send!

You think swearing is funny. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with using the occasional grown-up word, in certain contexts, but if you act like a middle school boy who just learned some swear words, people are going to deem it a sign of immaturity. Clean up your language a bit!

Hopefully, these tips will provide you with some insight into how you’re perceived in your office—and what you can do to change things!  For more information on how ACES can help you, visit www.advantagecontinuingeducationseminars.com.