Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

How to be loved at work: be a better communicator

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communication at work imageWant to be loved at work? Consider how you can improve your communication skills, which are as important in the workplace as they are in relationships. Comparisons between landing a job and dating aren’t lost on anyone who has looked for a mate or a position. A study by TINYpulse asked 400 U.S. employees what encouraged them to either stay in their jobs or to seek new employment. Whether employees were asked about their bosses or colleagues, the study found strong communication was key to compelling them to stay in their jobs.

It’s hardly surprising that strong communication improves the workplace and enhances the experiences of everyone in open, transparent environments. Research shows you can improve your standings in the workplace when you have strong communication skills.

What can you do to improve your ability to communicate well at work?

Keep people in the loop. No one likes to be left out. Make a point to be inclusive when you’re sharing information.

Recognize a job well done. Recognition is one aspect of communication often forgotten in the workplace. 

Be a good listener. Communication isn’t only about what you say; it’s a two-way street. Listening is a crucial piece of communicating well, and many people do not spend enough time on this important skill.

Be specific. Often, poor communication results from vague directions. If you want something at a certain time, say so. The more specific you are, the better chance you’ll have of people following through in the way you expect.

Check your body language. Clenching your teeth through your fake smile isn’t fooling anyone! Keep in mind, a majority of in-person communication is passed on via body language.

Get my free white paper: 5 Mistakes Preventing You From Landing a Job This Week 

Read the whole post on the Elevated Careers blog.

How to be “Great on the Job,” a review

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Communication — and communicating well, in business and in all circumstances — is key for career success. It’s not always easy to know what to say, and it certainly isn’t always obvious how to say it. Jodi Glickman’s new book, Great On the Job, comes to the rescue. Known as a strong, strategic communicator with many successful examples to back up her words, Jodi, who’s landed jobs due to her interviewing skills, even though she’s been told she was the “least qualified” of all the candidates, outlines how to communicate well for professional success.

Jodi teaches readers how to re-think the basics. (When’s the last time you re-evaluated how you introduce yourself on a phone call? Do you ask the person if it is a good time to talk?) to more advanced communication skills, including how to manage in a crisis, communicate about a missed deadline or how to recover when you aren’t prepared for a presentation).

She focuses on four concepts:

Generosity – thinking about the other person before you consider your own needs and focusing on how to make that person’s life better.

Initiative – being proactive without creating work for others, thus moving your career forward by “engaging in meaningful and productive work that contributes to the greater good” (p. xxiii).

Forward Momentum – creating, nurturing and sustaining personal relationships, even when you have no specific “reason” in mind, other than to just keep in touch.

Transparency – being honest when you mess something up and admitting when you don’t know something.

In easy-to-follow case studies, she describes scenarios and outlines exactly how to respond in each situation.

As a bonus, the book includes details about how to sell yourself. I loved the section, “Different Person, Different Pitch,” where Jodi outlines how important it is to identify which of your stories will resonate with your audience members. She explains, “Just as you probably have multiple online profiles — Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter — you should also understand that different situations warrant different pitches of stories.” She walks you through how to focus on determining what elements of your story to develop and use later.

To top it off, there’s a “cheat sheet” section at the end, outlining advice from each of the sections and reminding the reader of the salient points in each chapter. What a great resource for anyone reading the book and a way to be sure it’s easy to implement Jodi’s advice!

I highly recommend picking up a copy of Great on the Job to learn “what to say, how to say it — the secrets of getting ahead.”

Visit Jodi’s site to learn how to purchase a copy from your favorite bookseller.