Having Workplace Challenges? Here is an Actual Toolkit to Deal with It

Your colleagues are not your friends or your family. If you really want to deal with workplace challenges head-on, I suggest you adopt this mindset first. The fact that you are reading this blog, you already know what I am talking about. You have some toxic co-workers or some workplace issues.

But you believe your other work friends are true. Maybe they are. Maybe out of 4 close work friends one is, but you should always be careful. You never know who is spreading information and who could climb on you to get to the ladder you want. If they are not doing now, in future they will, and I am saying this out of experience and coaching several clients.

Body Language Mastery: Boost Your Professional Presence

Next, I want you to observe how you carry yourself at work. Check out confident body language videos at work. Learn from them, and you will get a lot of experience. I want you to practice it. Start small. You don’t have to go big.

Maybe for one month, make sure you always stand with your shoulders straight and hands relaxed, and make eye contact with everyone you talk to in the office. If you don’t know how to make eye contact properly, look at the side of the other person’s eye.

If you’ve already mastered these, then check out other poses where you lack or your facial expressions. Small things matter. 80% of how we communicate is through our body language.

Checkout: Enhancing Workplace Dynamics with Effective Counseling and Training

The Art of Paralanguage

Next, I want you to observe your voice tone. You might have a people-pleasing voice tone. Observe your voice. It is usually a voice that you had to learn in order to survive. See how bold personalities like Priyanka Chopra talk. Their voice is firm, they speak slowly and don’t have a people-pleasing tone in their throats. First, slowly start practising small changes.

Learn the Corporate Language

There are corporate languages of putting places and making it sound like a boss. For example, if someone tells you to stay till 10:00 working, you can say, “My work ends at 10:00, but I shall prioritize this as the first thing in the morning.”

What You Speak and How You Speak

You have to be tactical in what you speak in the workplace and how. If you actually want to be promoted, the idea of working hard in silence and letting success make noise won’t benefit you. You have to make yourself heard in corporate so that people actually see what you do.

Listen More, Talk Less

Listen to more of what people say and talk less. People always think the person who talks more has power. Wrong. When you talk more, you are giving more information to people. When they talk, you are learning and getting more information about the person.

Dont let negativity define you

One negative statement by someone can make you feel so bad. For example, a friend came to meet a woman and asked her what gift did your husband give. To that, she replied, “This only.” And then her friend said, “Oh, your husband doesn’t even value you.” Then she started seeing everywhere where her husband didn’t value her.

MUST WATCH

It reached to such an extent that she eventually led to divorcing him. You saw how one thing erupted into such a big thing. Similarly, watch what people say in your workplace regarding any of your relationships.

They may cause a hole in your relationships.You may accidentally hate a coworker you didnt hate before or pick unncessary fights in your relationships with others.

Emotional Regulation

Learn how to emotionally regulate yourself. You can practice so many breathing exercises whenever required. Don’t panic, don’t act crazy. Observe, respond, don’t react. This will help you gain leverage. Remember, the one who shows most animosity in the room is always the weak one. You can start it simply by integrating somatic exercises in your life.

Document Your Wins

Document every win of yours so that when the time comes for promotion, you can show where you are winning and what you have contributed to the company.

Now, you might have instances where a co-worker or boss keeps taking credit for your work unnecessarily. Here’s how you can do this.

Politely and firmly change the narrative, and then say, “I appreciate highlighting this. Just to add on a little bit. While working on this project I..

Use email CC it to relevant stakeholders if necessary. If someone takes this, say, “Thanks for sharing this! As discussed in my initial email, I worked on [specific task] to achieve this outcome.”

Address it diplomatically: “I notice in the meeting that my contributions weren’t acknowledged. I would appreciate it if we could ensure proper recognition moving forward.”

You can also seek support from higher authority such as HR to help you deal with this. However, I know that things are much worse in other companies.

I know what you are talking about and how it impacts you. But each case is different with different complications. And I want to make sure that if we are dealing with complications, I address the root cause. That’s why my counseling sessions are tailored to the needs that you require.

Checkout: How I Ritu Singal conduct Workplace Counselling Services

Take Feedback Positively

Learn how to take feedback positively in such a way that impacts your overall being. You are learning constantly in your life, and you need you will be doing so many beautiful things in life if you adopt the learner’s mindset.

If you feel that you have reached a stage in your office where work challenges are affecting your mental health severely, you need to seek help externally. I, Ritu Singal, offer workplace counseling services to address your needs. To know more, you can check my website.