Hey Girl, Please Stop Doing This At Work!

Have you been struggling in your job for a while now? Do you feel underappreciated at work? Are you unsatisfied with your work life and feel like you’ve painted yourself into a corner? If you can relate to any of these questions, it might be that some of your work habits are to be blamed for this.

Ever since women stepped out to work, they have been expected to handle both work and home with equal grace and poise. As if this pressure wasn’t enough, deeply ingrained behaviors and attitudes see them working overtime to prove their worth at the office to offset the work they do at home or trying to accommodate everyone just to seem more likable. Between all of this, it is quite common for them to find themselves in situations that we described in the introduction.

If you find yourself in a similar pickle, we are here to help you. We have compiled a list of few of these habits that might be holding you back from progressing at work. Let’s have a look.

1. Talking In Circles

If you want to delegate a task to a junior, or if you want to ask your boss a question, do it directly. Don’t beat around the bush. Being too deferential or meek won’t get you anywhere. Besides, it makes you come across as being underconfident. Women have been conditioned to be accommodating to others, but this behavior won’t get you very far at work. If something needs to be done that requires all the team members to put in some extra efforts, then ask everyone to do so by clearly stating the situation. After all, this is not your personal work.

2. Being Too Casual On the Email

There is a difference between being friendly and being friends. If you share a friendly equation with your officemates, it’s great. It makes for a more comfortable workplace. However, you have to realize that at the end of the day they are your colleagues. Don’t add unnecessary exclamation marks while sending them an official email. That sort of communication makes you appear juvenile and keeps the other person from taking you seriously. It’s a different matter if that message is intended to convey congratulations, there you can be a bit more casual without appearing unprofessional.

3. Volunteering For The Office-Housekeeping

Women heading committees for planning events or doing thankless tasks like planning birthdays and team celebrations are a common sight in most of the offices. But did you know that most of these tasks are done by them not because they like doing this extra unpaid work? They do so because they have to meet the expectations of their peers. The expectation is that women should do this sort of work because they are good at it (1). When it comes to these tasks, don’t feel like you have to toe the line. This is not a part of your job description and it also takes you away from the work that you should actually be doing.

4. Being Afraid To Voice Strong Opinions

A woman with strong opinions is an image that is seldom acceptable, anywhere. Any woman who dares to step this invisible line in the office by being vociferous in her opinions is immediately termed the office “grouch”.

Don’t let this hold you back. Don’t feel pressured to concur. The desire to be liked by everyone might be costing you that promotion that you desire so much. If something needs to be said, say it in a professional manner and don’t worry about whether or not it will rub some people the wrong way.

5. Minimizing Your Achievements

Do you ever find yourself saying “Oh it’s nothing” or “It’s not a big deal” in reply to a compliment about a great work presentation or for doing a great assignment? That’s undermining the effort that you put into that project, you are actually selling yourself short by denying those compliments. At work, it’s as important to project competence and confidence as it is to do the work really well. There is no harm in feeling proud of the work you do. If at all you feel uncomfortable about doing that, take a look at the men around who have mastered the art of humble bragging. So the next time a compliment comes your way, accept it with a polite “Thank you” and a confident smile.

6. Dodging Negotiations

Ahh! The dreaded appraisal negotiations. In general, women are worse off than their male counterparts when it comes to negotiating raise, compensation benefits. This is because they have internalized the notion that doing so might make them appear greedy or selfish. But you have to realize that opportunities are not granted, they are seized. So, instead of waiting for your work to be recognized, have a check-in meeting with your employer wherein you make a case for yourself by outlining the work you had been doing for the organization and politely ask for that raise or that promotion that you have been waiting for.

If you have set your sights on the corner office, you need to bid adieu to these bad work-habits. You work hard, and you deserve all the name and recognition, just don’t get bogged down by the weight of societal pressures masquerading as work ethics. Can you think of other workplace habits or behavior of women that might be proving counter-productive? Do let us know in the comments section.

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