How do your colleagues perceive you? Are you heard when you have a piece of information to contribute or are you over powered? Is your boss impressed with your feedback or stumped by your silence? As a young professional working with a group of seasoned business professionals, one thing that I have learned is that contributing to projects means more than handing in your piece of the puzzle; it means taking an active role and being engaged with the task at hand.
It can be intimidating to be “the new guy” or the rookie in the office and turning your voice down can be all too easy when you are surrounded with experienced business professionals. Speak up and contribute to every project you are involved with! Your experienced counterparts will appreciate your attempts and even if you’re dead wrong, now you can be corrected and able to seize the opportunity to learn something from these masters of the business world. Not only can progress be made about the topic at hand but these are your opportunities to practice for future business interactions. Involvement in your internal environment is the perfect time to groom yourself for your future, build your confidence, and perfect your presentation when speaking with other business professionals.
Demonstrating confidence and the ability to contribute can never serve you wrong. There is always something to be taken from a discussion. You might leave a conversation with a whole new outlook, or you might inspire your supervisor to see a situation in a new light. I’m not talking about ignorance, so don’t speak just for the sake of speaking. When you have thoughts running through your mind ensure that you get them out on the table in an appropriate and professional manner. Your co-workers will gain respect for your ability to share ideas and play an active role in the team.
One of the reasons new talent is hired by organizations is to gain a more current view, “keep with the times”, and stay cutting edge. Entry level might sound way down on the totem pole but in reality it is very important to an organization’s ability to be adaptable and stay leading edge. So keep listening, absorbing, and offer your angle. It could be the ticket to your career growth, help you gain trust and responsibility, and enable you to manage challenges so that you are always improving.
JUN
About the Author:
Coralee is the “rookie” of the office, but she doesn’t let that slow her down! Armed with a Bachelors degree in Human Resource Management, experience working with her family’s private business, and a forward thinking nature she is ready to take on anything that is thrown her way. Coralee has a talent for achieving forward motion. Her fresh perspective and ability to “think outside the box” adds a crisp quality to her contribution in projects. Determined to develop her career in Human Resources, she has landed in just the right spot, rubbing shoulders with a variety of dynamic seasoned professionals. Coralee graduated from Dickinson State University where she competed on the Varsity Athletics Rodeo Team for the Blue Hawks. Coralee is an accomplished cowgirl having competed at various levels of rodeo throughout the United States and Canada. Her love for animals doesn’t stop at horses she is the proud owner of a 90 pound Staffordshire terrier named “Chauncey”.