How do you feel being in your workplace? Do you have colleagues with whom you can be open and friendly? Do you contribute your ideas at work and give advice to them on their personal and professional issues? It is good if answers to these questions are positive. Being yourself and comfortable at the workplace are motivations that keep you up to go back to your workplace daily. But how good it is to be open and transparent with your colleagues? The way you carry yourself at the professional front can be taken in different ways. It can have a positive or a negative impact on your professional image.

How to Develop Your Strengths at Work1

Here are some quick advises on how to be the way you are and maintain a professional image in the workplace:

Analyse Yourself

A self-analysis is required to know: What keeps you happy at your workplace, what your work ethics is? What do your colleagues feel about you? Are you focused on your career goals?

Try to get the true opinions about you from your most trusted colleagues and your bosses and weigh how true these opinions are. Practice monitoring your own behavior during the work. How much professional do you portray yourself? What kind of stuff do you share often with your colleagues? Also, pay attention to your gestures and body language while interacting with your boss and teammates. Take advice from your mentor or close colleague on your professional image and behavior and where you should improvise. Doing a thorough analysis will show you a mirror of your image at your office. Do the improvements which you feel are mandatory to portray you in a better way than before.

Work On Your Interaction Skills

Interactions are not only an exchange of words and thoughts, but it also reflects your personality. To improve your Interaction skills, it is important to work upon spoken as well as listening habits. Remember that it is more important to be an effective speaker than just being an outspoken person. An informative and thoughtful interaction has a magnitude and is valued. Think for a moment before you speak when you are in a group. Also, be mindful about your words in situations like team get-together or meetings. Listening is as important as effective speaking. Listen carefully to what others say and then react. Eventually, you will be able to contribute your thoughts more effectively as per the situation. Also, be cautious when you discuss the personal stuff. There is no need to get into too personal details as it can create a negative image in your colleagues’ mind ranking you low as a professional.

Avoid Getting Involved into Gossips

Gossiping or rumors are the biggest evils of any workplace. In order to be praised by colleagues or create an embellished image at the workplace, people share stuff which is not authentic or partially true. Make sure if you are sharing any information, especially when it is related to the organization’s business, it should be true and well analysed before spoken in masses. Forming a false tale is the worst deed and not immediately, but, surely someday it will harm your professional image. Also, don’t discuss the controversial issues like caste, religion or belonging which can hurt personal beliefs of any of your colleagues or create turmoil among team members.