Empowered Communication in the Workplace
So many of us do not speak up in the workplace.
We suppress our voices, swallow our truth and crack on. Why?
For fear of coming across as needy?
For fear of coming across like we can’t cope?
We want to be perceived by our peers, leaders and team members as capable, resilient and able to cope. Of course we do. But what has led us to believe that speaking honestly means that we are not those things?!
The problem with not speaking up
If you stay quiet about feeling unhappy, disengaged, unmotivated or overstretched you are not doing anyone any favours - YOURSELF or the ORGANISATION!
YOU feel worse - more unhappy, disengaged and unmotivated! The problem does not go away - more often than not it is exacerbated by our silence and we can feel more resentful of our organisations. This impacts our wellbeing and sense of self.
This is also not helpful for the ORGANISATION. By not speaking up, you are often hiding the underlying issues. By continuing to take on too much work, you may be masking the fact that the team is under-resourced or that other team members are under-functioning. Or by not asking for things that are going to make you perform better, you are not giving the organisation a chance to create a better culture / environment for all colleagues. We have to give the organisation a chance to change things!
The other issue here is that we carry the same habits / patterns with us from place to place. So often, people stay quiet about things that are rubbing them up the wrong way, the situation doesn’t change and eventually they become so pissed off that they leave. But sadly, a lot of the same issues will follow them from role to role! We have to empower ourselves to change the way WE behave and show up at work if we want anything to change long term - and for ourselves to be able to thrive!!
5 ways to practice ‘empowered communication’
Just to be clear here, when we talk about empowered communication we are not talking about vomiting all of your problems on to your manager like a tidal wave of shiz! This is not a dump of everything that you hate about your team, your organisation and the work you are doing. This is about standing in your power - showing what you have done to try to make things work and communicating a willingness to be part of the change you desire.
Stop assuming. We can all be guilty of assuming that others know how we feel, what we’re struggling with, and what we want. They don’t! They are in their own busy world; you need to take responsibility to clearly explain how you are feeling - be brave and be honest.
Clearly define the problem. Do the thinking up front to get clear on what is contributing to the problem. Is the team under resourced? Are you promising too much to clients? Are the timeframes unrealistic? Do you have too many ineffective meetings which means that you cannot do the essential work that is going to shift the dial?
Show how you have tried to rectify the problem yourself. e.g. You have been proactive with planning and managing your diary, asking colleagues for support where necessary, setting clear expectations with clients, blocking out chunks of time to focus on the strategic work that is important etc. This shows that you have taken action to try and resolve the problem and will also highlight the challenges you have bumped up against.
Get clear on what you are asking for from your manager. Is it support to prioritise your workload? Is it more flexibility with the way you operate? Is it an agenda for what you want your one to ones to look like?
Reframe how you think you will be perceived. If you consider all of the above points and are being thoughtful and considered - this shows an intention & willingness to do a great job!! Not that you are being high maintenance or needy. This more strategic way of thinking and the fact that you are passionate about wanting to make long term change is absolutely what most leaders would look for when seeking top performers. This is a belief that you must lock in.
Is this way of communicating easy?
Hell no! It is much easier to stay quiet, to complain to your co-workers and then to leave when it all gets too much. But this is helping no-one in the long term. Empowered communication is BRAVE. And...it is essential if you want to break the pattern of feeling unfulfilled, burnt out or disengaged at work.