Speak Up to Move Up in 2021

Photo by Camylla Battani on Unsplash

If advancing your career is a goal for the new year, one of the key things you’ll have to focus on is communication. Quiet  employees are often overlooked. People can interpret your silence in any number of negative  ways—including that you don’t care or that you don’t have any valuable  ideas.

Many of us are still working remotely so throwing this added challenge in can make speaking up seem even more daunting. Although most of us have gotten used to the “new norm” of working from home, pushing yourself to be heard over Zoom can be hard. 

Here are 3 ways to approach this challenge:

1. Share  what matters -. Decide what really matters to you, your task or position and focus on that! By knowing what you want to speak up about you’ll be able to dedicate more of your time to the right topics. 

2. Find an ally before you speak up - Talk to a colleague or mentor who will be in the important meetings before they happen and ask them to support you as you share. Knowing someone will back you up will make it easier to take the risk of saying what you think.

3. Follow up in writing - Once you’ve shared your perspective  over Zoom, be sure to send a summary email to all interested parties. It can be tough to remember everything said during a virtual meeting, following up with your notes means you can craft a narrative while keeping others informed and interested.

If one of your goals for 2021 is to get noticed at work (and maybe land that promotion), strong communication is key! Make a plan using these tactics to ensure you follow through. If you’d like help for you or your team, book a discovery call with me here to talk about how to improve the communication at your workplace!