Sometimes working hard is not enough to get you the recognition that you deserve in the workplace. Often, it’s about demonstrating behavior that shows professionalism so that everyone can start to see you as more of a leader. One way of displaying behaviour that shows professionalism in the workplace is to ensure that:
Your attendance is good
The way you present yourself is acceptable
You respect yourself and others
You communicate well with clarity
Your general attitude is admirable by everyone in the workplace
You have the integrity
Your knowledge and competence is desirable
You work as a Team
Other people can depend on you
What is a Professionalism in the Workplace?
Professionalism in the workplace means having the appropriate behavior, attitude, qualities, knowledge, skills, judgment for whatever you do at work.
To be a professional at work, you need to demonstrate your integrity and act in the best interests of the team or clients. It is about presenting yourself in such a way that makes everyone in the workplace to have confidence in you.
Here are the Behaviour that Shows Professionalism in the Workplace:
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1. Use the Right Choice of Words
Watch out what you say as words can reveal who you are. The choice of words and phrases you write or speak is an expression of your personality. They can affect the way your work colleagues and customers perceive you. So, when you are speaking with customers, your boss, or work colleagues, mind your Language.
Also, the way you respond when someone asks a question can show who you are. For example; if someone asks a question but you don’t know the answer, better not say, I do not know. It is unprofessional and sounds a bit rude to respond like that. It can also give a negative impression that you do not care.
So, whenever a colleague, customer, or your boss asked a question and you do not know the answer, just say I’m not sure, but I can find out. That sounds professional and show that care.
Related: How to Demonstrate Honesty and Integrity in the Workplace
2. Hold yourself Accountable
Personal accountability is a critical part of being a professional at work. When you have a sense of personal accountability, you hold yourself accountable. Self-accountability is being responsible for your choice of actions before you know what will be the results.
It is very easy for some people to be responsible for their actions when the outcome is favorable. But when things do not turn out well, they refuse to take ownership and start to look for scapegoats.
It is also common for people to make excuses for their failure or deny to take responsibility. Professional behavior in the workplace should be guided by honesty and taking ownership of your actions.
To be self-accountable, you have to take full ownership of whatever you do or say. And, you must be willing to face the consequences of your actions without blaming someone else.
3. Plan Everything you Do
Doing things like a project without having a clear plan can be exhausting and wasteful. Most times it leads to missing deadlines or not even delivering the right project. So, it can be costly and unprofessional to be disorganized in the workplace, particularly if your work can impact others.
Before you undertake a bigger task, it is essential to the first state you want in a manner that is clear to you. Write down all the steps and approaches you need to take to complete that task. You do not want to waste time, energy, and especially the resources that cannot be recovered.
Self-respecting professionals hate wasting time and resources. That is why before embarking on any project, they develop a plan that is obvious to achieving that project. And they do not go ahead if they find out that the plan is not feasible or viable.
4. Exercise Self-Discipline
Managing indiscipline people is one of the hardest challenges even great managers find it hard to contend with. An indisciplined employee can intentionally disregard the work rules. They can come late to work every day.
They can take breaks whenever someone feels like it. They sometimes ignore legitimate instructions and many other things indisciplined employees do at work.
Also Read: How to Manage an Overconfident Employee
Self-discipline is your ability to do what is necessary and sensible without being argued by a manager or someone else. It is not the kind of discipline that comes after when you have done something wrong.
Self-discipline is at the very core of your professional behavior at work. Being punctual, following legitimate instructions, and not whining all the time or using abusive language are good examples of professionalism at work.
5. Build a Good Relationships
Do not be so self-focused. When you only focus on yourself, you tend not to connect with other people. You need to build positive relationships with your manager and colleagues at work. Understand that if you make yourself approachable, it is easier for others to get along with you.
So, when your work colleagues come to you for any help, pay attention to them. And try to be generous with your time, flexible, and easy to get along with.
The most valuable relationship is the one where people feel like they are indebted to you. It is the type of relationship based on reciprocity – you do something valuable for your colleagues, so they feel indebted to reciprocate.
6. Demonstrate a Great Professional Character
It is your responsibility for how you behave in any situation. How you display your emotions when you at work depends on you. Crises are inevitable in the workplace.
There is always a bunch of different challenges you must contend with every day at work. It could be you are not getting on with your bad manager or forced to work with an irritating colleague in the office.
But you are responsible for the way you handle yourself in an unpleasant situation.
Your teammates can annoy you but if you react angrily and inflame the situation, it is you who has decided to respond in that manner. You have the power to control yourself.
There are many ways that you can deal with any difficult situation without damaging your personal and professional character.
Having a great professional character allows you to make better decisions in the workplace. Even when you find yourself in a hostile environment, you just remain calm or do not react at all.
Read also: 9 Tips on How to Manage Your Stress in The Workplace
7. Evaluate Your Performance
To develop a professional attitude, you need to care about your overall work performance. You need to keep improving your output and become more resourceful every day in your workplace.
Being productive is not about doing more. It’s about being professional in making better use of your time, and resources to get the right results.
8. Believe in Your Ability
Have confidence in your ability and stop worrying about others do. It is essential to evaluate your ability with a certain level of confidence. If not, you will start thinking that everyone else is doing a better job than you.
Some employees are going through a tough time, they start doubting their abilities and become preoccupied with what others do. They become insecure and sometimes try to sabotage colleagues to harm their work progress.
Do not be insecure because it will only drive you to do things that affect others and damage your professional reputation.
9. Show Great Team Spirit
It can sometimes be a challenge to agree with other people on everything in the workplace. There may be times when you will look at things differently from the way your boss or colleagues do. But you must address every work challenge within team spirit.
When you disagree with others on anything, the way you put your disagreement forward is very important.
Do not complain about everything that seems not right to you. That will not show you in a positive light. Complaining and whining are negative professionalism behavioral indicators.
If something is not right, ask for a re-evaluation or reclassification first instead of complaining. By doing so, it shows a high team spirit and highlights your good professional behavior characteristics.
10. Keep your Promises
Do what you promise and say what you mean. To demonstrate professionalism behavior in the workplace, you must walk the talk.
Whenever you promise to do something to your colleagues, boss, or clients, keep it. In other words, if you commit yourself to do something in the workplace, you must deliver. Focus on making sure that you do what you say and back your promise with real action.
Sometimes things do go as planned and it is not always possible to keep all your commitments. But if it looks as if you are going to miss the deadline, let everyone concern know as soon as possible. Do not wait until it is too late and then start making excuses.
How do you demonstrate professionalism behavior in the workplace? Please leave your comment in the box below