Express Employment Professionals: BusinessHAB.com

Maintain a positive attitude.

Often, a professional attitude is a positive and motivated one.

To be successful, you will need to demonstrate to others that you have the skills and knowledge to perform your duties and responsibilities.

But in addition to expertise and know-how, your employer will value a professional attitude that demonstrates character and integrity.

Focus on being honest, reliable, a hard worker, and positive, day in and day out.
Your job should be important to you, and you should value your successes, no matter how small or minor.

Communicating Effectively

Bring a notepad with you to meetings and discussions.

Avoid forgetting any tasks or appointments by always writing them down in a work-designated notepad.

You can use a digital notepad or a pen and paper.

Show your professionalism by taking notes during meetings to stay organized and on track.

Speak clearly, and speak up when necessary.

To communicate professionally, you need to show you can write and speak with confidence and clarity.

Be an active listener during meetings and discussions and wait until someone is finished speaking to share your thoughts.

Speak slowly and concisely so everyone can understand your points and make note of them.

If you have an idea about how to approach a problem or project.
Make sure to give it some thought before sharing it with the group.
Take some time to fully flesh it out so that you can present a good idea when the time comes.
If you notice problems or issues around a certain project or client, speak up to your coworkers and your superiors. Don’t ignore or avoid these conflicts. Instead, face them head-on by alerting others to the issues and working together to try to problem-solve.

Use email or the telephone, unless you need to discuss something face to face.

Most workplaces encourage managing your time effectively by using email or a phone call to discuss minor decisions or issues.

Avoid calling a meeting for topics that could be addressed in 5 minutes with a quick email exchange or phone call.

Wasting other people’s time with unnecessary meetings can be seen as unprofessional.

Research your question or issue before bringing it to everyone else’s attention.
Look through your emails or office memos to ensure you aren’t missing information that has been disseminated.
There may be an instance where you need to call a face-to-face meeting to discuss a major issue. If this is the case, send a meeting invitation by email to your coworkers and/or clients. Check your coworkers’ calendars to ensure they are available during the proposed time.

Express Employment Professionals

Learn to take feedback and act on it.

Another key way to demonstrate professionalism is to be willing to learn from feedback.

Remember that good feedback should be about your work and your results.

It should never be personal. Getting angry or defensive about feedback can make you appear unprofessional.

Instead, focus on learning from feedback and using it to improve the way you do things at work.

Interacting Professionally

Avoid office politics and gossip.

It can be hard not to get sucked into the office gossip mill.

Especially if you are new to the workplace and are starting to get to know your coworkers.

But staying out of office politics and gossip will ensure you maintain a professional reputation.

And do not get too involved personally with rumors or hearsay.

Not talking about your coworkers behind their backs or based on gossip will also show you respect your coworkers and are willing, to be honest, and straightforward with them.

Be pleasant and respectful to your coworkers.

This includes coworkers you may not get along with or see eye to eye with.

If you have a coworker who you cannot work with, avoid working directly with them, if possible.

You may consider talking to your boss or superior if you have constant issues with the coworker’s work attitude and performance.