Career hot tip: Be easy to work with This does not mean you are agreeable. It doesn’t mean you become a pushover. And it doesn’t mean you are ok with systemic biases. When push comes to shove, are you depleting your coworkers of energy or infusing more (positive) energy into the situation? To disagree without being disagreeable is a hard skill but one of the most important to learn. Don’t come at this with whataboutisms, you know exactly what I mean. Be easy to work with and you would have cleared a big hurdle many face when it comes to career growth.
That sounds a lot easier said than done. 😅 Do you, or anyone else reading this, have any concrete tips? 😊
Drives home the point Aastha Gaur I can’t emphasise how important this characteristic is. Not just for career growth also for the quality of life. Be easy to live with and worth with. It is understated.
In other words, if one has to disagree, it should be from a rationalistic view point. Disagreeing from any other view point is what drains energy.
It is said that 'Hard work can make up for lack of talent'. My edit to that would be 'Hard work + being easy to work with can not only make up for lack of talent but help you build competence too'. I've found that when people enjoy working with you, they don't mind putting in a little extra effort to show you the ropes if you're struggling - it's been the biggest catalyst for my career!
Well said. Maintaining a consistent, positive attitude (and humor) can do wonders when conflicts, competing stakeholder priorities, or obstacles occur.
Always be polite and respectful, be firm with your stand if you know you're right, but never make the other person feel less about it. "Be approachable", let others learn and grow with you as you will learn and grow with them. Even at Google, not everyone knows everything. Just be helpful to keep an environment where everyone would love to work.
I try to achieve this with the constant reminder that we , the team are working towards a common goal/target state ... Whatever is good or is required for that, will need to be done. If we remove personal biases and think of only the big picture and the final outcome, becoming agreeable to work with is an easy goal to achieve.
Completely agree. I value this characteristic and in general being a positive force driving forward progress
Klara Pelcl this reminded of a conversation we had a while back about how being easy to work with is such an underrated skill 😊
Product Designer | Design Engineer | UX Strategist
3wWhen I started thinking about this for myself, the metaphor I had in the back of my mind was: Imagine you’re at a party, and the host’s dog poops on the floor. Then, the host grabs their dog, pushes their face towards the poop, and says very loudly that he’s a bad dog. Imagine the energy in the room in a moment like that. How uncomfortable it feels. You don’t want to be that person at work, right? So, when you are critiquing something, it’s important to phrase your critique in such a way that you end by directing the room’s energy in an upward direction. Instead of saying “I think that design looks bad,” consider “I think there may be some room for improvement, here. How might we improve it?” Make an assumption that everyone in the room signed up for this job for a reason. Assume everyone wants to see a good result—but maybe they’re a little lost in the moment. You can be one of the people who helps to draw them back in, but you have to make some intentional word choices, and intentional gestures / body language. It’s well worth learning!