The Number One Soft Skill You Need To Thrive In Your Career

Understand how your manager communicates.

"Most of us hope to work at our first real job for a while. Your first job is where you'll develop skills, friendships, and habits. Often the company culture shows up in how people communicate, so the first few weeks can be difficult while you learn the unwritten rules," shared Crosby. She advises that you open communication lines with regular one-on-one meetings. You create a road map to how you'd like to communicate your progress or challenges with your manager.

She suggests you assess how your manager interacts during the early days of your new job by asking these three questions:

1. How do people get more information on the direction?
2. How would you like to give me feedback on my work?
3. How will I know if I am off track or missing your expectations?

Ask for clarity when you don't understand what your manager wants.

Sometimes the directions our managers give us aren't always clear. However, we often hit a crossroad when considering whether to ask for clarification or figure it ourselves. Will our manager think we are incompetent if we don't understand our assignments? But what if we work on the task inefficiently by doing the wrong thing?

To help with understanding your work, Crosby suggests you ask for examples, templates, or expectations when you receive new assignments.

"Take time when getting new work to reconfirm the expectations, timeline, and what to do if you have existing priority work," she explained. She suggests asking for clarity before agreeing by saying, "Thanks for the opportunity to work on this! I was working on XX as we discussed in our weekly one-on-one, should I switch gears and focus on this based on when you want to see something?"

Remember written communication can follow you.

Emails and messaging software like Slack are like social media. Even if you delete it, it can't be unseen by others, and it can be printed or referred to over and over again. "Remember, it's a written document that can come up in legal issues in the future. Never joke, be sarcastic or make comments you wouldn't want to clarify in a court of law," Crosby shared. Her three tips for managing email communications at work include:

1. Be respectful, kind, and conscious of the timeliness of your email. When in doubt, talk in person and resolve an issue or opportunity immediately.
2. Use bold to highlight actions and don't be afraid to resend friendly reminders if you don't get a response.
3. Get an email buddy. Ask them to review your message for tone, clarity, and to make sure you aren't getting distracted by your perspective.

Find a mentor.

There's always that one person at work who sends great emails and gives excellent speeches at work. They capture your attention every time they speak at a meeting or send an email. If you have identified that person at work, Crosby believes that that person can be a mentor for you.

"Find a role model and if possible, build a relationship, and you can potentially cultivate a mentorship where you can get individual feedback. In the meantime, consider how they would respond in situations where you might feel stuck."

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