From the Library to the Office: Five Tips on Communicating in a Professional Environment
By: Maria Hibbard (with snaps to Kristen Pavon!)
So—you’ve finished finals, you’ve got a summer job, and you haven’t read a casebook in weeks. Maybe you even listened in to our Summer Success: Getting the Most from Your Summer Public Interest Experience webinar. Are you set to go? You may be finding that transitioning from the competitive atmosphere of law school and the ultra-focused mode of finals to an office may be harder than you realize. Here’s five tips on communicating in a professional environment to keep in mind:
- Maintain composure. Last month the Wall Street Journal wrote about not crying in the office—regardless of whether something goes your way or not, maintaining composure is as essential to developing a professional identity as a clean resume.
- Don’t get too personal. Avoid gossip, inappropriate conversations about personal matters, and generalizations about polarizing topics. You don’t want an individual who may later serve as a reference to know too much about your weekend antics.
- Talk it through. Resolving a personal conflict with an individual may be best approached by an individual conversation instead of avoiding the issue. The conflict may be just a misunderstanding, or it may be a larger matter that needs to be resolved through a series of conversations.
- Avoid negativity. Although your job might seem wonderful at first, every position has its high points and low points. Avoiding vocal expression of negativity and staying focused on the positive aspects of your job can make the work environment better for both you and your co-workers.
- Respect! Finally, a pearl of wisdom from a 1991 New York Times article on office etiquette (not much has changed!): “Respect someone else’s physical space and property; live by the old golden rule in life to regard others the way you want to be regarded.”– Dr. Abraham Zaleznik, Matsushita professor emeritus of leadership at the Harvard Business School.