When leaving a job, try your best to leave on good terms with your boss and co-workers. These people can serve as references for you in the future. It’s a small world. People know people. You might have to work with any of these people again, down the road. Avoid burning any bridges. Your work ethics and professionalism, or lack of, will be remembered and can have long-term consequences in your career trajectory.
Here are 9 mistakes to avoid when you are leaving a job:
1. Being indecisive.
Think carefully about your decision to leave. If a salary hike or title promotion can convince you to stay, discuss it with your boss before mentioning anything about quitting. Don’t use quitting as a bargaining tool; even if you decide to stay it will sour your working relationship.
2. Leaving without a job offer in hand.
Try to leave only when the next job is certain. You don’t want a gap on your resume which may hamper your job search down the line. Even if you hate your job, persevere long enough to line up another job.
3. Leaving without giving proper notice.
Adhere to the required notice period in your contract if specified. Give a shorter notice only if it’s a very unbearably toxic work environment. Adequate notice is required by the company to search for a replacement and assign a person in the interim. Leaving without serving your notice period can damage your reputation in professional circles.
4. Not telling your boss first.
Inform your boss that you’re quitting your job before you tell your co-workers. This shows respect and professionalism. This also helps the management to thoughtfully prepare how to announce this news to the other workers and field their questions. If you tell colleagues first and your boss hears that you’re leaving from them, your boss is going to feel sidelined and disrespected, which could undermine your ability to get a good reference.
5. Not helping with the transition.
Try to make the transition as smooth as possible for all concerned – the boss, the successor and the organization as a whole. Tie all loose ends, document work in progress, update files and status reports on projects. Train your replacement if appointed and asked to by the management. Introduce the person to the clients and colleagues they’ll be working with.
6. Doing a tell-all at your exit interview.
Whatever your reasons are for leaving a job, don’t treat an exit interview with HR as a time to criticize your boss or co-worker. Take a balanced approach by sharing things that you love about the company, in addition to some honest constructive feedback. It is best to leave on amicable terms in case you ever decide to return in the future.
7. Not deleting personal files on your office computer.
Don’t leave any sensitive personal information, identity proofs, etc. which could be misused later. Your company owns whatever is on your work email and work computer. Make a clean exit. Don’t leave any personal belongings in your drawer or desk either for which you have to awkwardly return to collect.
8. Forgetting to ask for and to give recommendations.
Try to be cordial to the very end. This is essential to secure your references or recommendations, your salary dues, etc. Future employers may ask to connect with references from the company that you are leaving. Also, remember to write recommendations for your former colleagues and boss on sites such as LinkedIn as a thank you and goodwill gesture.
9. Staying longer than necessary.
Unless asked to stay on by the boss to train the replacement, don’t overstay your welcome. It can be a financial burden too for the employer. You are also not obligated to stay any longer than is necessary
Remember to quit smartly and strategically. Staying committed to the job up until the very last day will help you to leave with respect and with your reputation intact. Avoid the above-mentioned pitfalls and make a clean getaway.
Meetings are a mainstay of modern workplace communication, and for good reason. Done right, meetings aid collaboration, creativity, innovation, and inclusivity among teams. A study1 by ResearchGate reveals that over 50% of respondents considered their meetings productive and only 15% complained about them being a waste of time.
Yet, many of us hear superiors say, “If you’re invited to a meeting, we expect you to speak up. Don’t wait for someone to ask you.”
So, when you can’t find your voice in a meeting or if you’re getting interrupted too often when you try to speak, here are a few ways to make yourself heard in meetings.
7 Ways to Make Your Voice Heard in Meetings.
1.Do your research beforehand.
Walking into a meeting with no idea about its purpose or agenda is like going to war without guns. It’s imperative that you study the agenda before the meeting and arm yourself with ideas, questions and suggestions. If there are topics on the agenda that you can contribute to, convey the same to the host in advance and request that they set aside a few minutes in the meeting for you to speak. And if public speaking gets the best of you, practice your speech before the meeting with a friend or a trusted colleague, and invite questions and suggestions. Remember, practice makes perfect.
2.Arrive early to a meeting.
Reach the meeting room 10-15 minutes ahead of time and start conversations with those who are already present. It’s astonishing how even experienced people shy away from contributing in meetings because they fear what others will think of them. Being assertive in your communication with attendees gets easier if you’ve already spoken to them and built a rapport before the meeting. And if small talk is not your thing, just pull out the agenda and ask for someone’s opinion.
3.Consider questions as contributions.
Questions spark curiosity, curiosity creates ideas, and ideas lead to innovation. So never hesitate to stand up in a meeting and ask your questions. But don’t ever use questions to draw attention towards you. If your question doesn’t have merit, you’re only wasting your and your entire team’s time—a crime too grave to commit when everyone is already pressed for time. Don’t have questions but want to contribute? Make your voice heard by answering questions or summarizing the meeting based on your understanding.
4.Make sure your ideas get the attention they deserve.
When you’ve finally won attention in the meeting, hold the floor until you’ve made your point. Sometimes, even though you’ve made an important contribution, another attendee might think that they’ve come up with an idea of a lifetime and your idea will get lost under their enthusiasm. To avoid this, right after you make your point, engage others in a conversation by asking them “Do you think we can work with this idea?”, or “How can we make this work for your team as well?” to make sure your idea gets the attention it deserves.
And if someone interrupts, politely tell them that you’d like to hear their opinion but have just two more points to make. After you’ve completed your dialogue, remember to ask the person what they were saying.
5.Respond in agreement or disagreement.
If you agree to a point, ensure you voice your agreement with facts or reasons for the same. And if you disagree, speak up and explain why. Never apologize for disagreeing with someone, instead be assertive in your communication without being disrespectful.
Avoid starting with phrases like “I’m sorry but I think…” or “I don’t want to interrupt, but…” and start with these:
● In my opinion, we have a better solution if we….
● I understand Sheetal’s point, but that could lead to…
● I see it differently because…
6.Ask yourself why you want to contribute.
You either have something important to say that will change the course of the meeting, or you’re worried that you’ll be at the receiving end of the “If you’re invited to a meeting, we expect you to speak up.” comment.
If your contribution is driven by the latter, begin by asking yourself why you care about your role, your organization and the project at hand. Answering these questions will help you develop a sense of connection to your work, so you can find new ways to contribute instead of just making your presence felt.
7.Leave your emotions at the door.
People complain that they get “shut off” or “spoken over” in meetings. The only way to get past this is to leave your emotions at the door before a meeting. If you’re being spoken over, or when your idea isn’t being accepted like you wish it to be, staying in a neutral emotional state will help you cope with the feedback. If you have an important point to make that was interrupted, stand up and assert it; if it wasn’t, let it pass. Remember, the point of the meeting is to find solutions to a problem, and not to hear you out.
Making yourself heard in meetings can be tricky, especially when you’re stuck in a workplace that doesn’t notice your contributions. Give these suggestions a go, practice ways to be more assertive in your communication, and you’ll soon find it easy to be heard in meeting