9 Tips for Gaining More Autonomy at Work
Kate Matsudaira writes another great blog post on gaining more autonomy at work. It’s a good read, but she provides these 9 tips for gaining more ownership and control over your domain and projects:
- Follow through. Do what you say and consistently deliver on your commitments.
- Proactively communicate when a task takes you longer than you thought, and why.
- Improve your communication skills. In order for others to hear you, sometimes you have to hone the way you deliver your message.
- Volunteer information and make an effort to explain vague or hard to understand ideas and concepts. Make an effort to share the details of your decisions and diversions. This is also important when you make mistakes – letting others know before they figure out on their own will show ownership of the situation and can prevent misunderstandings later.
- Be forthright and authentic with your feelings. Even when you may hold a contrary opinion communicate your thoughts (respectfully and with tact).
- Don’t talk behind the backs of others. It is very difficult to build trust if someone knows that you will say something negative about your boss, the company leadership, or another coworker.
- Be objective and neutral in difficult situations. Learn how to be calm under pressure and act as a diplomat resolving conflicts instead of causing them.
- Show consistency in your behavior. Not just in follow through but by eliminating any double standards that may exist.
- Learn to trust them. This is one of the hardest ones, but trust is a two-way street. Giving others the benefit of the doubt and learning how to work with them is essential to a strong mutual working relationship.