7 Tips to Manage Your Reputation at Work

If you are a manager it is very important for you to know how to manage your reputation at work. This is crucial to your success and to the success of your team. You are not alone in your pursuit of any project and your work reputation can be ruined quickly when you’re not looking.

Work Reputation is important to employees because the way that people look at you determines when and how people get promoted and what happens in the meantime. Reputation is also how you show value to your workplace.

Here are 7 tips to manage your reputation at work:

1. The basics — the first place your reputation can take a dive is if you are late to work or meetings. Stay on top of this and be where you are supposed to be even a little early. Make sure your voicemail has a positive professional message.
2. Stay on target — if you are in a meeting and you know it is only an hour, make sure you keep within that hour. If you have anything else to say, keep it for a smaller meeting later.
3. Keep learning — be the first to embrace a new training or learning opportunity. This keeps your skills up and lets the boss know that you are willing to learn.
4. Understand the company you work for — if you know the company well, you know how your skills fit into the company’s mission. This will help you as you move forward in the company.
5. Look for ways to change things — if you are in a job that you have been doing for a while, no doubt you can find ways to make it more efficient. Experiment with something new then let your boss know about it if it works.
6. Be proactive — let people know that you are willing to work on projects and look for ways to work on committees or special projects that come along. Be the first to identify where you can get started.
7. Be still — sometimes just being still and listening will help you gain far more information than being a chatterbox. Make sure you say what you have to say then wait and let others talk. You will be happy that you did.

Your reputation is what precedes any interaction you have with others at your workplace. When you are someone that everyone wants to know and you are open to new ideas, people will flock to you. When you are someone that is irritating to people, people will stay away from you. So, it is essential to manage your reputation at work.

Now is a time to focus on the type of person you want to be and design your reputation to fit the person you want to become at work. All you have to do is think about what you want to project and begin to systematically create that personality. This can open an entirely new world to you and your workplace.