Who hasn’t been afraid to share their ideas with their team and leadership and not receive a warm welcome? This feeling is quite common among professionals, and the good news is that it can be overcome. For a long time, “bosses” and managers didn’t encourage sharing among their employees, but that moment in organizations has passed.
In fact, according to a new labor market survey conducted by The School of Life and Human Resources consultancy Robert Half, the outlook is quite positive for employees. See below how this aspect fared in the survey.
The study found that nearly half of the employees surveyed feel comfortable sharing ideas and opinions at work, both with their leaders and with their peers. Next, nearly 22% of professionals share ideas only with their colleagues, not with leadership, and more than 11% speak only with managers.
Finally, almost 18% do not feel comfortable discussing ideas and career possibilities with anyone at the company.
On the other hand, nearly 95% of leaders said they encourage open sharing of opinions, and more than 4% of the remaining 4% know they need to implement this. Only 0.49% neither do nor intend to do so, as they don’t believe it’s necessary.
This way, it’s clear that you have the right paths to develop this skill, right? Statistically, your idea is more likely to be accepted and heard than not. So, you just need to feel confident enough to do it and let success happen in your career.
To do this, see 5 tips below on how to get started.
How to share your ideas with your team and leadership in 5 steps
1 – Start by sharing ideas privately with trusted colleagues.
Start with your peers if you have a problem with leaders. Select experts who collaborate with you and whom you can trust enough to exchange ideas with, and you’ll notice that the response is typically favorable.
Not everyone will always like and accept our ideas. However, the important thing is to know that the people around us respect our opinions, will listen to them, and consider them. This will boost your self-confidence as you take new steps.
2 – Practice how you will share your ideas in advance
Another option to start getting used to the idea of “pitching” is to practice on your own. Think about your opinion or vision and practice sharing it with others in your work.
Speaking out loud is a great strategy at this point. We often believe we’re ready based on our organized thoughts. However, thinking is different from speaking, which is why practicing speaking is so important to feel ready to make this move.
3 – Focus on having simple, transparent, objective and effective communication
Communication is key to success in the job market, on all fronts. This includes being able to position yourself, speak up, defend your ideas, and back up your opinions.
When you can develop a cohesive and transparent line of reasoning and let it become a part of your speech, everything becomes simpler. This way, people will find it easier to understand you, will follow the linearity of your thinking, and will be more likely to like your idea. However, if your vision isn’t well received, it will at least be heard and respected.
So, use appropriate vocabulary, avoid repetition, and build your argument with a beginning, middle, and end, bringing contexts and elements that facilitate understanding.
4 – Show confidence and conviction to increase your credibility.
Good communication, however, doesn’t come out of nowhere. To communicate effectively, professionals need to have confidence and conviction when structuring ideas, practicing them, and ultimately presenting them.
To achieve this, be sure to work on self-awareness and the pursuit of a better understanding of yourself. The more you know yourself, the easier it will be to convey and explain your ideas to others at work.
5 – Ask for feedback and encourage the exchange of ideas among everyone involved
Lastly, remember humility and a sense of belonging. Ask for feedback and analysis on your shared opinions and ideas, and suggest that others share their perspectives. This gradually makes horizontality and collaboration part of the company culture, benefiting everyone.
Anyway, how about an extra tip on how to share your ideas with your team and leadership? The more knowledge you have about your field, the easier it will be to present and defend your ideas.
