Make Yourself Heard

(There’s No Need To Shout)

Problems of communication in the workplace are nothing out of the ordinary, accompanied by various degrees of frustration. Nothing is more frustrating, though, than a repeated failure to get through to the one person your advancement is dependent on. Most often, it’s your boss.

Do you ever feel like your boss is just biding time as you speak? You feel fortunate to get the time to speak to him, but it’s often discounted by his or her seeming lack of interest. When your manager really does pay attention, you feel like declaring a national holiday.

Today’s office distractions, like e-mail notifications, phone calls, etc., don’t help, as shown by a recent study. And these distractions affect supervisors as much as anyone else. Your boss may seem unable to spend the time to focus successfully on any one project, let alone yours.

There are steps you can take to mitigate this dynamic, though.

You can apply some of the same time-honored techniques with your boss that you may have used with easily distractible small children. Both share the ability to become overwhelmed and then inattentive. After all, our core, human traits and needs, such as fear, anxiety, need for achievement – and boredom – hold true whether we’re two or 52. I offer some ideas to consider in my recent article at PsychologyToday.com.