{"id":7783,"date":"2017-08-10T18:00:50","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T18:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsterindia.com\/career-advice\/gain-freedom-from-these-common-workplace-fears-7783\/"},"modified":"2023-04-20T11:31:08","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T06:01:08","slug":"gain-freedom-from-these-common-workplace-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/gain-freedom-from-these-common-workplace-fears\/","title":{"rendered":"Gain freedom from these common workplace fears"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The office is like your second home; most of us spend 50% of our total waking hours during any given day at work. But it doesn\u2019t seem so home-like when workplace anxiety and fears start gnawing at us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonathan Berent, psychotherapist and co-author of Work Makes Me Nervous, believes that some level of workplace anxiety is normal, but it \u201cbecomes a problem when it results in obsessive worrying or avoidance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If workplace anxieties and fears control you, it could affect your career and mental wellbeing. \u201cMost people who work experience it due to the reality of ongoing and an ever-evolving pressure for performance and productivity,\u201d Berent says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a look at how you can get rid of some common workplace fears that may be holding you back from achieving your professional goals:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fear of public speaking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to popular opinion, the average person ranks fear of public speaking higher than the fear of death. It tends to bring on palpitations, cold sweats, clammy hands and an extremely uncomfortable demeanor. It\u2019s the one fear every professional needs to face up to repeatedly \u2014 it could be while making a presentation before seniors, chatting with clients on con calls or sharing opinions with colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to overcome it:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n


\u2022 Prepare mentally from the instant you know you need to present to an audience.
\u2022 Organize your materials and thoughts to stay relaxed.
\u2022 Ensure that the words you use are simple and your sentences short.
\u2022 Include your own experiences to impart information and make your speech\/presentation heartfelt.
\u2022 Make time to practice and watch yourself in the mirror to see how you appear to others. Pay attention to body language, including gestures, movements and facial expressions.
\u2022 Record yourself to learn how to modulate and use your voice.
\u2022 Try deep breathing before and during your presentation to calm your nerves and give power to your voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear of Networking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Be it insider information, a new job opportunity or bringing in business for your company, networking is the way ahead. Madeline Bell, president and CEO of The Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia, runs Heels of Success, a career mentorship blog. On it, she writes: \u201cThese days, it\u2019s not enough to keep your head down and produce A-plus work. You need to connect with others, be vocal about your interests and career goals, and build relationships with people you might not otherwise have met.\u201d Yet many of us tend to back into a corner and wonder what to do at a conference, roundtable or career fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to overcome it:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n


\u2022 Do your homework. Find out who\u2019ll be attending so you can focus on the people you’d most like to meet.
\u2022 Set yourself one or two realistic goals \u2013 meeting a specific person or learning about a product – so you can network in a targeted way.
\u2022 Arrive early so that you can settle in before you work the room. Walking in when groups have formed won\u2019t help your cause.
\u2022 Try a few pre-prepared, open-ended questions once you\u2019re past the introductions. Make sure you\u2019re ready with your information too.
\u2022 Build yourself up, but also focus on listening \u2013 this ability is common to all good networkers.
\u2022 Maintain an open body posture, look relaxed and warm, make eye contact and smile. Put that phone away and connect with people.
\u2022 A networking buddy, friend or colleague, can help you to break the ice and create your own circles. But don\u2019t cling to each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear of the Annual Performance Evaluation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Society for Human Resource Management says 95% employees are dissatisfied with their organization\u2019s appraisal process and as many as 90% don\u2019t believe the process provides \u201caccurate information.\u201d No wonder that the annual appraisal is something that employees across the board and hierarchies fear. Negotiation during the appraisal \u2013 be it asking for a pay raise or a new position \u2013 only elevates existing anxiety levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to overcome it:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n


\u2022 Thinking of it as an opportunity to better yourself gives you \u201cpower\u201d over the process and takes away the fear.
\u2022 Rewind to your earlier review. Build a case for your performance by listing down the KRAs and your accomplishments.
\u2022 Use objective data – new skills, responsibilities, projects and successes – to set the stage for negotiation.
\u2022 Peer feedback may help you gain a different perspective on your performance. Coworkers can reveal unknown facets of your working style.
\u2022 Conduct a mock review with a friend, get a good night\u2019s sleep, dress appropriately and work on making a good impression.
\u2022 Don\u2019t think of it as a confrontation with the boss. Instead, view it as a gateway for a conversation.
Now that you know how you can rid yourself from these workplace worries, go ahead and act. You have the freedom to #GoOutAndBe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The office is like your second home; most of us spend 50% of our total waking hours during any given day at work. But it doesn\u2019t seem so home-like when workplace anxiety and fears start gnawing at us. Jonathan Berent, psychotherapist and co-author of Work Makes Me Nervous, believes that some level of workplace anxiety […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7783","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motivation-thought-leadership"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7783"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17161,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7783\/revisions\/17161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}