How to respond when someone asks you how things are going
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Imagine the following scenarios in your office – which seems more likely to take place?
Scene 1 – The coffee machine
Scene 2 – The coffee machine
As you’ll probably agree, the first scene above happens far too often. The senior manager is seeking to connect, and interested in what we’re up to and what we’re enjoying – but we fumble the opportunity to engage with them or impress them.
Don’t just assume they’re being polite – taking an extra 20 seconds to answer can sometimes be enough to drip feed through to someone that you’re enjoying your work, that you’re results focused, aspects of your work that you’re particularly interested in, or that you’re in touch with the metrics or bigger picture. It’s a chance to be seen as someone with positive things to say, not someone they only see if there is a problem!
And often this leads to more interesting conversations about what you’re working on.
TAKE AWAY
Ban “fine” and “busy” from your vocabulary. Try adding something additional when you’re asked “How’s it going?” this week.
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Senior Manager:
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“How are you doing?”
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You:
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“Oh! – everything’s going fine” or “We’re madly busy!”
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Senior Manager:
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“Good, good” (walks away with coffee)
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(Inner You):
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*facepalm* why on earth did I say that?
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Senior Manager:
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“How are you doing?”
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You:
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“Great, I’m really busy working on a new system at the moment. I’ve just got the feedback from the first set of trials, and the managers are really positive – 82% satisfaction rating already!” OR “Brilliant, lots of work I’m doing at the moment is really challenging me – I’m particularly enjoying the chance I’ve been given to manage the European project team, working remotely.” |
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Senior Manager:
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“That sounds great! Tell me more.”
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(Inner You):
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*Does a happy dance*
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Don’t just assume they’re being polite – taking an extra 20 seconds to answer can sometimes be enough to drip feed through to someone that you’re enjoying your work, that you’re results focused, aspects of your work that you’re particularly interested in, or that you’re in touch with the metrics or bigger picture. It’s a chance to be seen as someone with positive things to say, not someone they only see if there is a problem!
And often this leads to more interesting conversations about what you’re working on.
TAKE AWAY
Ban “fine” and “busy” from your vocabulary. Try adding something additional when you’re asked “How’s it going?” this week.