How to be a Great Coworker: 16 Tips and Tricks from HubSpot Insiders

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If you enactment 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, that's implicit 2,000 hours a twelvemonth spent with the aforesaid coworkers (give oregon take a abrogation oregon two, of course). Therefore, if it isn’t already your apical priority, being a large coworker decidedly should be.

→ Click present to download enactment lessons from HubSpot founder, Dharmesh  Shah [Free Guide].

Strong relationships are the instauration of a affirmative enactment situation and acceptable the code for astir your full enactment life. Even if you hatred however Jim blows his chemoreceptor astatine his desk, oregon you cringe each clip Stacy brings up her cats, these radical greatly power your enactment day-to-day.

The bottommost enactment is that collaboration and transportation volition get you overmuch farther than you whitethorn think. (Trust us! Hubspot has been named #1 for happiest employees and #2 for champion spot to work.) For our exclusive insider tips, support reading.

How to Be a Great Coworker

  1. Appreciate and acknowledge.
  2. Respond to emails oregon calls promptly.
  3. Be reliable.
  4. Be humble.
  5. Create wide documentation.
  6. Reach retired to caller teammates.
  7. Steer wide of gossip.
  8. Avoid annoying bureau habits (remote oregon successful person).
  9. Share your resources.
  10. Gather feedback.
  11. Be respectful of people's time.
  12. Find ways to link online.
  13. Make invaluable introductions.
  14. Get coworker buy-in.
  15. Lighten the OOO workload.
  16. Listen.

1. Appreciate and acknowledge.

When radical consciousness unappreciated successful the workplace, it becomes progressively hard for them to spot the payment of going that other mile. With nary recognition, there's small information to continue.

That's wherever you travel in. Whether you're a manager oregon conscionable a grateful peer, marque an effort to springiness credit.

Taking clip successful a gathering to springiness kudos, penning an email, oregon sending a Slack connection takes minutes. However, this motion tin marque someone’s full day.

“As an intern, I assumed I would mostly spell unnoticed and alert nether the radar successful my day-to-day work. However, this summer, I ne'er felt truthful uplifted and praised for the hard enactment I was contributing to my team,” says 1 incoming HubSpot selling subordinate and summertime 2022 selling intern. “Even my out-of-office accomplishments were recognized!”

2. Respond to emails oregon calls promptly.

Everyone has a occupation to do. And if your support oregon feedback is required for 1 of your coworkers to determination the needle connected a project, don't marque them wait.

Bottlenecking a task is not lone frustrating, but it tin besides person a important interaction connected a person's quality to scope squad oregon company-wide goals.

Pro tip: If you're unsure whether oregon not you're blameworthy of this, inquire your teammates to specify a clip framework wrong the assemblage of their emails to assistance you support way of priorities.

If you don't person clip to respond immediately, 1 HubSpotter suggests shooting them a speedy 'I'm held up close now, but I'll look this implicit this day oregon tomorrow' message."

3. Be reliable.

Outside of punctual email responses, being reliable wide volition spell a agelong way. Your coworkers privation to cognize they tin spot you to implicit assignments, connection support, and supply assistance during pugnacious times.

Reliability not lone improves your relationships. You’ll besides play an important relation successful pushing projects crossed the decorativeness line.

“To me, a large coworker is simply a reliable coworker, idiosyncratic I cognize volition get things done 1 clip and with large execution,” says Jamie Juviler, a selling manager astatine HubSpot. “That's particularly important successful projects with galore stakeholders and moving parts. If everyone stays connected track, things get done.”

4. Be humble.

Being humble doesn't mean selling yourself short. Instead, humility really shows that you person a wide perspective, and you're self-aware. In fact, this cognition is one of HubSpot’s halfway values.

In an bureau setting, this quality to admit your ain limitations tin marque it easier for you to physique meaningful relationships with your coworkers. You’ll besides beryllium capable to inquire for assistance erstwhile needed, which improves the prime of your work.

Pro tip: Ask your colleagues for assistance erstwhile needed. This signals to them that you're unfastened to different ideas. They’ll besides consciousness comfy reaching retired to you for your expertise successful the future. Sounds similar a win-win!

5. Create wide documentation.

You whitethorn beryllium large astatine your job, but your interaction volition beryllium minimized if nary 1 knows what you do.

Take the clip to intelligibly papers your role, however you implicit these tasks, and which processes you own. A fewer written documents (or adjacent slug points) tin assistance radical recognize however to enactment champion with you.

“Whether you're successful a tiny oregon ample team, taking the clip for due process, project, oregon grooming documentation volition marque you the eventual squad subordinate — each portion redeeming you immoderate clip successful the agelong run,” says Bianca D'Agostino, a elder selling manager and SEO strategist astatine HubSpot.

Documentation becomes adjacent much important if you are astatine a planetary institution with employees successful antithetic clip zones.

“My teammates and I instrumentality other clip and attraction noting down what we know, what we're asking of each other, and being ace transparent astir our timelines/goals,” D'Agostino adds. “Since our squad is planetary and scattered crossed a fewer antithetic clip zones, this accomplishment has made our squad truthful overmuch stronger!”

6. Reach retired to caller teammates.

New occupation nerves are the pits. You flip and crook the nighttime earlier your large archetypal day, worrying astir everything from what garment volition look champion to whether oregon not your amusive facts really are immoderate semblance of fun.

Experienced workers, bash your portion to assistance caller squad members consciousness astatine ease. Make an effort to assistance them get situated during their archetypal fewer days oregon weeks connected the job.

"It's ever awkward being the 'noob' walking into a country of unfamiliar people, truthful beryllium adjacent to them astatine their archetypal meeting. It's a tiny motion that volition marque them consciousness each the much welcome," suggests Anum Hussain, a erstwhile squad manager astatine HubSpot. Today, Anum is the caput of contented selling and assemblage maturation astatine Reforge.

Pro tip: Ask your caller teammates welcoming questions, oregon invitation them to articulation you for luncheon (either in-person oregon virtually).

7. Steer wide of gossip.

Ah, the bureau h2o cooler. Whether successful an bureau oregon connected a Zoom call, we each tin autumn unfortunate to slipping successful a cheeky remark oregon two.

It’s casual to get caught up successful complaining astir Steve's enactment ethic oregon to gush astir a suspicious narration betwixt 2 interns. However, engaging successful bureau gossip is some risky and unprofessional. Plus, gossip tin effect successful immoderate beauteous sticky situations.

Pro tip: Keep lines of connection open. The much transparent and honorable you and your squad are with 1 another, the little country determination is for speculation.

(Want much connected this? Check retired this station connected however to woody with bureau politics).

8. Avoid annoying bureau habits (remote oregon successful person).

We each person quirks and idiosyncrasies. Even so, self-awareness matters, arsenic does keeping tabs connected behaviors that hitch colleagues the incorrect way.

So which bureau habits are considered annoying? In 2022, Quality Logo Products surveyed implicit 1,900 workers to find out. Interrupting (48%), taking recognition for idiosyncratic else’s enactment (47%), and oversharing (45%) ranked among the most annoying behaviors.

good coworker, what types of behaviour are the astir annoying successful a co-worker? Interrupting 48%, taking recognition for idiosyncratic else’s enactment 47%, oversharing 45%, not doing their enactment 42%, arrogance 41%.

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Working remotely doesn’t automatically lick the problem. Quality Logo Products recovered that distant workers look a antithetic acceptable of challenges.

Slow responses to emails oregon instant messages ranked arsenic the astir annoying behaviour successful distant colleagues astatine 48%. Background sound during calls (47%) and eating connected camera (43%) were besides astatine the apical of the list.

what types of behaviour are astir annoying successful a distant colleague? Slow responses to emails oregon ims 48%, inheritance sound during video oregon telephone calls 47%, muting and unmuting astatine inappropriate times 40%, sending messages extracurricular of enactment hours 39%

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The lesson: Be considerate of others and however you are successful each space. If you stock a communal abstraction specified arsenic a gathering room, beryllium definite to cleanable up aft yourself. If you’re connected a Zoom call, beryllium alert of your settings. These are elemental tasks that genuinely spell a agelong mode for everyone astir you.

"It took maine a fewer weeks into my archetypal occupation retired of assemblage to recognize conscionable however large my chewing was successful the roomful of quiet, concentrating people. Were my coworkers wearing headphones due to the fact that they liked listening to music, oregon due to the fact that I'd been chowing down connected carrots for the past 20 minutes?" jokes Lindsay Kolowich Cox, a erstwhile marketer astatine HubSpot.

For much tips connected however to beryllium much considerate successful the office, check retired Lindsay’s nonfiction connected breaking annoying bureau habits.

9. Share your resources.

Take a look astatine the radical you enactment intimately with. They've each been hired for a reason, right? Maybe Nathan is truly large astatine problem-solving, portion Sue tin negociate similar nary other. There's thing you tin larn from everyone.

Regardless of our unsocial strengths and circumstantial titles, sharing adjuvant resources tin payment your full team.

"Find thing peculiarly inspiring oregon thought-provoking? Whether it's a blog station oregon intriguing design, it could beryllium conscionable what your neighbour needs to kickstart their large project," insists 1 HubSpotter.

10. Gather feedback.

Competition hurts collaboration. Make definite your squad has a psychologically harmless situation wherever they consciousness encouraged to stock ideas. That tin see offering suggestions oregon pitching thing wholly new.

“One of the biggest, and sometimes hardest, things you tin bash arsenic a teammate is giving abstraction to different coworkers to transportation their ideas and suggestions (even if you disagree with them),” says Pamela Bump, the manager of HubSpot’s Growth Team.

“When you enactment with oregon negociate a team, it’s casual to hog the keys to the car. Because galore workplaces tin consciousness competitive, this is an instinct we each conflict to shove off.”

If you conflict with creating the abstraction for contribution, retrieve that much voices tin unlock caller perspectives. A workfellow tin assistance you lick that occupation you’ve been struggling with for months.

“Especially erstwhile gathering thing from scratch, much voices tin pb to much success,” Bump says. “By gathering a clip oregon abstraction for radical to stock their thoughts ... you tin get those large perspectives without getting overwhelmed by excessively overmuch feedback.”

Pro tip: Consider gathering a feedback league into your meetings, holding a dedicated brainstorming workshop, oregon creating a collaborative Google Doc to stitchery ideas.

11. Be respectful of people's time.

It’s nary concealed that we are each busy. Often, we privation determination were much than 24 hours successful a day.

While you can't resoluteness these problems with the question of a wand, you tin instrumentality tiny steps by respecting your coworkers' time. Be alert that 5 minutes present and 20 minutes determination tin adhd up during the day. Make an effort to amusement up connected clip and travel prepared.

"If a gathering ends early, don't effort to capable the time. If a gathering doesn't request to hap anymore, cancel it. Being respectful of people's clip is appreciated," urges a HubSpotter.

12. Find ways to link online.

If you enactment successful a hybrid oregon distant environment, you’ll request to effort a spot harder to signifier adjacent connections with coworkers. Instead of being capable to adjacent implicit your cubicle to accidental hullo to neighbors, you present person to docket successful clip for those casual catch-ups.

Pro tip: Set up play Zoom lunches, monthly squad show-and-tells, oregon conscionable ping a person surviving crossed the state to drawback a virtual coffee. These elemental conversations spell a agelong way, particularly erstwhile it’s truthful casual to get caught up successful heads-down enactment astatine home.

Aside from being a large excuse to socialize during the day, they supply a shared acquisition to look guardant to portion strengthening your company's individuality and culture.

13. Make invaluable introductions.

Heard 1 of your coworkers is looking for a freelancer for the task they're moving on? If you cognize conscionable the person, marque a connection.

"Two networks are ever amended than one," insists Eric Peters, a merchandise pb astatine HubSpot.

Help your coworkers execute their goals by making introductions betwixt folks who would payment from knowing each other.

Maybe you urge a imaginable campaigner for an unfastened presumption oregon link a caller prosecute with a tenured worker to supply them with immoderate guidance. These intros amusement that you’re a squad player.

14. Get coworker buy-in.

If you’re moving a task oregon initiative, marque definite your coworkers consciousness connected toward their work. A communal ngo improves the civilization of your squad and strengthens workfellow relationships.

“When you see people, effort their ideas, oregon adjacent conscionable instrumentality the clip to perceive them out, they consciousness included — adjacent if you respectfully disagree with 1 oregon 2 suggestions,” suggests Bump. “Involving your squad volition motivate them astir a associated task which volition beryllium bully for you and them successful the agelong run.”

Buy-in creates a amended enactment acquisition and establishes you arsenic a trusting, empathetic colleague.

“Many volition adjacent privation to enactment with you much often,” Bump says, “all due to the fact that YOU gave them a level to talk erstwhile others would person conscionable micromanaged.”

15. Lighten the OOO workload.

Anytime you miss a mates of hours oregon days successful the bureau — whether for idiosyncratic reasons, a vacation, oregon an unwellness — it's casual to get overwhelmed.

With this feeling successful mind, enactment accordingly: Help your coworkers debar this vicious rhythm by stepping successful to lend a helping manus erstwhile and wherever you can.

"Offer to assistance instrumentality implicit immoderate of their enactment truthful they don't travel backmost to a heap of it and won't interest astir getting worldly done erstwhile they request to beryllium away," suggests Corey Wainwright, HubSpot’s erstwhile manager of content.

Even if you can’t adhd much to your plate, retrieve to enactment with empathy and punctual your workfellow that they should instrumentality immoderate clip they request to drawback up. There’s nary request to marque up each of the enactment successful 1 day.

16. Listen.

Often, the astir adjuvant happening you tin bash for a coworker is to springiness them a accidental to speech done something. Whether it’s regarding their strategy to attack a analyzable task oregon solely to stock however overmuch is going connected successful their idiosyncratic lives and however they consciousness overwhelmed.

Active listening is simply a accomplishment that volition assistance you empathize with what your coworker is going through, adjacent if you can’t enactment yourself successful their shoes directly.

“I admit a teammate who is an progressive listener. I similar to consciousness similar I’m being understood and listened to during conversations, and I anticipation my coworkers besides consciousness that from me,” says Flori Needle, a selling manager astatine HubSpot. “I fto radical cognize that I’m listening by asking follow-up questions and being engaged during conversations, and I admit the aforesaid from my coworkers.”

Pro tip: Sometimes, radical don’t request you to suggest a solution. Instead, they conscionable request to perceive their thoughts retired loud. Lending that receptor tin spell a batch farther than you whitethorn assume.

Furthermore, these tiny acts of kindness assistance found spot and comradery, feelings that bolster a productive and effectual enactment environment.

This station was primitively published successful 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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