How To Be The Most Likable Person In The Office

As a professional, it is important to be liked by your coworkers. Not only will this make your work life more enjoyable, but it will also play a key role in your personal career management. Being well liked will help you push forward initiatives, create new strategies, and advance farther in your career.  To learn more about getting ahead in your career, check out our career advancement blog.

In 1936, Dale Carnegie published the timeless novel How to Win Friends and Influence People. This book gives detailed accounts on how to be more likable, persuasive, and happy in your career. While there are several strategies to become more likable, the tips given in this book provide a solid base to grow in your career. Below are highlights on How To Be The Most Likable Person In The Office.

1) Become genuinely interested in other people: Show your coworkers that you really care about their lives. For example, if your coworker has a picture of their family at their desk, you could ask about how their children are doing. Even remembering a birthday or asking about an upcoming family event your coworker has been talking about shows that you listen and take a genuine interest in your workplace relationships.

2) Smile: It is important to smile at your coworkers! No one likes interacting with a negative Nancy. Smiling is contagious!  People can’t help smiling themselves after interacting with a happy and passionate person. It will help you be more positive, and leave your coworkers in a great mood after chatting with you.

3) “A person’s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” – Dale Carnegie: Saying someone’s name in conversation is an easy way to make people like you. It shows that you remember who they are, and  that you care about their personal identity. If you have trouble remembering names, you can try to repeat the name after the first introduction, or even double check with the person: “You’re name is Christopher, right?” No shame in wanting to get it right and taking steps to remember.

4) Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves: When speaking with a coworker, make sure to ask them probing questions. This shows that you are interested in what they are saying. The conversation could be about their kids, their weekend softball league or even bonding over a shared love for HBO’s Sunday night lineup. Another great way to be a good listener is to repeat what your coworkers have said to you, before you make a comment. This trick can also help you to remember information about them for future conversations

 5) Talk in terms of the other person’s interests: This is a very easy and effective way to be more likable! Talking in terms of another person’s interests instead of your own shows that you care more about their ideas, making you more likable in their eyes. When working on business deals, make sure to talk not only about what you want, but also in terms of what you can do for the other side.

6) Make the other person feel important- and do it sincerely: The easiest way to do this is by remembering what your coworkers have chatted with you about in previous conversations. If a coworker has mentioned to you before that they love mountain biking, make sure to bring that up again. In passing you could say “Hey John, I thought of you this weekend. I saw a special on the discovery channel about mountain biking.”  Remember that a something seemingly small can go a long way, and in turn will make them value your relationship as well.

Raymond Lee

Raymond Lee is the President of Careerminds, a global outplacement company based in Wilmington, Delaware. He has over 20 years of human resource, outplacement, and career consulting experience. He has his bachelor’s in psychology and holds a Master’s Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Louisiana Tech University. He is active in SHRM and ATD. Raymond’s been featured on SiriusXM Business Radio, CareerTalk, and the Wall Street Journal and he’s published a book titled, Clocking Out: A Stress-Free Guide to Career Transitions.