10 Tips for Women Working in a Male-Dominated Environment
10 Tips for Women Working in a Male-Dominated Environment |
As a woman, I have spent 3 years working in male-dominated teams and departments. And here’s what I’ve learnt; it can be a challenge.
Men are entertaining characters in the office, they can be friendly, funny and full of life. But as interesting as they make the working experience it can often be quite difficult to work with them. In the more extreme situations they don’t know where to draw the line when it comes to appropriate workplace banter, coast their way through work-based tasks and can be dirty competitors.
Dealing with issues of professionalism, competency and competition are not necessarily unique to a male-dominated environment but they can be enhanced by that factor. For someone like me who is quieter and more awkward, navigating these problems has been extra hard so I had to pick up a few tips and tricks.
Here are 10 effective tips for any woman working in a male-dominated environment:
1. Be Assertive
When working in a male-dominated environment it’s important to assert yourself. Sexism plays a big role in corporate environments to this day, so if you give a man a chance to belittle he just might.
It’s important that your opinion is heard and it’s left to you to make sure it is valued.
So here are a few ways you can assert yourself in the office:
- Do not be silent at meetings: if you have something to say, say it. Meetings are your one opportunity to be heard out by the entire team so use them wisely. Don’t be afraid to be wrong, you’ll only be corrected. Besides, it shows that you care about what is being discussed and that is a point in your corner. With that said, think about what you want to say for a second before you say it. You don’t want too far off from the topic at hand.
- Voice your disagreement: if you disagree, speak up. Especially when you’re being asked, don’t be afraid to step on a few toes. It’s all about delivery, clearly state the reason why you disagree and then let it be once a final decision has been made.
- Give your opinion when asked: if your superior asks for it, give your honest opinion.
- Stand your ground: when your colleague is imposing their opinion on you, stand your ground. What they have to say is not more important than what you have to say. So if they don’t back down neither should you. But be careful a disagreement in the office should never turn into a fight, be mindful of your words and stay civil.
2. Do Not be a Lone Wolf
Sometimes to not be belittled or toyed with by being overly friendly women choose the opposite route. They choose to separate themselves from their male colleagues. Unfortunately, that can be detrimental to your work and working environment. Here’s why.
First of all, men can be very useful coworkers. They are resourceful and unconventional and if they are willing to help you they go the extra mile. Do not take this for granted because teamwork is a vital part of every organization.
Secondly, men are often wary of people they can’t talk to or laugh with. They see it as threatening and snobbish, even if that’s not the intention. And that automatically makes you the enemy.
So try to collaborate with them in any way that you can. And offer your help too.
3. Focus on Your Own Work
Deliver good work. This is vital, focus on your abilities and nothing else. Men sometimes have a way of working without doing much work and if you watch them, you might start to emulate them. And that will just cause a drop in your productivity.
So don’t look at them and decide to be unserious when they are being unserious. They just might dish out good work in the end and you might lose your job.
4. Control Your Emotions
If I had a coin for every time someone told me women were too emotional, I would have been a millionaire by now. But we have hormones and those hormones can sometimes dictate our reactions. Hence, why I burst out in tears when I’m filled with rage.
One of the very first lessons I had to learn in “Working with men 101” was how to control my emotions. More importantly, how to control and conceal my anger.
I once planned a program for work in which a male colleague decided that his role was not needed and skipped the event. I had to scramble for a replacement and his shoddy excuse was that he forgot. As you can imagine, I was furious and I let a little of that come out in the tone of my voice when we spoke on the phone that day. Well, when I resumed at the office the next week I found out that he had spread a rumour around that I was overwhelmed and couldn’t handle my project. Whether they believed him or not I came off as weak.
Showing too much emotion at the office comes off as a sign of weakness. So no matter how much it hurts you need to mask those emotions because control is key.
Here are a few tips to help keep emotions in check.
- Step away from the situation by taking two deep breaths
- Listen to what the other person is saying, that will help you understand their perspective and guide you on how to respond
- Never raise your voice or result to insults
- Try not to gossip about it to other colleagues
- If a situation has been resolved, let it go. Don’t bring it back up after a few days or months, just let it go
5. Avoid Workplace Romance
Do you ever wonder why so many organizations discourage workplace romance? It’s not because they want to meddle in your love life. Rather they’re trying to avoid losing a valuable employee due to workplace drama.
Workplace romances not only distract you but introduces a level of unprofessionalism into the office. Especially an office filled with men. It’s not just women who gossip, men do too and when you become the hot topic because of a romantic relationship you lose a big ounce of their respect. But here is the kicker, it’s only your name that gets tarnished, the guy you’re seeing doesn’t get disrespected. He might get praise for his romantic prowess.
Yes, a double standard so you have to hold yourself to a higher one.
6. Have Your Job Description in Writing
I started working at a new place once and a colleague approached me in a friendly manner and asked me to send my work to him before I send it to my line manager. Nowhere in my job description did it say that I should do it or that I had to report to this individual so I didn’t do it. And till this day that is one of the decisions I am most proud of because he and I became silent workplace rivals. Had he had that kind of access to my work he would have used it against me.
You need to have your job description in writing so that you can double-check and show others what exactly is expected of you. That way no one can come along and change to fit his own agenda.
7. Communication is Key
People often neglect the importance of soft skills in a professional environment, particularly communication. When associating with men in the workplace how you communicate is very important because it dictates how they respond to you and how you will work together.
Here are some tips that can help you communicate better with men in the office:
- Be nice: I once had a colleague yell at me because I started a conversation with a question rather than “good morning”. It was wrong and completely unprofessional to yell at me but it did teach me a lesson on social protocol. If I wanted to get something from him I need to know how to speak to him. To learn how to talk to people in a more socially acceptable way. Start with a greeting or pleasantries, it’s optional but ask how they are doing or how their day is going before going into your ask just to soften them up.
- Be clear: try not to beat around the bush, be direct and say what you mean (as long as it’s wor-related). Try not to imply things.
- Avoid conflicts: it’s natural to step on some toes, you can’t and probably won’t be everyone’s friend but you can try to keep disagreements civil. State your case and don’t say more than that. Avoid insults of any kind and never raise your voice.
- Always communicate with your team: if you’re working on a project with someone always keep them in the loop, even if they are misbehaving. Do your part and keep them updated. This is to avoid anyone turning the tables on you by saying they didn’t know what was going on.
8. Learn How to Interrupt an Interrupter
Men in the workplace are famous for interrupting women, for whatever reason. Maybe they don’t respect our views, maybe they disagree or maybe it’s just their nature. If you work in an office filled with men, one of them is bound to be an interrupter.
It’s very easy to back down after being interrupted and just stew in silence but then you’ll never get your point across. So it’s time to build some confidence and interrupt that interrupter. So raise your voice a little louder and ask him to kindly let you finish before he says what he has to say.
Quick note, if the interrupter is your boss this advice might not be so helpful.
9. Get Everything in Writing and Back it Up
Emails are your friend. They are a great way to communicate in-house and keep those communications. People (not just men) are lying creatures so sometimes you need evidence that you passed information to them. You can even CC (carbon copy) a senior colleague so that there is evidence in your inbox, their inbox and a neutral party’s inbox.
You can use other mediums as long as they allow you to keep a record of conversations. It’s important to put everything you can in writing.
10. Believe in Yourself
It’s very easy to question your ability in an office with men who question your ability. Men only respect confidence, they can relate to it. So in this case, humility is not your friend. Know that you are capable and then show that you are capable.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a little cocky, as long as you can back it up with skill.
Although this list was made to help women in a male-dominated environment, it can also apply to anyone working anywhere. These are great tips to help you survive at work. I guess working with men helps you prepare for anything.
All images are sourced from pexels
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