Team Skills Series. Post 3: From Acting Professional to Being Professional

Introduction

Have you ever been in a workplace situation that became stressful fast and someone ‘lost it’ - their professional mask that is? Or have you seen someone's professional mask go missing in a social setting? 

When we pretend to be professional - aka acting professional - the professional mask can easily become scratched by stress and a less-than-professional persona may come oozing through. This is one of the risks to acting ‘professional’ in certain circumstances rather than being professional through and through. If ‘professional’ is who we are through and through, rather than a mask we wear situationally or an act we present, this is not a problem because even when faced with a stressful situation or a social one, being professional is an integral - and integrated - part of who we are.

What does ‘professional’ look like? 

What does being professional look like, sound like, and feel like? We often hear about how important it is to be 'professional', but what does this even mean?! We think that it means different things to different people. For Roslyn and Sheryl, being ‘professional’ looks like: 

Replying

Replying in a timely fashion

Negotiating meeting times [goals, activities, etc.] in good faith with honesty and being realistic

Turning up at the agreed-upon time and place, prepared[1]

Remaining present (i.e., not distracted, trying to do other things, taking calls, knitting[2] FaceBooking, scrap booking, etc.)

Attending with interest and curiosity and welcoming surprise

Demonstrating an openness to difference and change

Engaging meaningfully which reciprocates engagement

Following-up on commitments 

Doing what one has said they will do 

For Roslyn and Sheryl, consistency is key. ‘Professional’ shines out across time, place, and person. This is the opposite to situational professionalism! If you think ‘professional’ is a role that you leave hanging on a hook as you leave the workplace, or you act professional ‘when on duty’ only then you might be practicing what is called “situational professionalism” - not necessarily a “good” approach according to the author of this blog post.

But what does ‘professional’ look like to you? 

Although there are probably some common elements people will acknowledge as being professional, there may be some more subtle aspects as well. It is sometimes easier to identify what is not professional - to us! We sometimes label or judge behaviours that cause us more work or discomfort as ‘unprofessional’. And we sometimes don’t recognize things that we do that might be judged as ‘unprofessional’ by others. Do you know when others might view you as being professional - or not? 

Reflection: Is it the person or the situation that calls us to be professional - or is it both? What does professional - or not professional - look like to you? When do you think, “Well, that isn’t professional!”? (By extension we might assume that the person isn’t “professional” without taking context[3] and cultural[4] norms into consideration.)

What does ‘professional’ look like to your colleagues? 

For some, being “professional” is signaled by a lab coat, a title, a role within a team, power and control, gender, height, age, or even hierarchy. For others, it means a way of being in the world. Our professional understanding goes deeper than the hats we wear. We can’t take our ‘professional’ on and off. It is who we are. It is a way of being. The professional hat stays on always! Sometimes this can be exhausting as we navigate and negotiate with others what professional means to the individual and as a member of a team. 

What does ‘professional’ look like to your interprofessional team members? 

When we work in the blurred spaces and places of interprofessional teams[5], it is imperative that we: (1) understand the roles and responsibilities of our team members, (2) be clear on our own roles and responsibilities on the team, and (3) know what we are contributing to the team both with our discipline-specific knowledge and skills as well as our professional behaviours and attitudes. It is always ‘Person-first’. 

Reflection on being the ‘Professional’ Self

• What do you think being ‘professional’ is?
• What are the top qualities that you think are essential to being ‘professional’?
• Is being professional integral to who I am? (or is it a role I act out when on duty, a persona I cloak myself in when I think it is required or when it might be of benefit or is a requirement of the role I have chosen?) 
• What are your thoughts on ‘situational professionalism’? 
• Can I feel the difference between acting professional and being professional?
• Do I only take my professional self out on workdays? only at work? to parties? grocery shopping? 

These are also questions to discuss on our teams as we, through open conversation, arrive at what being professional means for us in the shared work we do together. 

[1]  Are you clear on what you want to communicate? Have you read documents in advance? Do you understand the purpose of the shared time? Does your equipment work?

[2] Some people hear better when their hands are occupied. Others might occupy their hands to reduce anxiety. Before interpreting this as ‘unprofessional’, you might want to be curious–ask about their art or craft. It might even be a technique you can use!

[3] https://betterprofessionals.com/situational-professionalism-are-you-guilty-of-it/ A practical example: In university courses, learners are invited to provide anonymous feedback to instructors. Often the number of students who offer feedback is very low. Anonymous comments seem to bring out the negative let ‘er rip vitriolic voice that can be construed as “unprofessional” even though the same person might be “professional” in a face-to-face non-anonymous situation! These “shots out of negativity land” (SNOoL) can be hurtful and demoralizing. This is especially true when the SNOoL comments offer no suggestions for improvement. This is the equivalent of an instructor saying, “Your paper sucks!!!” Also unprofessional. 😉

[4] Disciplines and professions are similar to “cultures” in that each profession and discipline has different ways of viewing the world, using terms, interacting with one another, and standardized practices or routines.

[5] Team members include both capital ‘P’ professions as well as professions not typically viewed as professionals by Professionals. For example, in long-term caring teams, team members include house-keeping and dietary staff, volunteers, family caregivers, and close ones.