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I have Social Anxiety. At my job (My first job!) that I have been working at for the past 2 months, I do Utility/Inventory. It's in a hospital cafe. It's not too bad because I don't have to interact with customers too much. I've been doing a great job at it. Now, my manager wants to cross train me to run the register, make coffee, and serve food. I've been doing it for the past two weeks and it is so overwhelming having to constantly interact with customers. Especially when it's busy.
I get uncomfortable when there is a long line of people and they are all just looking at me as I am performing my tasks. It makes me uncomfortable. I also hate when I greet a customer or smile at them and they ignore me or don't reciprocate. Especially when my manager and coworkers see it.
I don't want to let my manager down because he has been so impressed with my performance thus far and will see that my weakness is interacting with people. I don't want him to fire me. I don't want my Social Anxiety to get the best of me.
I feel like I need this exposure though to eventually get more comfortable interacting with people.
I would just like to know from you guys, will this get easier the more I do it? Will this get easier in time? What are some tips and strategies I can use to get better at this?
I have Social Anxiety. At my job (My first job!) that I have been working at for the past 2 months, I do Utility/Inventory. It's in a hospital cafe. It's not too bad because I don't have to interact with customers too much. I've been doing a great job at it. Now, my manager wants to cross train me to run the register, make coffee, and serve food. I've been doing it for the past two weeks and it is so overwhelming having to constantly interact with customers. Especially when it's busy.
I get uncomfortable when there is a long line of people and they are all just looking at me as I am performing my tasks. It makes me uncomfortable. I also hate when I greet a customer or smile at them and they ignore me or don't reciprocate. Especially when my manager and coworkers see it.
I don't want to let my manager down because he has been so impressed with my performance thus far and will see that my weakness is interacting with people. I don't want him to fire me. I don't want my Social Anxiety to get the best of me.
I feel like I need this exposure though to eventually get more comfortable interacting with people.
I would just like to know from you guys, will this get easier the more I do it? Will this get easier in time? What are some tips and strategies I can use to get better at this?
Thank you.
Stop taking the customer behavior personally.
The ONLY thing they care about is getting their order quickly and accurately. Once you know that, you can stop worrying about what they are thinking on the other side of the register. Just focus on the task.
A rush is common at busy times. You KNOW it's going to happen, so don't LET it overwhelm you. You can only deal with one customer at a time. They will wait. Just keep focused on being efficient.
Be disciplined in how YOU approach them. Consistently smile, greet them and thank them no matter how they respond. You aren't trying to be friends. You're just trying to provide good customer service, and you can do that in spite of social anxiety.
OP, social anxiety is very common and it can be overcome by learning more about it and strategies for coping. Here's a link that provides lots of good suggestions. A competent therapist can also help a lot.
I would add to these that you consider this experiment: Think of someone who is comfortable in the situation you've described and act "as if you're them." Observe their specific behaviors and see if you can take on their identity for a while until you feel more comfortable. I also like Birdie's reminder that even though it feels like people are evaluating you (this is part of the disorder), in reality most people just want to get their stuff and get out as quickly as possible. No one cares, unless it's someone who got up on the wrong side of bed and wouldn't be happy with any service they get.
I would add to these that you consider this experiment: Think of someone who is comfortable in the situation you've described and act "as if you're them." Observe their specific behaviors and see if you can take on their identity for a while until you feel more comfortable.
This is just what I was going to suggest: find someone (even a TV or movie character) and pretend to be them as you are doing your job. This has helped me in the past.
The ONLY thing they care about is getting their order quickly and accurately. Once you know that, you can stop worrying about what they are thinking on the other side of the register. Just focus on the task.
Just to add to this, remember where you work, in a HOSPITAL Cafe. Unless they are staff, people are there because a loved one is in hospital. Unless you offer really bad service, no one is thinking about you at all.
If your boss is happy with you, keep doing what makes your boss happy. Sometimes our jobs are thankless. Consider the business you receive from your customers as a compliment even if it is not a verbal one.
Realize a very hard truth. Seldom is anybody thinking about you except you. They're thinking about themselves.
Concentrate on doing your job efficiently and during whatever interactions you have to have with the customers, focus more on how to make them more comfortable...a smile and getting the job done.
You don't even get a smile back? Pass it off, it's them...nothing to do with you.
It might be worth reaching out to your boss and considering counseling if your anxiety is starting to affect your job. Some counseling is only during the day, and your boss might be willing to work with you if you tell your concern early on. I don't think this concern is so big that it would make you look bad by telling him/her or your HR dept. That is a consideration/risk you can consider, though.
If you persevere, this work experience will get you OVER your social anxiety. So it will be beneficial to you. Strangers in other situations won't seem so intimidating to you.
Working as a server in my younger years, got me over any residual shyness I had growing up. It was a very valuable experience and I don't mind approaching strangers now, if I feel like it.
The nature of the biz is going to be rude people here and there. That's life, so this will get you used to it.
Congrats on doing a great job and being positively noticed by the boss.
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