Workplace performance coach Henna Pryor often works with mid-career clients who are organized, efficient and detail-oriented, but can't seem to get promoted, she says.

Many of them are held back by one thing, says Pryor: the fear of feeling awkward.

Work, for many people, feels socially weirder than ever. Adults have felt more socially anxious and had more trouble forming relationships since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, studies show.

During remote and hybrid work, extroverts and introverts alike have forgotten how to navigate the "natural messiness" that occurs at the water cooler, in elevators and during meetings, Pryor says. Now, people may do anything to avoid that sinking-gut feeling of a sticky conversation.

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But avoiding uncertainty comes with consequences: Without taking "micro-risks" — small opportunities to get your work noticed — you'll find it harder to take "macro-risks" like pitching new ideas or telling your boss you want a raise, says Pryor.

Here are three of her top micro-risks you can take to build more credibility, confidence and influence around the office.

Ask for help

The longer you work somewhere, the more it can feel like your colleagues expect you to know all the answers. It's good to do your research and try to come to conclusions on your own, but when in doubt, admitting you need extra guidance could save you time, money and your reputation, says Pryor.

"In your first job, the expectations of you are relatively low. We know you're going to make mistakes, we expect you to ask questions," she says. "But then, you've been in your company now for six months, a year, two years, and you start to tell yourself a story. 'I'm supposed to know [all of the answers] now.'"

You may not want to interrupt, bother or add to others' workloads, Pryor says — but avoiding awkwardness begets more awkwardness, and it's a much bigger risk to make a mistake than it is to ask for help.

Plus, the outcome is almost always the opposite of our expectations, she notes: Other people usually like to feel needed, as long as you ask them for help at an appropriate time and in an appropriate manner.

Politely survey your friends

Your job and career will evolve over time. You'll get hired at new companies, work with new people or get promoted. Those changes can make you feel uncertain about what's expected of you, especially when they happen quickly.

If going directly to your new boss makes your skin crawl, enlist an "awkward army" — a small group of colleagues you trust — and compare notes, Pryor recommends. You could ask your army how to pronounce a co-worker's name, or how certain supervisors like reports formatted.

Once you establish a repartee, you can ask your army for advice on more difficult conversations: How did you broach the idea of a promotion with your boss? How does a particular co-worker usually respond to feedback?

Those personal conversations can make you feel more prepared for larger professional ones, says Pryor.

Regularly cross the 'cringe chasm'

Sometimes, you need to endure discomfort or awkwardness to achieve a goal. Pryor calls that experience the "cringe chasm."

Some people get stuck in that chasm, but pushing through it to pursue a difficult goal anyway is a sign you're growing, according to Adam Grant, an organizational psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

"The feeling that something is uncomfortable is a signal that you're about to learn something new," Grant told the New York Times last year. "That's a signal we should not only pay attention to, but amplify."

You can build your awkwardness tolerance in other small ways outside of work, says Pryor: Leave your phone in your pocket in grocery store lines and elevators, and be available to connect with others when the opportunity for small talk arises.

"Awkwardness is the emotion that we feel when the person we believe to be our true self is suddenly facing a gap between the person other people see," she says. "But it's an emotion. It's transient. And it tends to pass."

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