The ‘professional’ way to tell your colleagues what you really think

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A corporate TikTok star has turned her daily chats with her ‘work bestie’ into a viral video series about how to put a ‘professional’ spin on the things people want to say to their colleagues but can’t.  

Laura Whaley, 27, from Toronto, Ontario, has earned more than 1.3 million followers on the platform since she started posting content in early 2020 while working from home as an IT consultant. 

The TikToker, who is best known as @loewhaley, has been filming her remote conversations with her co-worker — a corporate communications expert — and they have since evolved into her popular ‘How do you professionally say?’ series. 

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Laura Whaley, 27, from Toronto, Ontario, has earned more than 1.3 million followers on TikTok since she started posting corporate content in early 2020

The IT consultant, who is best known as @loewhaley, has been filming her conversations with her 'work bestie,' who is a corporate communications expert

The IT consultant, who is best known as @loewhaley, has been filming her conversations with her 'work bestie,' who is a corporate communications expert

The IT consultant, who is best known as @loewhaley, has been filming her conversations with her ‘work bestie,’ who is a corporate communications expert

REVEALED: The ‘professional’ way to tell your colleagues what you really think about them

If you want to say: ‘Why didn’t you ask me for this sooner?’

You should say: ‘Given the tight turnaround it would have been beneficial to have been looped in on this sooner.’

If you want to say: ‘That sounds like a you problem.’ 

You should say: ‘I believe that falls within your scope of responsibilities.’ 

If you want to say: ‘I told you so.’ 

You should say: ‘As per my prediction, this outcome does not come as a surprise.’ 

If you want to say: ‘You are not my boss.’ 

You should say: ‘I can look at prioritizing this behind my assigned responsibilities however I cannot commit to a timeline as my workload is dictated by [insert name].’

If you want to say: ‘Stay in your lane.’ 

You should say: ‘Thank you for your input, I’ll keep that in mind.’ 

If you want to say: ‘I’ve told you this multiple times.’ 

You should say: ‘There seems to be a disconnect here as this information has already been provided.’ 

If you want to say: ‘I’m not staying late to deal with this.’ 

You should say: ‘My workday concludes at 5 but I would be happy to prioritize this first thing tomorrow.’ 

If you want to say: ‘Stop emailing me.’ 

You should say: ‘To ensure that information does not get missed can you please condense your communications into a single email where possible?’ 

In the videos, she tells her work pal the things she wants to say, and he translates them into corporate jargon that gets the point across without coming off as rude or unprofessional. 

‘How do you professionally say, “That sounds like a you problem?”‘ Whaley asks in one clip from earlier this month that has been viewed more than 27.8 million times.  

‘I believe that falls within your scope of responsibilities, but I am happy to support where it makes sense,’ he replies. 

If you want to ask why you weren’t given something sooner, he suggests saying: ‘Given the tight turnaround, it would have been beneficial to have been looped in on this sooner.’

The videos have evolved into her popular 'How do you say professionally?' series in which he translates the things she wants to say into corporate jargon

The videos have evolved into her popular 'How do you say professionally?' series in which he translates the things she wants to say into corporate jargon

The videos have evolved into her popular ‘How do you say professionally?’ series in which he translates the things she wants to say into corporate jargon

And for someone who won’t stop emailing, he advises using this response: ‘To ensure that information does not get lost, let’s reduce frequency of communication so that updates are only provided once more details have been established.’ 

Workplace communication can be tricky, and it can be easy to feel taken advantage of or overworked if you’re not able to stick up for yourself, which is where Whaley’s co-worker comes in. 

In another clip, he proves there is a professional way to say everything, including ‘I told you so’ and ‘You’re not my boss.’   

For example, if you want to rub it in that you were right about something, just say, ‘As per my prediction, this outcome does not come as a surprise.’ 

Whaley tells her work pal the things she wants to say, and he suggests how to respond in a way that gets the point across without coming off as rude or unprofessional

Whaley tells her work pal the things she wants to say, and he suggests how to respond in a way that gets the point across without coming off as rude or unprofessional

Whaley tells her work pal the things she wants to say, and he suggests how to respond in a way that gets the point across without coming off as rude or unprofessional 

Whaley's co-worker has given her ways to say almost everything professionally, including 'You're not my boss'

Whaley’s co-worker has given her ways to say almost everything professionally, including ‘You’re not my boss’

He advises saying, 'I can look at this prioritizing this behind my assigned responsibilities. However, I cannot commit to a timeline as my workload is dictated by [insert name]'

He advises saying, 'I can look at this prioritizing this behind my assigned responsibilities. However, I cannot commit to a timeline as my workload is dictated by [insert name]'

He advises saying, ‘I can look at this prioritizing this behind my assigned responsibilities. However, I cannot commit to a timeline as my workload is dictated by [insert name]’

If someone is assigning you work without the authority to do so, Whaley’s work bestie says you can remind that person you have another boss. 

He advises saying, ‘I can look at this prioritizing this behind my assigned responsibilities. However, I cannot commit to a timeline as my workload is dictated by [insert name].’ 

Whaley and her co-worker have a great rapport, and she can’t resist teasing him a bit with her sign-offs, which he has repeatedly warned her to never use.  

She jokingly told him that she was thinking about changing her email sign-off to ‘moistly,’ and it has been a running gag between them ever since. 

‘Yours in moistness,’ she tells him at the end of the clip, prompting him to yell, ‘Why!’ 

In one recent video, Whaley asks him how to tell someone to 'stay in your own lane'

In one recent video, Whaley asks him how to tell someone to 'stay in your own lane'

In one recent video, Whaley asks him how to tell someone to ‘stay in your own lane’ 

She also wants to know how to professionally say, 'I've told you this multiple times'

She also wants to know how to professionally say, ‘I’ve told you this multiple times’ 

Her work best suggests saying, 'There seems to be a disconnect here as this information has already been provided'

Her work best suggests saying, 'There seems to be a disconnect here as this information has already been provided'

Her work best suggests saying, ‘There seems to be a disconnect here as this information has already been provided’

In one recent video, Whaley asks him how to tell someone to ‘stay in your own lane.’

‘Thank you for your input. I’ll keep that in mind as I move forward with decisions that fall within my responsibility,’ he responds.  

And instead of screaming, ‘I’ve told you this multiple times,’ he explains you can try saying, ‘There seems to be a disconnect here as this information has already been provided.’    

In Whaley’s most recent ‘How do you say professionally?’ video, she and her work bestie tackle another round of relatable workplace woes.  

‘How do you professionally say “I’m not doing your job for you?”‘ she asks at the start of the clip. 

For someone who won't stop emailing you, he advises saying: 'To ensure that information does not get lost, let's reduce frequency of communication so that updates are only provided once more details have been established'

For someone who won't stop emailing you, he advises saying: 'To ensure that information does not get lost, let's reduce frequency of communication so that updates are only provided once more details have been established'

For someone who won’t stop emailing you, he advises saying: ‘To ensure that information does not get lost, let’s reduce frequency of communication so that updates are only provided once more details have been established’

Whaley and her co-worker have also tackled how to avoid staying late at work

Whaley and her co-worker have also tackled how to avoid staying late at work 

He says you should point out that your workday concludes at 5 p.m., but you'd 'be happy to prioritize this first thing tomorrow'

He says you should point out that your workday concludes at 5 p.m., but you'd 'be happy to prioritize this first thing tomorrow'

He says you should point out that your workday concludes at 5 p.m., but you’d ‘be happy to prioritize this first thing tomorrow’ 

‘I do not have the capacity to take this on in addition to my own workload, but I’m happy to support where it makes sense,’ he responds. 

If a problem arises at the end of the day and you want to make it clear you’re not ‘staying late to deal with this,’ he suggests saying: ‘My workday concludes at 5, but I would be happy to prioritize this first thing tomorrow.’

As for the co-worker who won’t stop cc’ing everyone? Whaley’s friend has that covered too, explaining, ‘To optimize communication, perhaps we can target these emails to a more focused group.’

Whaley’s corporate TikTok series evolved from earlier videos of herself asking her work bestie a variety of questions, including advice on email responses. 

Whaley's 'How do you say professionally? series evolved from earlier videos of herself asking her work bestie a variety of questions, including advice on email response

Whaley’s ‘How do you say professionally? series evolved from earlier videos of herself asking her work bestie a variety of questions, including advice on email response

Whaley started labeling the videos 'Moments from a chat with my Work Bestie today,' before she changed the title

Whaley started labeling the videos ‘Moments from a chat with my Work Bestie today,’ before she changed the title 

She started labeling the clips ‘Moments from a chat with my Work Bestie today’ before changing the title to ‘How do you say professionally?’

The TikToker has asked followers if they want this to become a continuing series, and the answer seems to be a resounding yes.  

‘You should both make an English to corporate dictionary,’ one fan commented on her latest video, while another added: ‘I would buy a coffee table book of all of these INSTANTLY.’ 

Others have been sharing the things they would like to have translated, including, ‘How do you professionally say, “You don’t know what you’re talking about?”‘

There are also plenty of fans who want to see Whaley’s mysterious co-worker for themselves. 

‘We need a work bestie reveal,’ one person commented.