Increasing your value as a professional [week 1]
There are a few aspects that either increase or decrease your value as a professional but the most important of them are hard skills and emotional intelligence. Taking the time to create a plan for developing and improving these skills will eventually save you a lot of distractions and time spent on activities, that do not lead you in the desired direction.
Improving your hard skills
No matter where your strengths are — programming, marketing, business, design, etc. there always will be someone who can do even more or even better things than you. So, think about smart strategies that will boost your work process, which can improve your learning style and will help you achieve more with less time. Here are some strategies to create a personal development plan for yourself:
Step #1 Start tracking your time
Remember your goal is to plan and work smart, you need data to work with. Pick a notebook and start tracking the time you spend throughout the day. Use timer, it is easy to get distracted and stop tracking. After a 2–3 weeks sit down and analyze the data you got.
Step #2 Defining your most valuable tasks
Now consider your most valuable activities (worth the most per hour). The easier it is to find someone else to do the task, the less valuable the time spending on it becomes. Rank your two most valuable activities and think about how you can offload the less valuable.
Step #3 Look at the big picture
Most of the time, everyone is so busy doing their part of the work that no one, except the managers, thinks about the big picture. Start thinking big about every project you are involved in. By doing this you can learn a lot about business and management. Ask yourself questions like:
- How does your work affect the whole project?
- What work needs to be done before and after your part?
- How you can help the whole process
Improving your emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence at work is essential for every professional. Nobody likes to collaborate with difficult people, who lack empathy and always create an uncomfortable work environment. There many things that emotional intelligence includes, but you can start with small steps and use your own personal experience to identify what are your strengths and weaknesses in the area.
Step #1 Take it one step at a time
Improving your soft skills is crucial for your value as a professional. However, It is not an easy task to create a new habit or to break an existing one. Take it one step at a time. Define one soft skill you want to improve in yourself for the next three months and focus only on it.
If you find it really hard, start with a skill you are actually good at, but want to improve even more. The confidence you already have will keep you motivated. Remember that you have to set goals, measure and track your success, otherwise, you won’t notice the improvement.
Step #2 Build value by helping others
Even if you have a hard time creating new habits and improving yourself, there is one simple thing you can do that immediately will increase your value as a professional, but most importantly — as a person. Be genuine and offer help to your colleagues. There is no need to do something so special, just talk and listen to the people around you, smile often and do your part in creating a nice work environment.
In cases when your work is directly connected to the work of your colleague, talk to them, ask “what can I do to make your work easier”. Sometimes a little effort like just naming a file appropriately can help the other person a lot.
Final thoughts
Investing one-two hours a week in personal development can make a huge difference. It can boost your career, your value as a professional and of course your image as a person and colleague. It is worth it. Don’t forget to have fun in the meantime!
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