Congratulations on your new job! Well, you may not get to settle in fully before this greeting fades away. Your employer’s expectation is for you to get the job done and upscale your performance.
How well you can defend your certification or experience is dependent on your functionality in that role? Are you struggling to keep up with the demands and expectations of your job? Do you have questions on how you can position yourself and deliver well on your job? Do you want a good appraisal or promotion and it seems delayed and you are wondering what next to do? Here’s a clue, improve your work performance!
Work Performance is an indicator of how well you accomplish a task, assignment, project, or responsibility. Your ability to do right and well as required of your job description is essential for your growth in any organization. Are you an employer or employee?
Here are 10 practical rules you should engage in to improve your performance at work.
# Rule 1 – Set goals
Planning is key to optimizing great results. Make a daily or weekly to-do list. Set a reminder to help you keep track of your deliverables. Organize your tasks according to priority and prepare to execute one before proceeding to the next. You can also make short-term plans of what you intend to do, hence you can take a short online course next month while you prepare for a Master’s degree in the next two years.
Setting goals not only keep you focused but also make you intentional about being progressive and productive. Just make sure your goals are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Bound).
# Rule 2 – Evaluate
Do you know your KPI? It’s important to measure your performance. How well did you do on the last project or your job deliveries last week? Did you meet your target for the month? How long did it take you to accomplish an assignment? What is the cost of your deliverables? If not sure of your answer(s), you could randomly ask your colleagues, and boss so you can access your performance at work, project, or task.
Honest and Constructive criticism by yourself, colleagues, and boss can help you know your present state of performance. What next? Take the right decisions and adjustments to do better.
# Rule 3 – Improve your skill sets
What you knew yesterday, has a new update today. If you don’t believe me, have you ever wondered why there is a new version of the App you downloaded just two weeks ago? If you do not update the App, you have an obsolete version and hence lose out on the added values and proficiency.
Get updated. Learn new skills and develop existing skills. Make inquiries on the new strategies to adopt, technology to embrace, and everything that will enhance your job productivity and delivery. That’s smart work. Renew your skills today.
# Rule 4 – Build Relationships
This will not only improve your communication and interpersonal skills but increase your net worth. Whether at your workplace or other professional or social circles, share what you do and teach others how you do it. Listen to people, you’ll be amazed how many useful tips you can get from them to enhance your performance at work. Do not be shy to ask for suggestions or clarifications that will assist you to be better and more effective on your job.
Building relationships with your team allows you to delegate some tasks while focusing on primary tasks or projects when you can, especially among your team. If you don’t ask for assistance when you should, you will burn out fast. Value-adding relationships will help you acquire new knowledge, embrace others’ differences, grow experience and be more effective on your job.
# Rule 5 – Leverage on your strength
You know how to organize the team so well such that everyone gets the job done in good time, but whine about how you cannot keep up with the demands of the client who calls you for information. Don’t sweat it! You’ve got a teammate who has great interpersonal skills, so pass that responsibility to his desk.
While it may sound great and responsible to be able to do all things, it limits your performance on your major craft. Focus on the thing(s) you can do easily and be excellent at it, and let someone else handle the one you can’t.
# Rule 6 – Deliver excellence
Ordinary does not cut it! Does that sink? You cannot afford to serve a tasteless meal on a gold platter. Your work ethics, presentation, and delivery must exude excellence. The quality of your product or service is what will keep your customers and clients loyal to your brand. That’s how to improve your job recognition and confidence. Choose Quality over Quantity. Mediocrity is a slave to Excellence. Give your best always.
# Rule 7 – Celebrate milestones
Each time you achieve your goal, deliver on a task or win, applaud yourself or your team accordingly. It shows you have successfully done all you set to do. You just smashed a goal, pat yourself on your back. This nudges you to do better next time. Do not relax too soon, you cannot afford to drop the ball. So unto the next, exceed expectations again!
# Rule 8 – Take a break.
Know when to apply the brake. You multitask and work well under pressure but hey, you are not superman! Got that? Don’t be buried in work during your break/lunch hour. Get up from your desk, take a stroll, get to the cafeteria, munch on a meal/snack, and take a 5-10 minutes nap when you can while on break.
Your brain will get refreshed when you’ve fed it the needful. You’ll have a clear mind to jumpstart a task with more vigor and your performance will be boosted! You need to be alive and well to perform optimally, so take that annual leave from work too!
# Rule 9 – Avoid Distractions
It’s easy to get carried away as you work. Conversations and Time-outs from work can cause you to lose track of time and limit your dedication to your task. It is okay to let your colleagues know politely that you can’t have a conversation at the moment or you would rather continue that discussion during your lunch break or at the close of work, to keep you focused and concentrate on whatever task you need to do or complete.
Other distractions that involve phone calls and social media engagements can be solved by applying strategies such as allocating a time and duration but in exemptions of emergencies.
# Rule 10 – Practice
It is never enough to acquire knowledge. The saying ‘Practice makes Perfect’ is your best approach to function optimally. While it is great to learn, make room to Unlearn and Relearn what you are traditionally accustomed to. When there are other creative, efficient, or time-saving methods to perform a task, switch! You might be a novice today, the method may be new, but your consistency and engagement will give rise to improved performance and expertise. Don’t stop! The more you practice, the better you become.
You definitely will be at the top of your game if you engage these rules. Get to work and you will be proud of your growth and achievements, soon. Everyone can be better and do better, and that includes you!
