The Office Party. The simple sound of it can breathe life into an otherwise normal, plodding day. Heads pop up from cubicles, emails and instant messages are exchanged, there’s actually something to look FORWARD to that involves work. While a party on the boss can be a fun distraction from an otherwise normal work routine and provide great opportunities for you, it can also throw your career into a tailspin. I ran across the following article by Rob Kingdom on some office party do’s and don’ts, which provides some great pieces of advice that can both help to advance your career and keep you out of trouble.

Take a look at the article below, my thoughts follow in the My Comments section immediately following the end of the article.

How to Survive the Office Party
By Rob Kingdom

Read the rest of this entry »

This is a new segment that I’ll be running from time to time which will highlight some the better posts stored in the Workplace Life archives.

Here are three posts that you should check out:

1. How To Fail Successfully - Failing successfully? As crazy as it sounds, there is a right way and a wrong way to fail.

2. Top 5 Resume Mistakes - The top five resume mistakes I’ve come across (and a bonus sixth one), a good read if you are currently polishing up your resume or writing one for the first time.

3. What You Really Say At Work - There are two languages spoken at work: What you actually say, and what you mean to say. Here are a few translations for your reading pleasure.

Here’s the situation: Your current project is fantastic. You like the people, the work is interesting, and your commute is a breeze. Did I mention that you only work eight hours a day, five days a week? To top it all off, you’ve been on the project for a good amount of time, making you an SME (subject matter expert) and well respected by your peers and your boss. Things couldn’t get more perfect right? Well, there is one little thing: You’re up for a promotion to manager next year, but you aren’t getting any lead roles. Without this experience, it’s going to be very tough for you to get promoted. What do you do?

Read the rest of this entry »

See Below:

• Are you ready for that next step in your career? You should do your promotion homework before you answer.
• Experience the value of second opinions in today’s Tip of the Day.

Getting a promotion is equivalent to taking that next step on the corporate ladder. You may have a lot of rungs to climb, but that’s one less rung you have to worry about. All in all, it’s a great feeling. This is why getting a promotion is the single most important goal for most people in the workplace today.

However, before you look to take that next step, you need to make sure you are ready for it. While I’m sure you’re ready for the money (If they promote you but don’t give you a raise, I’d high tail it out of there as you’re basically doing extra work for free), are you ready for the responsibility?

With that question in mind, here are three things to think about before you take that next step in your career:

• Do you know what this new position entails? - This sounds like common sense, but I’ve definitely come across people who have no idea what to expect in their newly promoted positions. While I’m not saying that you have to know the intimate day to day details (you’ll learn a lot of this on the job), you need to have a general understanding of what responsibilities this position entails and what will be expected of you. If you walk in completely blind, you’re almost guaranteed to have a rough time of it. A good idea is to talk to someone already in that position and get a feel for what they do.

• Are you ready to manage others? - This may not apply to your new position, but if you are going to be managing other people then you need to be ready for it. Most likely, if you are up for a management position, then you have had some experience with it. However, if you haven’t, try to get some experience before you take your new position. An example of this would be volunteering to take charge of an assignment, where other people would be working with you to get it done. It will be a lot easier to manage people in your new position if you have done it in your current position. I know it might not be possible (sometimes you don’t have a say in it), but you should try to get some experience if you can.

• Are you ready to be held accountable? - This is a big one. While you may have some accountability in your current position, most likely this level of accountability will increase when you get promoted. Even more likely, you will be held accountable for the work of others. You need to make sure that you are ready to be held accountable for everything that your new position is responsible for. For example, in your current position, you might be accountable for your software design. However, when you get promoted, you might be accountable for ALL of the software designs. Inline with the above two points, you need to be ready not only to perform the responsibilities of your new role, but also be ready to take the heat if necessary. Don’t fret though, it’s not all bad. If everything goes right, you’re in a position to get great PR for yourself.

I’d like to reiterate that getting a promotion is a very important step in your career. While the above are great points to consider before you start your new role, you also have to factor in that no matter how much prep work you do you will learn A LOT on the job. Don’t be afraid of getting promoted, just make sure that you do as much prep work as possible so that you do a great job right from the start.

I’ve written a couple of articles that in some way relate to managing other people, and there are two reasons for this:

1. Managing other people is seen as the next step in almost all career paths.
2. Managing other people is one of the hardest skills to master.

In other words, you can never read enough about effectively managing other people. It’s in this line of thinking that I’m going to share with you one of the most important pieces of advice I can give: Lead by example.

Sounds simple enough, but you’d be surprised how often we do something that sends a bad message to our team. Here are three ways that you can send a good message to your team, and consequently make yourself a better team leader.

• First to arrive, Last to leave - In general, you should be the first one to arrive out of your team to work and the last one to leave. This sets a great example for the rest of your team as to the level of your commitment not only to your project but to them. It will really help to set a good work pace, as they can see you working right when they get in up until they leave. Now, this does not always have to apply. For example, if one of your team members needs to work overnight on something, you don’t have to stay with them. However, when you can, you should try to follow this tip.

• Don’t take “Sick” time - Now before you light the torches, let me explain. It’s perfectly fine to take a day off if you actually are sick. What I’m referring to is “Sick” days off, where you might be taking it for another reason (don’t even try to tell me you have never taken one). While in itself this is unacceptable, when you begin to be responsible for others it becomes even more so. You don’t have the liberty of not caring for a day, as people’s jobs could depend on you. What if you’re not there to answer a question and work stops? What if you miss a deadline because of that? This domino effect only gets worse, and it is something you need to think about before you call off.

• The “Bad mouthing” ends - This might be the single most important point of the three. When you are in charge, you need to keep morale as high as you can. This means that “Bad mouthing” other co-workers or your project pretty much ends. Think of it this way: If your manager starts talking about how awful your project is, what are you going to think? If they can’t handle it, how should you be able to? This also applies to your co-workers, especially any on your team. You should never rag on them, so to speak. Your team will take their cues from you, and you need to set a good example. They most likely need to work with these people, and you want that to go smoothly without anybody having any preconceived notions.

Your team performing better can only help you out in the long run. It’s a boon not only to your current project’s success, but to the success of your career as well.

Sorry for the delay on the new article, it’s been a rough day.

• Check out the new article on Maximizing Your Next Performance Review for ways to get that next promotion or raise you want.

On the docket for tomorrow should be a Microsoft Office related article, not sure which piece of software I’ll do it on but I have some ideas for some interesting Microsoft Word topics.

The Performance Review. It seems that every company, organization, and t-ball league has one today. Not only are they rampant, but many times they are the single gateway to your next raise or promotion. The problem is that a lot of people don’t know how to get the most out of their review, and consequently they miss out on great opportunities. It’s not because they don’t want to get to that next level, it’s that they don’t know how. This is where the tips below come in. In my experience, if you really make an effort to work them into your routine, you will definitely see the difference the next time your review comes around.

• Analyze your last review - This is something that you should have done right after you’re last review. You want to start working on your weak areas immediately so that next time they are your strong areas. A good way to do this is to write down each weak area, and brainstorm how you can improve in that area. Write the resulting ideas down and keep this list visible at your desk. Make sure you try to work on at least one of the ideas everyday.

• Get intermediate feedback - I wrote a whole article on getting feedback, that’s how important it is. To make it short and sweet, the first time an area in which you can improve is identified to you should not be in the formal review. With that being said, it’s pretty much assured to happen. However, you can minimize this. Make sure you get feedback from not only your supervisor but also any team members whom you supervise on a regular basis. If you’re unsure how to do this, you can read my aforementioned article on asking for feedback.

• Prepare for your review - This is an extremely important piece of advice. Before your review, you need to make sure you get yourself prepared. For starters, if you can get your hands on the criteria for the review, take a look at it and try to fill it out like you were reviewing yourself. If you can’t, make a list of what you think your strong and weak areas are. Most importantly, be honest. If you can’t be honest with your weak areas especially, then don’t even bother following any of this advice. We all have weak areas, identifying them is the only way we improve on them. For your strengths, write down specific examples of how you are strong in each area. For example, if you are a good team leader, you could write that your team finished all of its work on schedule (list the specific milestones you hit). For your weaknesses, write down some ideas on how you could improve (similar to the first bullet point). Make sure to bring your lists to your review.

• Make your review a two way conversation - During your review, don’t just sit there like a fence post. Make sure you understand all of your supervisor’s points. If you think they are missing a strength in your review, take out your strength list and suggest some (along with your supporting examples). Also, if you think that they identify something as a weakness that you don’t think is, discuss it. The important thing to remember here is that this is your big chance. In my company, these reviews can be YEARLY. Once a year is not a lot. Say what you need to say, make sure you understand everything that went on. If you need to work on something, make sure that you know what direction to take. You can even ask your supervisor for suggestions. If they are already on your weakness list, bounce some of the ways to improve off your supervisor to see if they agree. Another thing that goes a long way is to show that you are actively taking charge of your career. Showing you are interested in maximizing your performance at work is guaranteed to raise your stock with your manager.

Note: These tips are based on the fact that you have a meeting to go over your review with your boss. If this is not the case, try to schedule one. Otherwise, do the best you can to take the review that they have given you and write up any questions/concerns you might have with it. Then, email them this list and try to initiate some kind of back and forth. Otherwise, the review doesn’t end up doing anybody much good.

These tips are guaranteed to make your next performance review better for both you and your boss. However, don’t limit yourself to these tips alone. If you can think of something else that will help, go for it. There probably are many things you can do that are specific to your line of work that can help you out. Make a concentrated effort, and I’m sure you’ll be glad with the results.

Recently at my work, an executive hit upon a very good subject: being proactive for your career.  This is probably one of the best things that you can do for your career, but surprisingly enough, a lot of people are what she calls “Tumbleweeds”.  These are people that just roll along from assignment to assignment, never really taking the initiative on anything, never suggesting anything, just like a tumbleweed in the desert.  They might do a decent job, but that is all that they do.  Consequently, when it comes around to promotion time, they usually fall to the wayside.

How do you escape this deadly fate?  Are you DOOMED????  Lucky for you, the answer is no.  There are several things you can do to make sure you are making a positive (”positive” being the key word here) impact at your workplace.  I’ve outlined a few starters below:

• If you are finished with your current assignment, and you don’t have anything else to work on, seek out your supervisor and see if they have anything else they would like you to do.  This shows initiative and that you’re just not sitting around cruising the internet waiting for direction.  Be careful with this though; don’t rush through assignments just to get another one.  Make sure to keep the quality of what you produce high.

• If you see some way to improve what your team is currently working on, suggest it to your supervisor.  The key here is to come up with a plan of improvement first before you talk to them.  Don’t just say “Oh, this isn’t working”.  You want to approach it like this: “This part of the process isn’t working, but here’s how I would improve it.”  For example, say you’re working on a software design and notice that the template you are using could be improved.  First, come up with an example of what the improvement would be (say a modified template), and then present it.  This demonstrates both a deep understanding of what the team is doing and a willingness to help make the project better.

• This next suggestion can be pretty hard for people to do.  Basically, if you see an opportunity for new business for your company, you should approach your supervisor and possibly higher executives with this opportunity.  Now, this may seem daunting to a lot of people because it is a pretty big step.  However, as long as you think that it is a legitimate opportunity, and you have a good set of reasons why it is a good opportunity (this is very important as you don’t want to waste anyone’s time, let alone your superiors), then this can do nothing but good things for your career.  Even if the opportunity isn’t acted upon, this is huge in the eyes of executives, as it shows that you are tying to “grow the business” as it is commonly called, or finding new avenues of revenue for your company.  This is the kind of thing that executives do everyday, and is a great quality to showcase.

• If you are presented with an opportunity to take on more responsibility, you should take it as long as you are comfortable with it and confident that you can accomplish it with a high degree of success.  Taking on more responsibility will show that you are ready for the next level of your career.  However, as stated above, make sure that you are comfortable doing it and that you can do it successfully.  Otherwise, the effect is just the opposite, and there might not be another opportunity for you for a long time.

These are just a few of the ways that you can take charge of your career.  They’re a good start, but you should come up with some of your own that are tailored to your specific work situation to use in conjunction with the suggestions above.