Personal Development In The Work Environment

When we are at work and we become familiar with our job role, it is very easy to become complacent and stuck in a rut as we do the same job every day. But in the long term this can spell disaster for us.

The more versatile a worker we can become, the more protected we are, as we can more easily move between job roles as and when required. Acquiring a much wider knowledge base is also useful in giving us a greater understanding of the job we are currently doing.

Personal development in the workplace is also essential if we are to remain interested and passionate about the work we do. If we continue to do the same job day in, day out, we become less likely to do it well.

Think about the interests you have in your job, and ask yourself some questions to determine how you could invest in your own personal development:

• What brought you to the job in the first place?
• What skills do you have that you enjoy making use of?
• Could you further these skills in any way?
• Are there any training courses you could attend that would open the way for promotion further down the line?
• Is there anything you don’t like doing any more that you would stop doing if you could?

The answers to these questions will help you to decide which areas of your working life are ripe for development. Although the term ‘personal development’ makes us think of something we need to do, we can ask for the help of others to help us progress. Sometimes speaking to our manager will open the door to further possibilities for us to stretch ourselves in our chosen career, so don’t be afraid to highlight any concerns or needs you may have. A willingness to learn and to take a pro-active approach to our own development is usually seen as a positive.

SECONDMENTS

Personal development is often associated with a complete change of job – leaving what we are doing now to take on a higher paid role with more responsibility.

But you don’t need to take such a big leap in order to test the boundaries of what you may enjoy doing at work. Attending in-house or external training courses is one obvious way of expanding your knowledge and skills base. However a temporary secondment to another area within the company you work in now would also allow you to see whether another department or area of working would be suited to you.

There are plenty of ways to invest in your personal development at work. Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that you should constantly be looking for them – and making the most of these opportunities when they arise.

The Advantages Of Goal Setting To Get Ahead

Everyone has heard of the concept of goal setting, but how many people actually use it in their working lives?

If you don’t currently set goals to help you achieve what needs doing, maybe it’s time to start. Even if you consider yourself to be quite productive now, the chances are you could get even more done by taking just a few moments to work out what your goals are for the day ahead.

Learning how to prioritise is an important part of goal setting. It’s not just a question of setting goals – you need to set the right ones in order to experience true success. Think about what needs doing and what things would get you the best results when completed. How can you set goals that will ensure you achieve this?

One key aspect of success lies in focusing correctly. Work backwards from your chosen goal to figure out the steps that will get you to where you want to be. Thinking in terms of “what do I need to do as the next logical step to start working towards my goal?” is a good rule of thumb. This breaks down what may seem to be an insurmountable task into smaller and more manageable steps that are much easier to take.

Don’t forget you can also enlist the support of your work colleagues to get things done. Your job role may not equip you with all the skills you need to reach a particular goal, but people working in another department may be able to help you. Don’t be afraid to ask for assistance, or for training in an area which may be of use to you, both now and in the future. Just make sure that whoever you ask for assistance can relate to the importance and the achievability of your objective.

It’s also very important to have a clear timescale in mind for every goal you decide upon. At the same time it should be realistic – otherwise you may become unnecessarily despondent if you don’t achieve it, despite the fact it wasn’t possible to do so in the time frame you gave yourself. Break the goal into chunks and estimate how long it could take to complete each part. This will give you an idea of the total time needed, and how much help you might need to get to the finishing line on time. When setting realistic time frames for your goals, remember that people often over-estimate what can be achieved in one year, and under-estimate what can be achieved in ten years.

Having said that, make sure that you continue to challenge yourself and your team with the goals you set, as well as making sure that your targets are easily measured. Targets without a time frame or a means of measurement become “voluntary”! What gets measured gets done!

Being able to set clear and worthwhile goals and work towards achieving them will also do your work history and performance a lot of good, and it can prepare you for promotion further down the line. In today’s competitive corporate world, that can only be good news.

Tips On Giving Better Presentations

Giving presentations can be intimidating, even if you are well prepared. Many people do not enjoy standing in front of a group, using power point, or answering questions afterwards. If you have a job that requires giving frequent presentations, the following tips can help you perfect your techniques so audiences have a better understanding of what you’re trying to say.

TIP #1: CREATE INTERESTING VISUALS

Most corporate presentations will require you to use power point, which is a slide show presentation program you can run from your computer. Presentations are not only audio experiences, the visual images you create should give audiences clues in order to understand points you’re trying to make. When creating Powerpoint slides, or any other visuals like prepared flipcharts, you should:

• Include one point per page. Placing too much information on the page or slide will cause people to lose focus and have difficulty understanding what you are saying.

• Using the 7×7 rule (absolutely no more than 7 words per line, and 7 lines per page) can also help in keeping your message succinct and easy to absorb

• Add images, charts, graphs, and other visual aids to help people understand statistics, percentages, and other information.

• Choose one font for headings and one font for content. Be consistent with your font sizes. Make sure they are large enough for people to see from the back of the room.

• Time your presentation to see how long it will take for you to speak and change slides.

Give printouts of your presentation so everyone can follow along, take notes, or review the information later.

TIP #2: MONITOR YOUR TIME

When speaking to a crowd, most people tend to speak quickly. This can cause others to miss information, so be sure you slow down when this happens. Timing your presentation beforehand will give you a good idea of how fast or slow you need to speak. Practice a few days before and make any changes necessary then.

TIP #3: KNOW YOUR STUFF

The more you know about your topic, the easier it will be to answer questions afterward. Learn as much as possible. While you won’t use all of the information in your presentation, you will be able to answer most questions.

TIP #4: CRITIQUE YOUR PRESENTATION

If you are comfortable, ask a colleague to critique your performance so you can make adjustments for the next presentation. Many times you cannot see where improvements need to be made because you’re busy giving the presentation. Having feedback is a great way to learn more about your strengths and weaknesses.

Over time, your presentation skills will improve. When watching others give a presentation, watch how they handle themselves and try to learn from them.