5 “Must to do” things at work for success…

Do you belong to that tribe of workers who keeps wondering “What else can I do at work” in order to have a better appraisal? Are you the one who completes the task assigned to you at ease and still see your Manager writing comments - “Could have done more”? Whether you are puzzled on how to meet your manager’s expectations? Then you are the one amongst most men and women who got caught into the 3D syndrome called “Do, Deliver & Depart”

Image courtesy : changingplaces.com.au

You may wonder what else I can do at work when there are preset goals assigned to me. You would have been happy with the job on hand and continue to focus only on those goals diligently and keep delivering it on time. If you belong to that breed of worker then you are termed as an employee who “Just Meet Expectations”. In this world of high competitiveness everybody is expected to walk the extra mile, think out of the box and deliver at lightning speed. All of these will come with a change in attitude. By following the below guidelines you not only surprise yourself but also “sweep your manager off their feet”

Understand the larger picture: Any work assigned, you need to understand the relevance of your work in the bigger context. This will make you feel how important is your work in the larger scheme of things. Also you can connect the dots from end to end which will help you improve the process knowledge. Enhanced process knowledge will make you an SME in a shorter span of time.

Think about your client’s customer: In this era of outsourcing, things have evolved a lot to an extent you should not stop with worrying about your clients. Rather go one step ahead and start thinking about your client’s customer. You need to imagine how your errors will impact them. This will not only help you to prevent from doing mistakes but you will also take the job on hand more seriously and come with fool proof concepts which will ensure flawless delivery.

Be innovative: Never do your work the same way it has been assigned. You need to start thinking “Out of the box”. You need to find smarter ways of completing your work faster with far superior accuracy. It’s ok to be lazy as long as you are innovative. It reminds me a famous quote “I choose a lazy person to do a hard job, because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it – Steve Jobs”. 

Don’t be afraid about failure. In this world of lightning speed even if you have to fail do it faster, rather than slogging it out to do it first time right. Before taking your chances take your manager into consensus on your risk appetite, so that they can back you up.

Practise Multitasking: World travels at such a fast phase everything has become instant. All the expected deliverables in the service delivery comes with a deadline of “Yesterday”. This indicates the speed at which work to be delivered. Proper prioritization and planning will only help you to deliver the work at defined deadlines. In order to meet out these requirements you have to equip yourselves with multi tasking talent. Gone are those days when work can wait for us. Now everybody is waiting for work. So make yourself a part of the elite group of multi talented folks to stay in the hunt.

Ask for More: This is the most important thing one has to do at work. Never be self contented. As long as you are happy with the job on hand your knowledge will be restricted. Only a crying baby gets the milk, so keep pestering your manager for more challenging assignments. Before doing that ensure that whatever has been assigned to you, either has been completed or has been stabilized and handed over to the person who backs you up. This appetite to ask more, showcase your hunger for knowledge and urge for growth.

Image Courtesy : thinkmoxie.com

The past decade has seen a lot of changes when it comes to client expectations and service deliverables. Keeping abreast with these changes is a challenging task but you have to evolve yourself to crawl up the corporate ladder. Those who don’t understand the change consider themselves as a loser.

REMEMBER

"You’re never a loser until you quit trying"

What does a Balloon Vendor boy in a train and a Sales Manager of a MNC have in common?

A young boy who was selling balloons in a sub urban train looked like a hero in my eyes. The determination he wore on him was more beautiful than his attire. Amongst us there live many such unsung heroes who are ready to break any hurdles on their way to achieve big in life. This incident happened, on my commute in a sub urban train where I saw this young prodigy.

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon that you could fry an egg in the sidewalk. I had no other option but to step out to complete few of my house hold chores. I forgot to take my English daily which normally keeps me occupied. Thanks to my bad memory due to which for the first time I looked at the outside world on my train commute not through a printed edition rather through a virtual version.

It was just hot breeze which blew through the window on my face. As frustration crept in, I just turned my sights towards my co-passengers. All grown-ups were glued to their gadgets. A family along with their 5 years old kid was the only lively people out there. The naughty kid kept me engaged with her mischief. Midway through my journey, I saw a young boy aged around 12 years boarded my compartment to sell balloons. I felt bad for the boy, as given his age he was forced to do a job.

The young boy was all energy and went ahead with his job. He understood his target audience very well. He dint even made an effort to sell his balloons with others and directly went near the family with the kid. The kid persist her parents to buy which they refused. The boy still approached the girl’s father and offered a balloon. He refused with a lame excuse as he dint have a pink colour.

The boy took a pink colour balloon from his bag. He bettered the deal by offering them a small discount if they buy 2 balloons. The girl’s father succumbed to the deal. Seeing the girl struggling, he blew the balloon for her and tied with a colourful band. What looked like a no-deal few minutes before was converted and he doubled his sale as well.

A good Sales Manager:

I saw the qualities of a good sales manager within him. He was not taken back by refusals. He had the shrewdness of offering discount to double the sales and still maintain his profits. He showcased his customer care by helping the girl in blowing the balloon. All of these were done by a 12 year old. I couldn’t hold my curiosity and I called him with a pretext of buying his balloons. I asked him, “why you have to sell balloons, at this age instead of going to school”. His reply startled me.

“People buy Balloons for Entertainment; I sell them for my Education”

He proudly said that he was a student of a government school in his locality. His Dad expired and mother’s house keeping income was just enough to support their family needs. There wasn’t a semblance of pessimism I could see in that boy. He makes money to support his education as he was focused to make a great career. I acknowledged his effort by buying a pack of balloons which he had to sell for that day. His eyes glowed and went happily. I’m sure that this boy will make really big one day. The lesson which I learnt that day was:

“It’s not the colour but the air within which makes balloon fly high, likewise it is not the external looks but the attitude within will helps us to reach greater heights”

Image Courtesy : Balloondownunder.com.au