With half of the work year behind us and mid year performance reviews to look forward to shortly, now is the perfect time to discuss how to stand out at work. Whether you are hoping for a raise or a promotion in the upcoming year, learning to stand out from your coworkers is an important step to bigger and better things in your professional life. How to Stand Out at Work will be a 5 week series where we discuss different ways to improve your image to set yourself up for success.
Volunteer for more work or new projects
If you are interested in getting ahead at work and standing out as a shining star on your team or within your organization, one of the most important things you will have to do consistently is do good work and always be on the lookout for more projects and more responsibilities. With our economy still on the mend after the recession, employers are often slow to bring on more help or create additional positions until they see their business beginning to return steadily. For many companies, business is not back to where it once was, so upping their headcount is out of the question. So, who is going to take on that additional work that needs to be done with fewer heads available to do that work? The answer needs to consistently be you!
Now, I am not saying that you need to take on each and every new project and bulk on extra work all the time, but if you are seen as the team member that is able to get their own work done while also offering to take on new tasks and new responsibilities, when it comes time for a discussion about a raise or a promotion, you are going to be golden in the mind of your manager. Before you begin asking for more work, make sure you are completing your current work to the satisfaction of your managers or supervisors. Although you may be able to get your work done quickly, it doesn’t always mean you are up to par on the level of work you are producing. Speak to your boss and ask about your performance and how they view the quality of your work. You do not need to wait for a performance review to have that discussion with your manager, it should be an ongoing discussion that you return to whenever you take on new tasks, or complete new projects.
Once you are certain that your manager is pleased with the level of your work, you can then approach them about taking on new responsibilities. I would always suggest that when you go to your supervisor you have examples of the types of projects or responsibilities you are looking to take on. Perhaps you know that there is a new client project coming up and it requires a great deal of writing. If you believe yourself to be a strong writer, you will want to bring that to the attention of your manager when asking for that responsibility. Explain the skills you believe you are confident in and ask for the opportunity to take on that new challenge. Your boss will be impressed with your initiative and after a while, once you have a handle on your new task, you can ask for more work again if you are able to fit it into your day. Be careful not to take on too much new work, however, because if you take on a new task and it becomes too much for you, that is not going to help your cause. Always try to be deliberate with the new roles and responsibilities you are willing to take on so that they are serving your goals in the end.
Just be prepared to get an answer that you are not thrilled with. If your boss does not think you are prepared for the task you suggest, they may offer another less desirable responsibility. If this happens, don’t panic. Continue the conversation with your manager and try to understand why they think this different role or responsibility would be helpful for you to take on. Remember, you will want to make it clear to your boss that you are not simply looking for more work, but rather you are looking for new challenges and opportunities to help you grow and learn in order to prepare yourself for future roles. If they think a different task will help you along in your career more, take their advice and take on the new task. Even if it’s not what you originally intended to do, your boss will see that you have taken the initiative and when it comes time for conversations about raises or promotions, you will have a good leg to stand on!