The vicissitudes of work throw
different things at us. Some get to the workplace and find their rhythm or get
direction for their lives, others enter and begin to struggle and only just
getting by. But, one thing is certain, the world of work only rewards the star
performers and they are the ones who find the most fulfilment from the
self-application process of work. Nigerian professionals, renowned for their
determination to succeed, are among the most productive in the world. But there
are more they can add to their game.
Below some 12 steps that will
elevate you to the status of a star performer.
1. Know yourself
Know yourself. Know your strengths,
limits, talents, gifts, deficiencies. Know where you will thrive and flourish;
know where you will struggle and not be able to cope. All of us are not
supposed to work anywhere; so, once you understand yourself, it makes career
choices and decisions easier. For instance, if you work in a setup where your
job descriptions do not match your strengths, you will struggle and will not
find joy in your work. The kind of satisfaction that comes from doing what you
are naturally cut out for will elude you.
Even though research has revealed
that most Nigerian workforce work mainly for the pay and not out of interest,
you still owe yourself the duty of making a choice as to where you want to
work, such that going to work will not be something you dread every day.
2. Confirm expectations and
requirements
If you desire to turn in a
five-star performance in any role, you must know what specific tasks are
required of you at work. You should know what you are supposed to do on a regular,
daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis to fulfil your role. This will help to
have a complete picture of what you ought to do withminimal omission.
3. Ascertain the scope and coverage
of your responsibilities
How long do you need to do what you
are doing? How far do you need to go? What scope do you need to
cover in your professional responsibilities? Having a grasp of this
will help you not to dissipate energy in the wrong direction or do much where
you are supposed to do little.
What am I expected to do? For how
long am I expected to do them? How many of those am I required to turn in
daily? These are questions star performers ask before they hit the ground
running.
4. Identify result and productivity
metrics
Star performers are always
conscious of their productivity quotient. If you wish to be numbered among
them, then you need to adopt a result-driven mindset like they have. You need
to be clear as to what constitutes productivity for you. You are permitted to
do as many things as you want, but it is not all the things you do that
constitute productivity. You should know how your results will be appraised so
as to align yourself to do what you are supposed to do as against what catches
your fancy.
5. Set goals and objectives
Having known what you are expected
to do, what scope you are required to cover, and the metrics of your appraisal;
you should then set goals for yourself: These are the things I’m going to
accomplish, based on what I know.
You need to set personal goals;
star performers are goal-driven. They focus on the end result but do not lose
sight of the process. They align with the process that will take them to their
result, not activities that will take them away from it. Even if you are not
given a goal by your employers or line manager, you need to have your own
performance goals.
6. Count the cost
What will it take to accomplish the
goals you have set for yourself or the ones set for you by your managers? What
will it take to cover the scope? What will it take to meet the expectations or
requirements delivered to you? What are the things you need to do to achieve
all these? Asking such pertinent questions will help you determine what needs
to give in order for you to achieve your objectives.
7. Set your priorities
What are your priorities? You have
been told what you are supposed to do, you know how far you are supposed to go,
you know what scope you are supposed to cover, and you know what will be used
to assess your performance. Armed with all this knowledge, you also need to
know which task to do first of all you are supposed to do; which one should
come second, which one should come third, which one should be the last.
Setting priorities before you start
will help to know the order you are supposed to eat your frogs.
8. Manage your time
Star performers are excellent time
managers. They are strict in the way they spend time as well as to what extent
they allow others who are not germane to their result to encroach on their time
and space. Because they know the ephemeral nature of time, they endeavour to
make every moment count. They reduce loafing to the barest minimum and input
substance that will count later on in their time.
A very good tool that has helped
star performers improve their productivity is the award-winning TAMS, a homegrown
time-management focused human resource management application that measures
punctuality at duty posts as well as overall contributions to organisational
success. Trusted by over a thousand organizations in Nigeria and West Africa,
TAMS also celebrates star performers with gifts and vacation packages.
9. Focus
After you set your priorities and
you are able to optimise time, you have to learn to focus on what you ought to
do. As simple as that sounds, it is one of the most difficult things to do. It
is not easy to maintain a laser focus on a task for a prolonged spell and not
be distracted.
There are noises all around us,
even in your own mind, there psychological noises contending for your
attention. But you must be able to sieve through them and centre on what needs
to be done at any point in time. That is one of the tricks of star performers.
10. Manage people and your
environment
To be productive you also need to
manage the people around you. You have to learn to say, ‘No’ or promise a rain
check on extraneous requests.
You need to manage your environment
too, there are some environments that aid productivity, and there are those
that inhibit it. You have to position yourself in an environment that allows
you to be productive. For instance, the way you are seated or how you organise
your table and workspace can either facilitate or slow down your work pace.
11. Review your work
Top performers have reviews
ingrained in their system. After completing a task, they look at it again and
ask themselves questions: Is this the best I can come up with or can I do
better? They also review their day asking such questions as; how has my day
been? What did I get right, what did I do wrong?
You have to review your own
performance before being assessed by your superiors. You should also review
your day, week, month, quarter and year. This helps you to know what you have
accomplished so that you can report it and get the confidence boost to do more.
It also helps you to know what is outstanding so you can pursue them.
12. Self-discipline
All the highlighted pointers that
make a star performer are indicators of discipline. After you have taken note
of all the points, if you are not disciplined enough to put them into practice,
they will all filter away. Motivation gets you started, but self-discipline
keeps you going even when you don’t feel like it.
How many excuse-makers do you know
that turned out to be successful? Nobody claps for what you plan or intend to
do. You only get applauded for what you have done, and it takes discipline to get
difficult things done because you have to take tough decisions and be rigorous
in your thinking. It is not even easy to think through a process, it takes
discipline. And that is one of the hallmarks of star performers.
*Contributed by Babatunde Oladele,
an expert in content, brand and reputation management. He is the team lead
at TRW Consult, a Lagos-based new generation
marketing communications agency. He also manages The
Ready Writers Consult, the oldest writing and editorial company in
Nigeria.
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