Can you define in clear, specific, precise terms what your manager expects you to produce when you show up for work? Can you describe how he or she evaluates your performance? Do you know how he or she measures your success or failure?
If you can’t answer these questions, how can you determine if you are meeting the requirements of your job? If you can’t answer these questions, how can you expect to meet or exceed your manager’s expectations? How can you ever hope to earn a promotion, make more money, take on more responsibility, become more successful if you don’t know what it takes to satisfy your prime objective?
Do you even know what your prime objective is?
Don’t worry, most people don’t. Most people are trapped in an endless rut of going through the motions at their job because the results they are expected to produce have never been clearly explained to them. If that sounds like you, you’re forgiven, for now!
BUT, from this point forward, you are no longer excused. From this point forward, you are responsible! From this point forward, you will be armed with a piece of knowledge that most employees either don’t know, or don’t respect, and it is a major reason they never go anywhere in their career.
What is that one piece of knowledge? Simply this, your primary responsibility in your job is to meet, or exceed, your company’s requirements for somebody in your position;
· If you consistently do that, the secondary and tertiary responsibilities will take care of themselves.
· If you consistently do that, your performance, consistency and reliability will be noticed and rewarded, if not by your manager, then by his or her superiors.
· If you consistently do that, your career, with all the deserved income and benefits, will continue to improve as you demonstrate your ability to deliver.
There will be additional, intangible benefits as well. When you know in specific detail what is expected of you, you can use that knowledge to tell those you depend on exactly what you need from them. Do you see a pattern forming? With this one piece of knowledge, you can eliminate inefficiencies, reduce stress, increase production and make the entire process more enjoyable in the process. You might even look forward to coming to work.
Sound good? Of course it does. BUT, this is where you become responsible. You can’t shift the responsibility of effectively communicating the expectations you are required to meet to your job. Not every person you report to will be a great communicator who will make sure you have a clear, concise understanding of the requirements of your job. In fact, if you have a someone like that, consider yourself lucky.
No, you’re responsible for yourself. You have to make the effort to ensure your producing the RIGHT results in a way that exceeds the measurements being applied to you. It is only then that you can deliver!
So, take charge today and make sure you have the answers you need. Later we can talk about how you make sure you’re meeting and exceeding those expectations.