Effectively achieving work goals requires a sustained commitment, determination, and enthusiasm to overcome challenges. As a worker, you need a sustainable work performance improvement plan to achieve your goals, complete each task effectively, and pass your annual evaluation.
1. Adapt to the organization’s culture
For many organizations, culture is the foundation for success. A Harvard Business Review study shows that Fortune 500 CEOs mention the word “culture” 27 times during a 90-minute meeting.
That doesn’t mean you have to be personally involved in every aspect of your organization.
But what it does mean is that without a clear alignment between your interests and the company culture, it will be difficult to build relationships and overcome the resistance that shouldn’t exist.
As a worker, you can’t influence the overall workplace culture, but the way you present yourself at work and the skills you have can influence the workplace culture.
How do you fit into the culture of the organization?
- Follow policies and norms: Understand what is expected of you and how other employees follow the company’s norms and policies.
- Engage mentors: Build relationships with experienced employees. They can help you understand aspects of the culture that may be less obvious.
- Flexibility: you must be willing to work in different and new environments.
- Open-mindedness: Be open to the perspectives and experiences of others.
- Participation in decision making: active participation in organizational decisions can underscore their willingness to learn, grow and become proficient in their work.
2. Finding a connection between personal and professional goals.
High morale can help in the short term, but to stay motivated in the long term, you need to find satisfaction in your work life. Connecting your personal and professional goals will help you perform better, make it easier to lose track of your life, and help you grow professionally.
As a worker, you may have reached personal milestones in terms of skill development that make you a promising candidate for professional endeavors requiring higher pay, greater responsibility, and unique tasks.
If you are aware of the connection between personal and professional goals, you can focus on achievable goals and take steps to reach them.
3. Do important tasks smarter, not harder.
Time is one of the most valuable assets when it comes to completing tasks, as it is a non-renewable resource. Without a clear structure, you may spend too much time on one task and neglect more pressing matters.
Poor prioritization is a barrier to optimal productivity. Lack of clear prioritization makes it difficult to effectively delegate tasks and create an achievable task list.
To increase productivity, it is important to make the best use of valuable time during work hours. Avoid chatter, and develop time management skills, and know-how to streamline your work processes so you can focus on the important tasks at hand.
Here are some ways to work more efficiently.
- No more multitasking: humans are not built for efficient multitasking. According to a study by the American Psychological Association, switching from one task to another can reduce productivity by up to 40 percent. Instead, structure your day so you can focus on one task at a time.
- Take short breaks: focusing on important tasks requires more cognitive effort. Taking breaks may seem counterintuitive, but frequent short breaks are important for maintaining energy levels throughout the day.
- Handle interruptions: You may not be able to avoid distractions completely, but if you want to focus on difficult tasks, you need to identify the most common distractions and do everything in your power to avoid them. If chatty co-workers are your Achilles heel, you need to communicate effectively and set clear boundaries.
- Set priorities for important tasks. Use a framework to decide which tasks should be on your to-do list and which can be delegated or deleted altogether.
- Group similar tasks together. As mentioned earlier, switching from one task to another is one of the biggest factors that reduce productivity. Grouping tasks together increases productivity by focusing attention on a limited number of processes, making it easier to enter a “flow state.”
4. Inclusive leadership practices
When thinking about how to improve your work performance, it is important that you think about what good work looks like in the context of your role. If you’re a team leader, you need to do something different to achieve your goals than an employee without responsibility.
If you are in a leadership position, you absolutely must learn how to communicate effectively, provide the tools for success, set standards, and lead your team.
Inclusive leadership is a practical approach to involving all stakeholders in decision-making. Inclusive leadership helps create a pool of innovative people with creative ideas.
5. Use professional contacts to improve performance
According to a LinkedIn survey, in 2016, 70% of people were employed by companies with connections. Professional networking can help you find career opportunities, develop business relationships and gain knowledge.
Networking is not only important for job hunting, it also helps improve work performance. By making connections with internal and external professionals, you will gain valuable contacts and resources that will help you improve your performance.
6. Effectively delegate authority to team members
Delegating is an important strategy for executives. A Gallup study proves it: companies that know how to delegate have seen their revenues increase by 33% or more.
Here are some tips on how to delegate effectively.
- Select tasks to delegate: Determine which tasks are suitable for delegation. At the same time, be willing to give up some things that are beneficial to the employee, rather than just delegating boring tasks like data entry.
- Select aspiring employees: offer promotional opportunities to new employees whose performance, willingness to learn and skills are appropriate.
- Trust the employee’s process: Allow the employee to choose the best approach based on their work style and skills, and give them direction, but don’t be pushy.
- Training, coaching, and education: Mentoring, guidance, and coaching in the delegation process contribute to optimal work performance.
- Measure results. Provide clear indicators of success so that both you and the employee know what is expected of them.
- Valuable feedback: feedback on delegated tasks. Give constructive feedback to improve performance and praise the efforts made on previous tasks.
7. Journey Mapping
Companies use Employee Journey Mapping,facilitated by employee performance management software, to track an employee’s performance and satisfaction over the course of their employment relationship. On a personal level, they can map their own journey and see how their work performance has changed over time.
8. Use of “personal performance improvement plans”.
Performance improvement plans (PIPs) can be intimidating when developed by others. However, proactively creating your own PIP can be a great way to reflect on your goals and prioritize tasks that will improve your performance.
9. Be prepared to deal with the current situation
The concept of continuous development is at the heart of performance improvement. Unfortunately, many companies are immune to change and cling to suboptimal processes because “we’ve always done it this way.”
While it is not always possible to change a task’s process, it is important to be willing to challenge current practices, propose better alternatives, and maintain the energy to implement changes.
About Author
Sarah Noah Liam is a 28-year-old Software Management person who enjoys programming, employee monitoring softwares, and screen recording. Moreover, she has a post-graduate degree in Computer science. She was raised in a happy family home with two loving parents.