No matter how skilled you are, how much you know about engineering, or how productive you consider yourself to be, there’s always room for improvement. Employees who invest in consistently improving their results and demonstrating value are the ones who access the best opportunities in their roles.
The high-performing team members in any business are the first to be considered for promotions, salary uplifts, flexible working, and new assignments.
Cultivating clear examples of what you’ve achieved throughout your career opens the door to new job opportunities and professional growth.
Here’s how you can improve your workplace performance in 6 simple steps.
Improving the results you achieve in your engineering role requires an ongoing commitment to self-assessment and improvement. You’ll need to invest in optimising everything from your schedule to your mindset and skills.
Here’s how to get started.
1. Eliminate Distractions and Focus Drains
Distractions are commonplace in any workplace, regardless of whether you’re working remotely or in a traditional office. Interruptions, from chatty colleagues to social media alerts and domestic obligations, can easily steal your focus throughout the day. However, according to several research studies, every interruption can mean you take 27% more time to complete a task.
Therefore, focus on reducing distractions by:
Designing Your Workspace for Focus
Whether working remotely or in a busy office, look for ways to eliminate background noise and distractions. If you can close a door during periods of focus work, do so; otherwise, consider noise-cancelling headphones. Ensure your workspace is comfortable and clutter-free, as clutter can often act as a distraction, driving our attention away from work.
Muting Notifications and Setting Expectations
When working on specific tasks, close unnecessary tabs on your browser, mute notifications, and turn your phone silent. Consider setting particular times on the day when you will check email notifications and messages, and make sure you set expectations with colleagues and managers.
2. Set Clear and Achievable Goals
Goals are a valuable tool for any engineering employee. They give you direction and motivation and help you determine how to prioritise tasks. Analyse the requirements of your role carefully, and ask for clear instructions from managers on what they want you to accomplish.
Based on these insights:
Set SMART Goals
Define Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals. It helps to combine these with specific milestones. For instance, if you need to complete a project in the next month, write down what you’ll need to do in the next week, two weeks, and so on to achieve your target.
Check-in on your milestones regularly and ensure you’re making consistent progress. If you’re struggling to hit your targets, consider rethinking your approach.
Consider Stretch Goals
Stretch goals can be an excellent way to keep pushing yourself towards new heights in your role. Stretch goals are more ambitious; for instance, you might decide that you want to request a promotion in the next year.
To achieve that goal, you may need to accomplish various things, such as taking on projects outside your typical job responsibilities or investing in additional training.
3. Be More Organised: Plan and Prioritise
Excellent organisational skills can significantly improve your chances of getting the right results out of your engineering career. Being organised means knowing how to plan your days and prioritize tasks to deliver results in your role.
Choose a Strategy for Conquering Tasks
Decide how you will organise your day based on the tasks you have. Some people prepare to tackle difficult tasks first, which helps them start their day with a sense of accomplishment and quickly move through complicated projects. Others prefer to schedule difficult tasks for times in the day when they have the most energy or focus. Find out what works for you.
Stop Multitasking
We often assume working on multiple tasks simultaneously will make us more productive. However, less than 3 % of people can multitask effectively. Switching focus between tasks increases your chances of making errors and makes it harder to achieve your goals. Focus exclusively on one task at a time and work on it until it’s complete before starting something new.
Know When to Delegate
Knowing when to “share the load” can be extremely useful if you hold a senior position in your company or delegate tasks to others. Deciding to delegate a task to someone with the right skills to accomplish it faster than you can give you more time to focus on your best work.
4. Optimise Communication and Collaboration
There’s a reason why so many engineering employers prioritise exceptional communication and collaboration skills in their team members. Excellent communication is the key to ensuring you can work cohesively with your team members, minimise errors, and reach deadlines.
Focus on building strong relationships with your team members by assisting them when needed and speaking to them regularly – not just about work, but their personal lives too.
You can also improve communication and collaboration by:
Making Meetings More Efficient
Meetings are a common part of any role, but ineffective meetings can drain your productivity and make it harder to achieve the right results. Planning your meetings, creating clear agendas and targets, and sharing valuable resources with colleagues before a conversation begins can help boost each discussion’s outcomes.
Additionally, it’s worth carefully considering whether a full meeting is necessary for every situation. Sometimes, an email or a message can be a more efficient alternative.
Give and Use Feedback
Giving feedback to your team members is an excellent way to improve your relationships with them and become a more valuable team member. Requesting feedback from colleagues and managers will help you to recognise the strengths and weaknesses in your performance and consistently take steps to improve.
5. Invest in Self Care
Employees in all industries are beginning to recognise the importance of a strong work-life balance. Work-life balance is how you ensure you can protect your mental and physical health to perform better in your role.
Looking after yourself, whether committing time to regular exercise and good nutrition or taking breaks throughout the work day, will help you mitigate burnout and improve focus.
Protect Your Mental Health
When constantly battling stress, you can’t expect to improve your work results and performance. 41% of employees agree that constant stress makes them less productive. With that in mind, look for ways to minimise stress in your role. Know when to say “no” to tasks you can’t add to your schedule, and set clear boundaries with colleagues and managers.
Take regular breaks, whether it’s to grab a cup of coffee or a glass of water or get some fresh air. Know when to stop working and take a moment to re-energise yourself by listening to your body and monitoring stress levels.
Improve Your Physical Health
While a work role does not necessarily require you to be an athlete, they do require endurance. If your physical health struggles, you’ll lose focus and productivity. Look after your body by exercising regularly throughout the day, even if it’s just by moving around the office.
Eat healthy and nutritious food, drink water, and ensure you get plenty of sleep each night.
Commit to Continuous Learning and Improvement
To consistently improve your work results you also need a growth mindset. This means constantly looking for opportunities to grow, improve your skills, and accomplish more in your role.
Regularly assess your strengths and weaknesses. When you receive negative feedback or notice a problem with your work, see it as an opportunity to improve.
Take Part in Regular Training Sessions
Participating in the training sessions offered by your employer is an excellent way to improve your skills consistently. It also shows a commitment to growth that can make you a more valuable team member. Ask your manager about any potential training opportunities you can access.
Learn From Your Network
Your network can also be an excellent resource for consistent growth. Watching your colleagues and learning from their approach to overcoming complex tasks can give you new ideas for improving your processes. Seeking out a mentor and asking them for regular feedback and guidance can give you more direction when achieving your goals.
Even interacting with people in your industry on social media or at regular events can open the door to new learning opportunities.
Optimise Your Results at Work
In any workplace, employees who commit to constantly improving their results unlock the best opportunities. Simple steps, like eliminating distractions, learning to communicate and collaborate more effectively, and investing in self-care, can make you a more valuable employee.
Over time, this commitment will pay dividends, helping you to access promotion opportunities, unlock new skills, and even boost your chances of getting a higher-paying role.
All the best
Steve
At Coalesce we have been partnering with engineering candidates for over 28 years; if you would like some support on how to improve your results at work, then give me a call on 07512 821708 or email us here.