December 05, 2006
INITIATIVE
You see the word on the performance evaluation, with a short description of the term, but what does it really mean? Bob Nelson wrote an entire book on this one word called "1,001 Ways to Show Initiative at Work". Why? Because it is one of the most effective ways to show you're engaged in the workplace, and ready for more challenges. Here are just a few thoughts from Nelson's book:
Defining initiative: Doing something above and beyond your job description; helping other people; taking risks; seeing an activity through to completion.
When thinking about initiative, keep these four (4) thought-provoking ideas in mind to help you reflect on:
1) Better ways to delight or dazzle internal and external customers
2) Better ways to simplify and improve work processes
3) Better ways to empower all employees
4) Better ways to share critical information with employees so they can feel a greater sense of organizational ownership
A by-product of showing initiative is innovation -- together these two values can help you come up with:
a) ways to improve products/services; b) finding new ways to do something; c) making a task easier or faster; d) saving money; e) enhancing our jobs; and f) increasing your promotability.
Need more ideas to help get you started? Ask yourself these questions:
1) Why was my job created?
2) How does my job relate to others in the organization? (Both library / ND)
3) What opportunities to contribute to the organization exist in my job?
4) How is my job linked to the organization's objectives?
Then, start thinking of "A Better Way":
• Imagine you were doing a task for the first time. Would you do it the way you are doing it now?
• If you had to, how could you do the task twice as fast?
• Do you really need to do the task? What would happen if you skipped it?
• What would be a completely different way of doing the task?
• Can someone else do the task more easily?
• Look for ways to make new ideas work -- not for reasons why they won't
• Make a list of the things you would change in the company, if you could, along with your reasons for changing them. Prioritize the list and plan to take the top items to the next step.
• Learn informal ways of getting things done in the organization.
Who knows -- maybe you will be the one to initiate "the next best thing."