Workast7 Professional Work Goals to Set for Yourself this Year
By
Sara Davis
on January 03#business-tipsSara Davis
Sara Davis is the Head of Growth at Workast.
Sometimes, the path to progression isn’t set in stone. However, improving your skills, intelligence, and abilities career-wise will always help you achieve more. We’ve compiled a list of 10 ways in which you can progress and set goals for yourself professionally to help improve your development.
Take an online course
With the advancement of technology and education, there are a wide variety of ways to learn and improve in the workforce. Technology continues to involve, and one MIT researcher we know is working to make an AI educational experience for high school students. Take advantage of the multiple resources out there to create an online course or to learn something new from existing online courses. Whether it’s Udemy or Lynda or Codeacadamy, there are a lot of free or very affordable online courses that you can take to improve your skills.
If you want to take it a step further, there are also often free courses available online from large universities such as Harvard. So whether there’s a skill you are looking to improve, or a related talent in your field - setting a goal to grow your skills can be easily done.
Learn or adopt a new tool
With so many tools, apps, and software available, learning a new tool can help you progress your career. Switching to a new tool to increase productivity, or help you automate processes is a quick and easy way to be more efficient. Or, simultaneously, learning a tool that you don’t know but could help you in your day-to-day work-flow is also a quick and easy way to become more productive with your work. Setting a goal to adopt or learn a new tool to progress your career is a great way to increase your career-belt.
Here’s a list of the best Slack tools as recommended by entrepreneurs for you to get some amazing business ideas.
Improve your emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is becoming increasingly important in the workforce. Being emotionally intelligent not only makes you a better leader, but it helps you in your personal life as well. TalentSmart found that emotional intelligence is the strongest predictor of job performance, explaining a full 58 percent of success in all types of jobs.
So how do you improve your emotional intelligence? Well, that’s easy. You can read about it online, watch videos, pick up books, and practice it in your day-to-day life. Becoming more emotionally intelligent is definitely a goal to add to your professional goal list this year.
Build your network
It’s no secret that having a network of support is helpful to growing your career. Whether it’s to lean on for advice, help find a new job, or help grow your skills, networking is important for any professional. Look for local networking events in your area, or reach out on LinkedIn to people you’re interested in connecting with. You never know when it may come in handy to know the right person to help you succeed with your career goals.
Find a mentor
Finding a mentor early in your career is shown to give you more responsibility, autonomy, and ultimately make you more financially and emotionally rewarded in the grand scheme of your career. Plus, having a mentor gives you the ability to have a constant feedback loop on things you may not be able to identify that you could improve in. If you are unsure how to get started finding a mentor, check out this guide to help you identify possible solutions.
Work on team-collaboration
Being able to collaborate with your team members more effectively will make it easier for you to get more done. Plus, it makes you a better leader which will help progress you in your career. Simple things, such as adding more details into tasks you create will save you time and follow-up questions in the future. Or, taking the effort to get to know your team and how they work is an effective way to work on team collaboration as well.
Research a competitor
It may seem silly to set a goal to see what your competition is doing, but it's a great one to have! You may be able to identify opportunities for your organization based on what you find. Do they have something they are doing that you aren't? Is there a way you can take one of their ideas and do it better? Researching your competition is a great way to stay on top of your industry and also learn more about your field. Plus, if you find a new idea - bonus points, you can take it to your boss.
Get better at time management
Time management is tricky at times. Learning how to manage your time better will make you better at your job. There are a plethora of ways to learn time management including the simple adoption of utilizing your software.
For instance take advantage of the following features:
What are your professional goals for this year? We'd love to hear them. Send us a line or tweet us at @workasthq for a chance to be featured on our blog!