When the Great Recession ended in June 2009, the economy recovered and entered a boom that created the longest economic expansion ever.
For a decade, the labor market has been tight and competitive. You not only have to outshine the other people applying for a job, but you need to outshine your coworkers once you get the job.
To stay relevant in today's job market, you must look for ways to improve work performance. Read on to learn the top three ways to improve work performance.
The job market has become incredibly competitive. This means even when you have the job you must strive to be better if you want to keep it. If your company isn't actively providing ways to improve work performance, there are things you can do on your own.
There are different techniques on how to improve work performance, but the top three are as follows:
One of the best ways to improve work performance is by giving yourself an honest assessment. If you don't think you can handle assessing yourself, ask a trusted coworker or even your boss for help.
Asking your boss or team members may even score you some points. They'll see that you are actively trying to improve your job performance.
During this assessment, you should determine what skills you have that make you shine along with ones you could use some work on. Some of the top skills you should focus on include:
These are general skills that every employer enjoys seeing in their employees. However, the skills get more specific and tend to vary depending on the industry you work in.
Once you find your strengths and weaknesses, begin documenting them regularly and set clear and achievable goals. For example, keep a record of the successes you run into while working. This will help you continue to perfect the skills you already have.
If you tend to get negative customer reviews because of communication issues, make a note of this. Once you begin documenting customer interactions, you can see if you are improving or not.
Another one of the tips for improving work performance is creating a schedule that fits you. If at all flexible, you should decide when to complete tasks and schedule meetings within your working hours. This will help boost your productivity level.
You can organize your day by scheduling it the day before. If you have to block out your calendar to finish important tasks, do it!
You can organize your schedule by categorizing your tasks into priority, weekly essentials, etc. A task that requires concentration may be better off completed before lunch to avoid a slump. A more creative project can be handled after lunch.
To make work performance better, you may want to schedule breaks during the day for staying healthy and refreshed. If your job does not allow for breaks, you can place less challenging tasks in these areas instead. Even short breaks can help you refresh your mind and keep you going for the entire day.
The Batch Technique
When creating a schedule, you should consider using the batch technique. This involves batching tasks together that are the same or alike.
An example of this is setting specific times to check your emails instead of checking them throughout the day, focusing on one task at a time. This small change can actually help you go through your inbox faster.
This approach helps the most with activities that you do daily or weekly. Like emails, you can also use the batch technique for client calls, data entries, analytics reports, direct reports, meetings, and more.
The batch technique can also prevent you from jumping to different tasks before finishing another. Task switching takes time out of the day because you lose focus and momentum.
Avoiding distractions is one of the ways to improve work performance. You should aim to limit distractions as much as possible. This may seem like an obvious answer, but it is easier said than done. If you are in a distracting work environment, chances are, you won't be getting enough work done throughout the day.
The easiest way to begin is by clearing your desk of things that aren't essential for the task you are doing.
Clutter can decrease your work performance. This goes for digital work too. Close tabs and programs that you don't need.
No Drama!
A workplace may be a place of drama, but if you want to boost your productivity, you need to avoid it. One of the ways to improve work performance is to avoid this distraction, especially if it is a frequent occurrence.
Build working relationships and connections with your coworkers without the drama. Gossip can be a distraction and affect the way you are seen by higher-ups.
To avoid distractions and improve work performance, you can arrive earlier than everyone else. Before your workday officially starts, you may find that peace and quiet is just the thing you need to get a headstart on the day.
When you arrive early, you can finish a few things on your to-do list without the distractions of others. This can also help you feel more accomplished and motivated for the entire day.
As you are looking for ways to improve work performance, you may find that these techniques are things you already do. Luckily, there are plenty of other ways to increase your performance at work including:
Overall, every step to improving your work performance involves learning. As long as you are devoted to continuing learning after you get the job, you will prove that you are committed to professional development.
If you've heard it once, you'll hear it again; there's always room for improvement! Actively looking for ways to improve work performance puts you one step ahead of the game. If you haven't already implemented these three techniques into your work life, do it now to enhance improvement.
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