Measure Your Productivity to Control Your Career
Productivity
depends on the extent to which you master the key activity in
your job. It's important, therefore, to know precisely your
current level of mastery.
The following is a good framework to properly assess your
current capability:
1. Novice: A person who is new to the field, profession or
industry
2. Initiate: A person who has begun to acquire fundamental
knowledge and skills.
3. Apprentice: A person who has begun to work with experienced
practitioners.
4. Practitioner: A person who is capable of practicing
independently on
his or her own.
5. Expert: A person who is considered an expert by professional
peers.
6. Master: A person who is capable of teaching and transferring
his
expertise and know-how.
It's important to know your current level because only then can
you plan effectively and realistically to reach the next level.
By the way, notice that the above framework spells MEPAIN (in
reverse order).
This convenient acronym is a reminder that to improve, one must
continually get out of one's comfort zone. It's not necessary to
seek pain per se, but it is necessary to always do a
little more every day.
Specifically, you should do more of what your employer is paying
you for. Indeed, there is a critical difference between doing
more of what matters and doing more of what doesn't really
matter.
How do you know what matters? Ask your boss. Or ask your client.
Don't assume that you know what is precisely the outcome for
which you are being paid.
Different jobs will have different outcomes and will use
different metrics to measure those outcomes.
If
you're a freelance writer, then outcome can be measured by the
number of words per article, or the number of articles you
produce per week.
If you're a sales person, then the number of units sold can be a
good metric, or the amount of sales revenues per week.
If you don't have a clear metric to measure quantitatively your
performance and productivity, you will be at the mercy of the
mood swings of your boss or the shifting winds of office
politics.
However, if you do have clear metrics for tracking your
performance, then you have control over your job and,
ultimately, over the rate of progress of your career.
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