You can probably remember a time when an opportunity presented itself to you and you ran with it; maybe a new job, a promotion, a new hobby or some sort of adventure.
We are often on the ‘lookout’ for something to come our way and a chance for us to seize the moment. Carpe Diem and all.
But why do we often wait for these things to crop up?
Part 3 of 4: Create Your Own Opportunities
Everything moves so fast and before we know it someone else might have seized
that moment before us and we’re back to playing the waiting game for the next
opportunity to arise. It’s time we created opportunities ourselves and made
progress happen, rather than wait for it to potentially pop up in front of our
faces.
Continuing with the series of top tips to bring more success
to your career, creating your own opportunities is key to making the progress
you want. Here are some ideas that might bring about new opportunities with you
in the driving seat:
Identify ongoing problems or gaps in your
department / organisation
This is a relatively easy way to get started as it focuses
on where you’re working now and uses your position to create an opportunity for
yourself while supporting your wider department or business.
Think about what
frustrates you and/or your team at work on a regular basis. Are there processes
in place that cause delays to projects? Is there an ongoing battle with a piece
of equipment or software?
Next, consider what’s missing in the department or team that
you’re in. Does there need to be a better way of gathering customer feedback? Would
it be beneficial to conduct some research into a specific area?
Essentially what you’re doing is recognising ways to improve
current processes as well as identifying what could enhance your team’s
performance further. Once you see a clear opportunity, here are your next
steps:
- Do some research on what the potential solutions are, thinking of realistic options and going into detail on how it can be implemented
- Make sure it is a clear solution and demonstrates how you will make this happen – what would your role be, who else would be involved, any costs incurred, timeline of activities
- Put a one-page proposal together to highlight the key points of your solution
- Arrange a meeting with your department head / team manager to propose the opportunity
The simpler and clearer the proposal, the greater chance you have of getting the green light to implement it. You need to avoid the new project
impacting your day to day work too much so that there isn’t a knock-on impact
to the whole team, while you’re also looking for the decision maker to see no
reason NOT to try it.
What does this mean for you? You get control of a project
that you’ll likely be more interested in, you’ll have a compelling story for
future employers of your impact in this current role, you may be exposed to
other areas of the business and your next step in your career may be sooner
than you thought. Worth a try?
Other ways to create your own opportunities:
- Other departments: get to know other teams and colleagues you don’t usually work with – what projects are they working on? Are there opportunities for collaboration with your team?
- Partnerships: seek out opportunities to do some business development networking and, if relevant to your organisation, look for funding bids that the company may benefit from applying to.
- Company events / groups: offer to get involved in any project groups that are interesting to you, support on large company events coming up, volunteer to oversee a new side project – this will show your diverse skill set and your wider potential.
- Job hunting: consider what organisations in your industry need and approach companies directly to offer your services - show the value you can add to them. Job hunting is not all about waiting for a job advert to pop up – we've got a job-hunting article coming soon with more tips.
@theiamhub
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