Hold your Own in a Competitive Office Jungle!
Employers want the most that they can get from their employees. They are always looking for ways to keep their employees innovative and hardworking with incentives be it monetary, acknowledgment or something else that only the best worker can earn. While this may sound manipulative, there is nothing wrong with a reasonable amount of healthy competition to help push employees outside their comfort zone towards more productivity. If an employee is too relaxed while on the job, he or she will only do the bare minimum and turn in mediocre results. While the word competition means different things to different people, the very nature of the word implies that there will be winners and losers. Workplace competition can be a strong motivator but problems among coworkers may arise when too much emphasis is put on who is best. So what is there to be done about it? Akhtaboot reveals 6 smart strategies to help you win in today’s competitive workplace jungle.
Figure Out What you Can (and Cannot) Be the Best at
Imagine if you were able to build a career that revolves around what you are profoundly passionate about, what you can be the best in the world at, and what drives your financial engine? We all want to be the best at something, but few of us truly understand with egoless clarity what we have the potential to be the best at and what we cannot actually do. Just because you’ve been doing the same job for years doesn’t necessarily mean that you can be the best at it. You can be passionate about what you do, but if you can’t be the best at it and it doesn’t make sense from a financial point of view then you might as well just change the game!
Be More Than your Job Description
Sure, you can arrive to the office ahead of everyone, work overtime, do everything asked of you, but are you willing to take the extra step to do tasks that go beyond your normal job description? Just because you were hired for a marketing position, doesn’t mean that your accounting or sales skills wouldn’t matter anymore. In order to shine in today’s competitive workplace, try to be that indispensable person, who others can depend on and who can do just about anything. Nowadays, being good at your job is no longer enough. If you want to be exceptional at what you do, make sure that you increase your value by persistently updating your knowledge and skills.
Build your Relationships
In competitive work environments, employees almost always feel pressured to increase productivity and achieve personal goals, but this doesn’t mean that your relationship with other coworkers isn’t important for your own success. Finding a way to work together as a team can help compensate each others’ weaknesses and build on your collective strengths. Network internally with other departments and if you got some free time on your hands, volunteer to assist other areas of the company. Teaming up always helps with competition; it can actually help you come out way ahead.
Play by the Rules
It comes as no surprise that the chance of having backstabber coworkers in high performing companies is much higher than it is in mediocre business settings. An excellent strategy to survive and shine in such a workplace is to make sure that you reflect the regulations and policies of your company in your performance and attitude. If you play by the rules, your competitor can not point you out as being a violator. If you truly believe that a coworker is trying to sabotage your career, keep careful records of what you are doing with dates, times and a summary of each task you’re working on.
Streamline Similar Tasks
Every job requires a set of tasks during a typical working day. Maybe yours includes meeting clients or writing emails or reading online articles. Regardless, staying on top of all the tasks you need to perform is essential to your success in competitive workplaces. Organizing these daily tasks effectively helps you work smarter - not harder - and can definitely improve your productivity at the same time. Find ways to make your tasks go quicker, so the demands for your scarce resources get lower. You can create a file for standard email responses, create groups for your clients based on their financial value or prioritize tasks according to their importance.
Competition among coworkers has always been there. We compete with our coworkers for promotions, raises, and the ideal task. While it is true that the main interest is to get the attention of your direct boss, still it is indisputable that the company will benefit from this, as employees will try their best to compete with other coworkers in the company. A smart approach to workplace competition is to learn how to pick your battles. If a coworker is seeking credit for a relatively minor achievement, let it slide. Don't get too tangled up in the competition for praise that you ignore the importance of teamwork.
Employers want the most that they can get from their employees. They are always looking for ways to keep their employees innovative and hardworking with incentives be it monetary, acknowledgment or something else that only the best worker can earn. While this may sound manipulative, there is nothing wrong with a reasonable amount of healthy competition to help push employees outside their comfort zone towards more productivity. If an employee is too relaxed while on the job, he or she will only do the bare minimum and turn in mediocre results. While the word competition means different things to different people, the very nature of the word implies that there will be winners and losers. Workplace competition can be a strong motivator but problems among coworkers may arise when too much emphasis is put on who is best. So what is there to be done about it? Akhtaboot reveals 6 smart strategies to help you win in today’s competitive workplace jungle.
Figure Out What you Can (and Cannot) Be the Best at
Imagine if you were able to build a career that revolves around what you are profoundly passionate about, what you can be the best in the world at, and what drives your financial engine? We all want to be the best at something, but few of us truly understand with egoless clarity what we have the potential to be the best at and what we cannot actually do. Just because you’ve been doing the same job for years doesn’t necessarily mean that you can be the best at it. You can be passionate about what you do, but if you can’t be the best at it and it doesn’t make sense from a financial point of view then you might as well just change the game!
Be More Than your Job Description
Sure, you can arrive to the office ahead of everyone, work overtime, do everything asked of you, but are you willing to take the extra step to do tasks that go beyond your normal job description? Just because you were hired for a marketing position, doesn’t mean that your accounting or sales skills wouldn’t matter anymore. In order to shine in today’s competitive workplace, try to be that indispensable person, who others can depend on and who can do just about anything. Nowadays, being good at your job is no longer enough. If you want to be exceptional at what you do, make sure that you increase your value by persistently updating your knowledge and skills.
Build your Relationships
In competitive work environments, employees almost always feel pressured to increase productivity and achieve personal goals, but this doesn’t mean that your relationship with other coworkers isn’t important for your own success. Finding a way to work together as a team can help compensate each others’ weaknesses and build on your collective strengths. Network internally with other departments and if you got some free time on your hands, volunteer to assist other areas of the company. Teaming up always helps with competition; it can actually help you come out way ahead.
Play by the Rules
It comes as no surprise that the chance of having backstabber coworkers in high performing companies is much higher than it is in mediocre business settings. An excellent strategy to survive and shine in such a workplace is to make sure that you reflect the regulations and policies of your company in your performance and attitude. If you play by the rules, your competitor can not point you out as being a violator. If you truly believe that a coworker is trying to sabotage your career, keep careful records of what you are doing with dates, times and a summary of each task you’re working on.
Streamline Similar Tasks
Every job requires a set of tasks during a typical working day. Maybe yours includes meeting clients or writing emails or reading online articles. Regardless, staying on top of all the tasks you need to perform is essential to your success in competitive workplaces. Organizing these daily tasks effectively helps you work smarter - not harder - and can definitely improve your productivity at the same time. Find ways to make your tasks go quicker, so the demands for your scarce resources get lower. You can create a file for standard email responses, create groups for your clients based on their financial value or prioritize tasks according to their importance.
Competition among coworkers has always been there. We compete with our coworkers for promotions, raises, and the ideal task. While it is true that the main interest is to get the attention of your direct boss, still it is indisputable that the company will benefit from this, as employees will try their best to compete with other coworkers in the company. A smart approach to workplace competition is to learn how to pick your battles. If a coworker is seeking credit for a relatively minor achievement, let it slide. Don't get too tangled up in the competition for praise that you ignore the importance of teamwork.
