3 Lessons From a Good Week
We all talk about the importance of documenting what you learned after a big event. The areas of greatest focus and attention tend to be, in these cases, ways you can improve process for the next time. So-called retros will enable you not to place blame on a party or a team, but rather to better understand what to do differently the next time to ensure a better outcome.
At the same time, you can parse out what really worked well, and to highlight and appreciate all the moving parts and planning that went into impressing customers, fellow employees, and also newcomers to your service. This past week, I was able to arrange for a group of key features that brought Shutterstock into the news. To achieve it, we had to be able to move quickly on something that we'd never discussed before and didn't really have an action plan in place for. That it all worked out so magnificently is a testament to a number of people and areas.
Here's a short list of things you can do now to prepare yourself for the next big (surprising) moment you'd like to seize and grab ahold of:
- Establish and hang onto the trust of your manager. This is something worth working on in general, but when an unexpected opportunity lands in your lap, and it's your judgment and instinct to move forward on it, you'll need a boss who believes in you and your vision to gain approval on it. This kind of trust takes time and patience to develop.
- Carve out and secure relationships with other members of your company who will be valuable people if and when something comes up. Who are your key stakeholders? Will they make themselves available to you when the time is right? You want these people to say "Yes, I'll do what you need" if you come to them with a request to jump on a call in the next few minutes to outline and discuss a game plan.
- Maintain a calendar that is agile. If a new opportunity arises, you may need to clear a couple meetings or to slide today's slate of work to tomorrow. Not everyone's jobs allow for this type of agility, however if you expect (or want) to be someone who can move quickly on something in hours, not days, you'll want to rethink your relationship with your daily and weekly commitments. It's not possible to pursue something - especially the right something - if you can't free yourself from the demands of your regular schedule.
What did you learn this past week? Leave it in the comments.