Supporting others to deliver

Is there reward to be had for unselfish behaviour in the workplace? 

Thinking about work related performance over the last few months I’ve been musing recently about the supportive role that an individual working in a “Quality” position can provide.

My own experiences and that of colleagues in various industries is wide and varied however the collective objective is the same... to provide support to deliver objectives.

Those objectives change and evolve over time depending on the type of role and the type of industry however it is very clear there are two types of objective.

1 - The personal individual objective 

This is normally linked to your own performance and rolls up/cascades down from the company you work for, their values and the business objectives.

These type of objectives are normally “I will” “by x” “I will do this by.. “

We all know what smart objectives are so I’m not going to teach you how to suck eggs

2 - the second type of objective is one that supports someone else to deliver their objectives, whether that be a business unit, a team, or an individual..

These types of objectives are normally less concrete and more aspirational .. there may be a loose personal objective along the lines of “I will support x to deliver x” and can be tracked through from business objectives or simply the need of the business unit.

So thinking about these types of objectives how much time do you dedicate to your personal objectives over the supportive work you may perform in order to help someone else achieve their objectives... and which do you find more rewarding?

Recently I have been focusing on some great pieces of work that are being completed to help support others to deliver.. I personally find these much more rewarding. 

Thanks for the Kudos from you know who!

I enjoy being able to discover how I can support someone, work out the timelines, understand the requirements and then get on and deliver.

It’s very difficult to articulate the value being delivered when you complete work for someone else as (and it’s normal) they take credit for completion however simply knowing you have done great stuff that will be used and benefited from for me is amazing.

Don’t get me wrong, personal objectives are key to driving your own performance but for me there is nothing better than helping someone else to achieve their goals. 

After all, their goals become mine and ultimately that means together we are accountable for the success.