Think about your current skill level around leveraging diversity. What is the most important way you could develop, or the most important thing you could accomplish in this area in the next year? It might be taking a class, practicing a certain skill, or finishing a specific project. Whatever it is, write it down as a SMART goal (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound).
Think of a time when you faced a problem caused by external factors that affected your organization/your job. How did you handle it?
Think about a time when you had to work closely with someone whose personality was very different from yours. What sorts of problems arose? How did you address those problems, or work around them to accomplish your task?
Describe what financial statements are and what they tell you about a company. Feel free to do this either in your head or on a sheet of paper.
As you listen to the news, read the paper, or peruse your favorite journal or magazine today, identify two specific issues that might impact your industry, either directly or indirectly. Think about taxes, health insurance requirements, artificial intelligence, new competitors, the global workplace, and more. What’s out there?
List six people with whom you must interact regularly to get your work done. Now, rate how well you collaborate with each person, with 1 being “not at all” and 5 being “we love to work together and are great at it.” Look at the people you ranked at a 3 or below; these are the people you need to start building a better collaborative relationship with to increase your influence.
When you’re considering adding a new staff member to your team or company, it’s important to understand what the financial impact will be. Schedule a conversation with someone in your HR or finances department and ask them what salary range is offered to employees in the position you’d like to hire for. Be sure to also factor in things like onboarding training and benefits.
Think of someone in your office or personal life who is looking to make a career change. This may be a promotion they’re hoping to get, a skill they want to learn, or an industry they want to enter. Who could you introduce them to that could get them one step closer to their goal?
The next time you identify a need for an additional staff member on your team—either because your team is currently overworked or, better yet, because you’ve tracked growth trends in your company and identified that you will soon need a new employee to manage a new product, customer base, or territory—prepare your case carefully before bringing it to your manager. Write down the key business indicators that show the relevant growth and describe how that growth impacts your team.
Try this facilitation technique the next time you facilitate a meeting, especially if the agenda includes a topic people on your team have strong opinions on. At the beginning of the meeting, take 10 minutes to brainstorm “ground rules” that your team will agree to follow. Some examples might include “be respectful,” “start and end meetings on time,” “stay on topic,” and “speak up if you have an idea.” Write these rules down on a large piece of paper and tape it to the wall so everyone can refer to it throughout the meeting.
