Practice hard – become a key player
In the last two posts about my guide to career progression, I wrote about how you can sense opportunities and prepare yourself for getting into grove.
The next step obviously is to get yourself involved in the project work and become a key player in the project. Now, understanding the term key player is very important to successfully complete this phase.
When I mention key player, I essentially mean that a person should be,
Self reliant on any project related work
Should be highly dependent & technically very very good on the job
Should be able to provide Solutions to the problems
Should have in-depth knowledge about the project & surroundings
Being self-reliant is achievable if you actually work really hard to understand the project, learn the project goals and start aligning your own short term goals according to the same. As I say,
Working hard is very very important, working smart is even more !
Becoming key player not only makes you an important person within the project but also makes you more dependable and reliable in terms of gaining the mileage out of your managers. I always emphasize on showing the results rather than just showing your work hours. Showing the work hours does not always help, unless your work demands so.
I expect a period of about 6-8 months again, for someone to become a key player in the project. Mind you, its not easy task to do so. You have to always show eagerness to learn new things, respond to changes & show your capabilities while on the road.
One thing I mentioned in my last post in this series (here) was to Show and prove that you alone can carry on the project and make the project dependant on yourself. This is a very very important thing in this phase and important exit criteria. Unless you can show your worth to the project, there is a little chance that your work will be noticed and considered worth its efforts by your management. (Sorry to disclose this tip though !)
Some important tips you can remember on the way to become key player are,
Show your worth in the project and show results
Take initiatives, implement technical solutions to common problems
Work smarter and save efforts by automation of routine tasks
Keep in mind that results matter, not the hours you burn
Achieve efficiency in the process and show benefits to management & customers
Be noticed each time !
If you can achieve this and become a key player in the project, it makes things lot easier for making yourself ready for the next phase in your career. As I said earlier, its not easy and probably not achievable without frequent discussions and re-aligning the short term goals with your manager. It is important to keep your manager aware of your progress, your short term goals and how you are able to help the project by your work !
Will write about the final phase probably in next couple of days as and when I get time to put things together. Till then, cheerio !
This is a series of FOUR posts on Guide for career progression – 3Ps process. Other posts on this could be found below.
Part ONE – Overview Part TWO – Prepare yourself Part THREE – Practice hard, become a key player Part FOUR – Pass it on & progress
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