Succeeding in Your Workplace
By Vincent Low
I hope you’ve had a great Lunar New Year break! With all the festivities behind us, it’s time to settle down and get locked in for the year ahead. I would like to share some tips on how you can succeed in your workplace, as you look to build momentum for a strong start to 2018.
1. Set Goals
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Setting professional goals is important to having a sense of objective and purpose in your career, and helps you keep track of progress throughout the year. I still find the S.M.A.R.T way of planning goals one of the best ways to approach this.
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Achievable
R – Results-Oriented
T – Time-bound
2. Communicate better
I had recently written a piece on communicating better with your bosses – it’s worth a re-read! Building relationships with the people around you is incredibly valuable and will not only make your job easier, but also more fulfilling. We all have different personality types and some of us are more shy than others. You don’t have to be the life of the party all the time; just making an effort to join colleagues for lunch can be a good first step.
3. Learn Something New
Activity can boost creativity, and the best way to do this is to learn something new, or pick up a new skill! Companies often organize different activities or learning sessions across various topics as a staff benefit for employees. Find out if your company has such activities, and utilize them. At Canon, we have a Staff Recreation Committee that regularly organises social activities, from weekly running sessions to yoga classes. This can be a good way to keep yourself healthy, learn a new activity and also meet new people along the way.
3. Dress Well & Look Smart
As the saying goes, you’ll never have a second chance to make a first impression. Whatever role or industry you are in, it is important to dress sharp and present a professional image to your customers and colleagues. However, it is true that expectations can vary in different workplace settings. These days, especially with many start-ups that have a different and more laidback culture professional work attire may not necessarily mean a suit & tie combination. The best way to approach this is to observe your colleagues and bosses, and match their level of formality as closely as you can.
I hope you will have a healthy and successful Year of the Dog ahead!
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