In yesterday’s post, we discussed how to give and get useful, easy-to-hear feedback. With that feedback, you know what you are doing well, what could improve, and how you might go about improving.
That feedback is helpful and incomplete. It focuses narrowly on your performance. What about the bigger picture that looks at you in your role, on your team, and in your organization?
One reader said that she would like to know that bigger picture. In particular, she asks,
- Am I contributing sufficiently to the goals? Unfortunately I am not sure I really know what these are. I want to be sure I am adding value. How would I ask this?
- Where is my role going in the future? How will it, and how I will, develop over the next 12-24 months?
To learn how well you are contributing to the goals of your organization, try asking some or all of these questions:
- At the end of the year, what results (qualitative or quantitative) will tell you that I have done my role well?
- How does our team contribute to the organization-at-large?
- (Presuming you are asking your boss) What results are you committed to deliver this year?
- What is the organization-at-large committed to delivering this year?
To learn about how you and your role will develop in the future, keep taking a win-win approach. Try asking
- What is coming down the pipe? What longer-term issues or opportunities do the organization face? How about our team?
- How can I help?
You and your role will develop best when in support of your team’s and your organization’s goals.
In your corner,
Mike