What is most important in my job?
April 17, 2024 7:25 AM Subscribe
A lot of productivity advice recommends figuring out what the most impactful tasks you have are, and focusing more of your energy on these. This is good advice, but how do I know what those tasks are? (Aside from asking my boss.) I do a variety of things: is it most important that I do them quickly, or that I do them well, or that I am pleasant to the people requesting them? How do I determine what my focus should be? Please recommend an exercise to help me figure out what the values are in my workplace so that I can strive for excellence. I really want to do well in this job.
These are, unfortunately, questions for your boss.
(If you really can't ask your boss which tasks are most important and whether to prioritize speed, thoroughness, or pleasantness, I would posit that this will not be a great job to stay at in the long term. BUT you could ask your colleagues, or if you really can't ask anyone, you could observe the colleagues who keep getting praised or promoted -- what are they prioritizing? Where do they put their energy? How visible is their work? etc.)
posted by goodbyewaffles at 7:56 AM on April 17 [1 favorite]
(If you really can't ask your boss which tasks are most important and whether to prioritize speed, thoroughness, or pleasantness, I would posit that this will not be a great job to stay at in the long term. BUT you could ask your colleagues, or if you really can't ask anyone, you could observe the colleagues who keep getting praised or promoted -- what are they prioritizing? Where do they put their energy? How visible is their work? etc.)
posted by goodbyewaffles at 7:56 AM on April 17 [1 favorite]
This is good advice, but how do I know what those tasks are?
You ask your boss how their success is being measured, and then you ask his boss how his success is being measured, and then you figure out what tasks will knock those metrics out of the park and you knock those metrics out of the park.
If you're at a level where you have this question and don't know this answer, this is the answer and everything else is a distraction.
posted by mhoye at 8:09 AM on April 17 [5 favorites]
You ask your boss how their success is being measured, and then you ask his boss how his success is being measured, and then you figure out what tasks will knock those metrics out of the park and you knock those metrics out of the park.
If you're at a level where you have this question and don't know this answer, this is the answer and everything else is a distraction.
posted by mhoye at 8:09 AM on April 17 [5 favorites]
Aside from asking your boss...
You want to identify the most impactful things you can do. This will be different depending on your level in the organisation.
But when talking about the tasks you just mention the ways you can do them - quickly, well, politely - rather than the tasks themselves.
The ways of working will probably be informed by looking around at the organisation. Do people prioritise meeting (short) deadlines? good relationships? accuracy? Have you ever been praised for any of these?
In terms of your tasks, the ones closest to being "business critical" will be the most impactful. If you deal with clients, being speedy and polite might gain more business. If you write reports, a well written report on deadline might be best.
So I would look around - not just at the working culture - but also at the organisation's core business. Supporting decision-making within that would probably be highest priority. Then informing/analysing/suggesting improvements would probably come next.
I suppose maybe the corollary would be useful as well. What is it that you do that doesn't resonate with the business needs? Do you understand why you're being asked things?
Asking your colleagues what do they think you do is probably the fastest way of understanding your role's core function (outside of discussing with your manager) within the overall context.
Sounds like you really want to do a good job - but a good job and a visible or impactful job are not always the same thing!
That comes down to values. What does the org value? Who do they promote?
But of course, this is all putting org first. I would say - what do YOU like best? Develop those skills. What do YOU find tedious? Can you initiate a project to automate?
You'll probably be leaving the org at some point - what do YOU want to gain to take with you?
posted by london explorer girl at 8:09 AM on April 17 [1 favorite]
You want to identify the most impactful things you can do. This will be different depending on your level in the organisation.
But when talking about the tasks you just mention the ways you can do them - quickly, well, politely - rather than the tasks themselves.
The ways of working will probably be informed by looking around at the organisation. Do people prioritise meeting (short) deadlines? good relationships? accuracy? Have you ever been praised for any of these?
In terms of your tasks, the ones closest to being "business critical" will be the most impactful. If you deal with clients, being speedy and polite might gain more business. If you write reports, a well written report on deadline might be best.
So I would look around - not just at the working culture - but also at the organisation's core business. Supporting decision-making within that would probably be highest priority. Then informing/analysing/suggesting improvements would probably come next.
I suppose maybe the corollary would be useful as well. What is it that you do that doesn't resonate with the business needs? Do you understand why you're being asked things?
Asking your colleagues what do they think you do is probably the fastest way of understanding your role's core function (outside of discussing with your manager) within the overall context.
Sounds like you really want to do a good job - but a good job and a visible or impactful job are not always the same thing!
That comes down to values. What does the org value? Who do they promote?
But of course, this is all putting org first. I would say - what do YOU like best? Develop those skills. What do YOU find tedious? Can you initiate a project to automate?
You'll probably be leaving the org at some point - what do YOU want to gain to take with you?
posted by london explorer girl at 8:09 AM on April 17 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: My boss is fully remote, does not do 1:1 meetings or performance evaluations, and I have reason to think they are out of touch with our company culture. (They are completely technically brilliant, totally hands-off, and a nice person otherwise.) I have to figure this out on my own.
posted by epanalepsis at 8:18 AM on April 17 [1 favorite]
posted by epanalepsis at 8:18 AM on April 17 [1 favorite]
is it most important that I do them quickly, or that I do them well, or that I am pleasant to the people requesting them
Quickly can often be at the expense of well, and vice versa, but being pleasant, or at least polite and not an ass, is something you can almost always fit in without affecting speed or quality.
Do you have coworkers around you, either doing similar work or dependent on the work you do?
Do you know what future uses your work output is being put to? What a delay might block, or a lapse in quality might lead to?
posted by trig at 8:39 AM on April 17 [1 favorite]
Quickly can often be at the expense of well, and vice versa, but being pleasant, or at least polite and not an ass, is something you can almost always fit in without affecting speed or quality.
Do you have coworkers around you, either doing similar work or dependent on the work you do?
Do you know what future uses your work output is being put to? What a delay might block, or a lapse in quality might lead to?
posted by trig at 8:39 AM on April 17 [1 favorite]
Part of figuring this stuff out is putting yourself in the shoes of the person you are assisting.
If you give someone wrong or incomplete information, what happens? If you give them right information but it's late, what happens? Which of those things is worse?
The speed / quality equation will likely vary depending on the task.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:47 AM on April 17 [1 favorite]
If you give someone wrong or incomplete information, what happens? If you give them right information but it's late, what happens? Which of those things is worse?
The speed / quality equation will likely vary depending on the task.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:47 AM on April 17 [1 favorite]
A lot is going to depend on your job. When you break this out as quick versus well versus nice, I'm wondering if the real answer isn't going to be something like "first priorities should be quick and well-done and you let other stuff wait; niceness is less important".
In my job, the most important stuff is not always the stuff with hard deadlines - some things are just....late. I'd rank things in my job as:
1. Emergencies that must be resolved or Important Stuff can't happen
2. Quick-response stuff that can be dashed off in a minute that helps others do their jobs, because this is specifically part of my role. It would be lower on the list otherwise.
3. Stuff for senior people or other projects flagged as important
4. Routine stuff, even stuff with hard deadlines
I manage some of my work by creating a parallel track - I block off a couple of hours a week for each hard-deadline task and work on them regardless, which keeps them either on time or not late enough to make issues. Otherwise my time is flexible based on workflow.
I strongly recommend routine and the use of the email snooze function to keep your email box non-distracting.
posted by Frowner at 8:51 AM on April 17 [1 favorite]
In my job, the most important stuff is not always the stuff with hard deadlines - some things are just....late. I'd rank things in my job as:
1. Emergencies that must be resolved or Important Stuff can't happen
2. Quick-response stuff that can be dashed off in a minute that helps others do their jobs, because this is specifically part of my role. It would be lower on the list otherwise.
3. Stuff for senior people or other projects flagged as important
4. Routine stuff, even stuff with hard deadlines
I manage some of my work by creating a parallel track - I block off a couple of hours a week for each hard-deadline task and work on them regardless, which keeps them either on time or not late enough to make issues. Otherwise my time is flexible based on workflow.
I strongly recommend routine and the use of the email snooze function to keep your email box non-distracting.
posted by Frowner at 8:51 AM on April 17 [1 favorite]
My boss is fully remote, does not do 1:1 meetings or performance evaluations, and I have reason to think they are out of touch with our company culture. (They are completely technically brilliant, totally hands-off, and a nice person otherwise.) I have to figure this out on my own.
Have you started looking for a new job yet? Technically, my boss and I are fully remote (we're in the same small city which was office-based in the before times), we have biweekly 1:1 meetings via video chat, and we have company required performance reviews. If your boss doesn't do these things (and why doesn't your company expect/require them?), you need a new boss. And probably the easiest way to do that is a new job.
It sounds like, though you didn't state this, you're in a new job right now. Okay, so, if your boss is useless (to be clear, what you're asking is the definition of a manager, this is exactly what they are supposed to do) and you just started the job, try these things:
* Are there any reports you can look at? If you can see data on what is productive for the company, and your position, that can help.
* Any coworkers you can ask? While I'm a peer to others in my department, I have by far the longest tenure and I act as a pseudo-supervisor for them and could answer this type of question for my coworkers. I suspect right now this may be the best thing you can do as Step 1. Talk to coworkers, as many as you can (without being a nuisance), they will know answers to your questions.
* Do you know how your role fits in with the larger company? Can you find out? Is there a peer in another department you could talk to? Maybe they might say "Oh, after you send that over, we then do A and B and C" and that would give you some context of all the work that comes after your work is done. Generally, work that coworkers are waiting for so they can start is higher priority.
* Can you shadow someone in your department? Being remote, it would probably mean a phone/video call. If they do the same work you do, or previously did it, that could help immensely. Again, coworkers will usually have some idea of the priorities.
* We have no idea what you do, so we can't make suggestions like "100 widgets a day sounds low" or "getting all your reports done by Thursday might sound good, but what happens when new data comes in Friday morning?" If you can give us some idea of what you do, that would help.
* Especially without knowing what you do, we can't suggest an exercise to help determine your work priorities (and certainly not your company's culture).
* Your boss sucks.
posted by Meldanthral at 8:56 AM on April 17 [6 favorites]
Have you started looking for a new job yet? Technically, my boss and I are fully remote (we're in the same small city which was office-based in the before times), we have biweekly 1:1 meetings via video chat, and we have company required performance reviews. If your boss doesn't do these things (and why doesn't your company expect/require them?), you need a new boss. And probably the easiest way to do that is a new job.
It sounds like, though you didn't state this, you're in a new job right now. Okay, so, if your boss is useless (to be clear, what you're asking is the definition of a manager, this is exactly what they are supposed to do) and you just started the job, try these things:
* Are there any reports you can look at? If you can see data on what is productive for the company, and your position, that can help.
* Any coworkers you can ask? While I'm a peer to others in my department, I have by far the longest tenure and I act as a pseudo-supervisor for them and could answer this type of question for my coworkers. I suspect right now this may be the best thing you can do as Step 1. Talk to coworkers, as many as you can (without being a nuisance), they will know answers to your questions.
* Do you know how your role fits in with the larger company? Can you find out? Is there a peer in another department you could talk to? Maybe they might say "Oh, after you send that over, we then do A and B and C" and that would give you some context of all the work that comes after your work is done. Generally, work that coworkers are waiting for so they can start is higher priority.
* Can you shadow someone in your department? Being remote, it would probably mean a phone/video call. If they do the same work you do, or previously did it, that could help immensely. Again, coworkers will usually have some idea of the priorities.
* We have no idea what you do, so we can't make suggestions like "100 widgets a day sounds low" or "getting all your reports done by Thursday might sound good, but what happens when new data comes in Friday morning?" If you can give us some idea of what you do, that would help.
* Especially without knowing what you do, we can't suggest an exercise to help determine your work priorities (and certainly not your company's culture).
* Your boss sucks.
posted by Meldanthral at 8:56 AM on April 17 [6 favorites]
Who does your performance evaluations, if anyone? Can you ask them?
posted by unknowncommand at 9:35 AM on April 17
posted by unknowncommand at 9:35 AM on April 17
First and foremost is always being pleasant with the people you interact with. Sometimes that means politely saying no. The polite part goes along way.
Second is always giving accurate estimates for when tasks will be finished. People may not like it when you tell them it will be later than they want, but you must be a reliable point in their plans.
Third is quality. Once again, you must be a reliable point in their plans.
The last is speed. Things should be done as fast as possible, but no faster. At the beginning you will be relatively slow, but speed will come in time.
These are the general priorities to follow in order to be respected and useful in the workplace. Priorities specific to your job will have to be worked out with your manager.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:41 AM on April 17 [2 favorites]
Second is always giving accurate estimates for when tasks will be finished. People may not like it when you tell them it will be later than they want, but you must be a reliable point in their plans.
Third is quality. Once again, you must be a reliable point in their plans.
The last is speed. Things should be done as fast as possible, but no faster. At the beginning you will be relatively slow, but speed will come in time.
These are the general priorities to follow in order to be respected and useful in the workplace. Priorities specific to your job will have to be worked out with your manager.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:41 AM on April 17 [2 favorites]
Sorry your boss isn't doing their job. In lieu of talking to them, you could...
- Look at your job description - what is listed as the largest chunk of time? What is emphasized?
- Ask some trusted peers. This can also help you develop a stronger network (especially important if your boss is as unhelpful as you describe).
- Take a look at any metrics/dashboards/KPIs/strategic objectives that your company tracks, and figure out how you contribute to improving the metrics/meeting the objectives.
Think twice before trying the following:
- Asking your boss's boss - at some orgs this is fine, at others it will mark you out as a problem employee. Observe what others are doing before you try it.
- Asking your external stakeholders (e.g. clients) what you could do to exceed their expectations. Client-facing communication can be tricky and, unless it's your job to do it, you can cause a lot of problems without meaning to.
posted by ourobouros at 11:11 AM on April 17
- Look at your job description - what is listed as the largest chunk of time? What is emphasized?
- Ask some trusted peers. This can also help you develop a stronger network (especially important if your boss is as unhelpful as you describe).
- Take a look at any metrics/dashboards/KPIs/strategic objectives that your company tracks, and figure out how you contribute to improving the metrics/meeting the objectives.
Think twice before trying the following:
- Asking your boss's boss - at some orgs this is fine, at others it will mark you out as a problem employee. Observe what others are doing before you try it.
- Asking your external stakeholders (e.g. clients) what you could do to exceed their expectations. Client-facing communication can be tricky and, unless it's your job to do it, you can cause a lot of problems without meaning to.
posted by ourobouros at 11:11 AM on April 17
Politeness and relationship building always matter, so don’t think about them as separate from the other things. Add them into everything you do whether it’s fast or urgent or slow or an emergency.
Beyond that I think the most important thing is to be reliable. People tend to like it when you respond to an email quickly and give them an accurate estimate of when you will be able to complete the task (and update them ASAP with a short sweet reason if you fall behind).
If somebody at work asked me this question as a general overview, it would make me think that they’re a bit naive and it might erode my trust in them. So I disagree that you should try asking coworkers or mangers or your boss’ boss this question!
The true answer is that those elements’ relative importance will shift on a case by case basis - and for most people of this kind of question is answered intuitively. So asking it explicitly may seem a little odd and if they have to give you a spoken answer, it might not actually even be accurate! Many people are kind of running on instinct hence they are not good at answering this kind of question explicitly.
A better way to figure out these priorities is probably on a case by case basis. When a project comes up, just take the opportunity to say, “ This looks great, I’m excited to dive in. Quick question- I’m also working on (thing) - Do you have a firm deadline or a sense of. which one I should prioritize first?”
posted by nouvelle-personne at 12:38 PM on April 17 [4 favorites]
Beyond that I think the most important thing is to be reliable. People tend to like it when you respond to an email quickly and give them an accurate estimate of when you will be able to complete the task (and update them ASAP with a short sweet reason if you fall behind).
If somebody at work asked me this question as a general overview, it would make me think that they’re a bit naive and it might erode my trust in them. So I disagree that you should try asking coworkers or mangers or your boss’ boss this question!
The true answer is that those elements’ relative importance will shift on a case by case basis - and for most people of this kind of question is answered intuitively. So asking it explicitly may seem a little odd and if they have to give you a spoken answer, it might not actually even be accurate! Many people are kind of running on instinct hence they are not good at answering this kind of question explicitly.
A better way to figure out these priorities is probably on a case by case basis. When a project comes up, just take the opportunity to say, “ This looks great, I’m excited to dive in. Quick question- I’m also working on (thing) - Do you have a firm deadline or a sense of. which one I should prioritize first?”
posted by nouvelle-personne at 12:38 PM on April 17 [4 favorites]
What I meant to add is this - relationships matter the MOST, because teams will sabotage people they don’t like even if their work is good, and protect and give slack for people they do like, even if their work is bad, and bosses will fire employees who annoy them. Good relationships will keep you in the workplace and getting promoted more than any other skill. And most people do not know that they have these values, even though you can clearly see it in their behavior! So when you ask, they will tell you something different like “quality matters most” when really “not annoying them” is what really “matters most”.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 12:46 PM on April 17 [3 favorites]
posted by nouvelle-personne at 12:46 PM on April 17 [3 favorites]
Google "The four quadrants of the Eisenhower Matrix" - I found this helpful when I was working in tech and we were always completely overloaded. I think there is also another category though, cos we are all human: things you can do in under 5 min that you enjoy doing, just do them unless there are way too many!
posted by meepmeow at 1:33 PM on April 17 [1 favorite]
posted by meepmeow at 1:33 PM on April 17 [1 favorite]
I'm going to be a Debbie Downer here and say all of the advice above is really great, but I've been in the workforce long enough to see deserving, capable people be treated unfairly despite all of the effort they put in. Please, put in the effort you deem appropriate but don't over extend yourself. It's a job. To quote internet memes, if you die your company will list your job immediately. You are so much more than that. And I know that is so very privileged of me to say, but I'm gonna stand by it. I've had many friends who have felt terrible about themselves just based on how job searching and the jobs they've taken have affected them
As people have already said, ask your boss. If talking to your boss isn't helpful--is there anyone around you who you respect that your own work impacts? They might be able to tell you how you can be more impactful in your role. I've gotten the best feedback and direction from people like that, those who my work "fed into" and helped. Much more so than anyone who talks about "metrics" or whatever buzzword they want to throw in
posted by tace at 12:37 AM on April 18 [2 favorites]
As people have already said, ask your boss. If talking to your boss isn't helpful--is there anyone around you who you respect that your own work impacts? They might be able to tell you how you can be more impactful in your role. I've gotten the best feedback and direction from people like that, those who my work "fed into" and helped. Much more so than anyone who talks about "metrics" or whatever buzzword they want to throw in
posted by tace at 12:37 AM on April 18 [2 favorites]
What I meant to add is this - relationships matter the MOST, because teams will sabotage people they don’t like even if their work is good, and protect and give slack for people they do like, even if their work is bad, and bosses will fire employees who annoy them. Good relationships will keep you in the workplace and getting promoted more than any other skill.</em
There are exceptions but this is basically true and I don't think it can be stressed enough. If you were in a place where e.g. only certain metrics count then you'd probably know this and wouldn't be asking the question.
But even if being liked doesn't lead directly to promotions, good relationships with your colleagues makes your job easier and more 'fun' (for certain values of fun).
posted by pianissimo at 5:49 AM on April 18
There are exceptions but this is basically true and I don't think it can be stressed enough. If you were in a place where e.g. only certain metrics count then you'd probably know this and wouldn't be asking the question.
But even if being liked doesn't lead directly to promotions, good relationships with your colleagues makes your job easier and more 'fun' (for certain values of fun).
posted by pianissimo at 5:49 AM on April 18
A few thought exercises:
1) when you're writing your review at the end of the year, what is the type of impact that is recognized/rewarded by your broader organization? Is it delivering large project X on important initiative Y? Is it getting lots of ABCs done in a year? Is it being seen as a super helpful X person to Y team or Z clients that they tell your manager how great you are? I would look at your org's strategy materials and annual review materials/corporate-speak and find a more senior/tenured peer or manager who can give you a lay of the land.
2) What is the set of things / work that *because* of your position/experience in the org that you have a uniquely differentiated way to impact? I.e., if you were to spend your time on X, you would have a uniquely better chance to do it better than other people in an org. If you're in a central/global role, you likely have a better ability to standardize and fix things for many groups. I find that really leaning into what makes you uniquely good (or b/c of your position makes you uniquely powerful) is helpful in separating yourself from others.
3) Some jobs are about preventing bad things from happening. Others are about making good things happen. What is expected in your position?
4) Prioritization - what happens if you don't do X as fast, or as well? What breaks b/c of this? Who are the primary beneficiaries of your work? Sometimes you are just keeping the lights on b/c if you don't do X, a lot of downstream pieces fall apart. If you don't know how downstream teams are impacted, this is a great time to ask them. (They would love to tell you on how your work matters to them and what it is about what you do that makes their jobs easier)
5) If there is anything remotely repetitive in what you do, trying to standardize and make things more efficient is *usually* rewarded. Just be careful that your standardization doesn't stand in the way of any critical changes. (It's hard to standardize in a high change environment.)
posted by ellerhodes at 7:13 AM on April 18
1) when you're writing your review at the end of the year, what is the type of impact that is recognized/rewarded by your broader organization? Is it delivering large project X on important initiative Y? Is it getting lots of ABCs done in a year? Is it being seen as a super helpful X person to Y team or Z clients that they tell your manager how great you are? I would look at your org's strategy materials and annual review materials/corporate-speak and find a more senior/tenured peer or manager who can give you a lay of the land.
2) What is the set of things / work that *because* of your position/experience in the org that you have a uniquely differentiated way to impact? I.e., if you were to spend your time on X, you would have a uniquely better chance to do it better than other people in an org. If you're in a central/global role, you likely have a better ability to standardize and fix things for many groups. I find that really leaning into what makes you uniquely good (or b/c of your position makes you uniquely powerful) is helpful in separating yourself from others.
3) Some jobs are about preventing bad things from happening. Others are about making good things happen. What is expected in your position?
4) Prioritization - what happens if you don't do X as fast, or as well? What breaks b/c of this? Who are the primary beneficiaries of your work? Sometimes you are just keeping the lights on b/c if you don't do X, a lot of downstream pieces fall apart. If you don't know how downstream teams are impacted, this is a great time to ask them. (They would love to tell you on how your work matters to them and what it is about what you do that makes their jobs easier)
5) If there is anything remotely repetitive in what you do, trying to standardize and make things more efficient is *usually* rewarded. Just be careful that your standardization doesn't stand in the way of any critical changes. (It's hard to standardize in a high change environment.)
posted by ellerhodes at 7:13 AM on April 18
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Communicating things like this to direct reports is an important aspect of leadership. Sometimes it's possible to figure out where the organization wants folks to focus their energy based on general statements your boss or the management makes (staff meetings, all-hands, etc); sometimes you might have to actually ask your manager, but that's the long and short of it, in my experience. In an ideal world, your boss sets the priorities for your team based on the priorities their boss set, and so forth. Does your team have a culture of 1:1s with managers? This is exactly the kind of thing it would be reasonable to ask in a 1:1, in my professional environment.
If you really can't ask your boss directly for reasons I don't understand, one potential opportunity is to look at how your annual review goes. The things that you are evaluated on there are the things you need to optimize for if your goal is good reviews / hopefully improved merit raises over time.
If your boss can't or won't tell you what's important to them about the functions your role performs, then I suspect that indicates other, bigger problems.
posted by Alterscape at 7:55 AM on April 17 [4 favorites]