You need to develop useful skills to move confidently up the career ladder. However, it can be challenging to determine where to start and what skills you need to improve. However, sitting still is also not an option if you want to develop and become a more valuable employee. So, it’s time to figure out which skills will be helpful to you and start working on them.
There are three ways to figure out which skills to start developing: understanding what skills you lack, developing those skills, and identifying those you don’t have.
Analyze what bosses and customers complain about
A good way to assess which skills are rare and significant in your job is to analyze the problems faced in your company. Listen and remember what your bosses, clients, and colleagues complain about. Perhaps they are talking about the skills that employees lack, and they should be developed.
However, it is necessary to approach the analysis wisely, as two common things could be improved when using this method. The first is choosing unnecessary skills that no one is willing to pay for. If the boss once casually mentioned that the tables and graphs of employees leave much to be desired, you should not rush into the pool with your head and spend nights studying how to build them. The second mistake is choosing skills that are too competitive.
If colleagues or superiors do not complain about the problem and do not note that it would be good if their employees could cope with it, then they can find people who will help solve it at a reasonable price.
Consider the top workers’ distinctive abilities
Perhaps you have a colleague whom you consider the best in the office. Now think about what this person can do and you can’t. What did you notice? Sometimes, the answer is quite simple and indicates easily accessible skills you can master, such as improving your ability to negotiate and work in specialized programs. In other cases, the unique skills the best employee possesses may be a consequence of accumulated experience.
These include reputation, client networks, and a track record of success. By analyzing the information you receive, you can figure out what you need to learn or develop to reach such heights.
Take an inventory of your career
If you do not have the opportunity to talk to your superiors, or there are no outstanding employees among your colleagues, it is worth taking an inventory of your career. Write down all your knowledge and skills in the list. It should include useful things you can do for work and secondary skills that support basic skills. These include communication skills, reliability, organization, and so on.
Now, consider what you could change about yourself to make your skills portfolio more valuable to a potential employer or client. In many professions, there is a common model: the early stage of career growth includes the development of direct skills, such as programming languages, design, and the basics of writing.
At a later stage, people develop auxiliary skills such as leadership, basic communication, and responsibility. This often happens because when you start working in a certain field, you are a resource that needs to be managed. But as your career grows, you can take completely different positions where you will manage yourself.
Conducting an assessment of your skills can help you identify gaps that make it difficult for you to move up the career ladder and learn about skills that have developed enough to make a strong argument in interviews and a conversation with your boss about a promotion.
How to develop skills to achieve the result and do not regret the undertaking
Let’s say you realize what skills you lack, but you don’t know where to start. You may also fear that you will not achieve results and regret spending much time on training. To prevent this from happening, use the techniques described below.
Identify the gaps
The very first stage of skill development is to identify gaps. Understanding what you are missing is important to fill these voids and move forward. We start learning what other people are learning and make a big mistake: we switch from one skill to another, hoping to master everything at once.
It’s a waste of resources and energy. By identifying gaps in knowledge and filling them, you can prevent this mistake, use your resources effectively and efficiently, and become more aware of the direction you would like to move in.
Start with the basic skills
As children at school learn letters first and then words, adults should start to improve useful skills from the basics. Consider what you would like to improve, and divide the skills into two conditional groups: basic and secondary.
The first group includes skills that have a direct impact on your goal. To become a good negotiator, you need to learn the art of communication, expand your vocabulary, increase stress tolerance, and train in resourcefulness.
Secondary skills have the most negligible direct impact on your goal, but they still accompany success and achievements. The example described earlier includes computer programs to create valuable graphs.
Find a mentor
A mentor is a person who has experienced all the difficulties of mastering a skill himself. He knows what you’ll face and can help you transition from beginner to professional.
If you need help finding a good teacher in reality, look for him in the virtual world. For example, you can sign up for online training or a course to help you improve your skills.
Set control points
Sometimes, learning a new skill takes longer than usual. In addition, you may get stuck or disappointed because you cannot clearly distinguish what you have achieved and what you have learned.
Make a checklist of “points” that will help you track your progress. Do not forget to conduct several measurement tests after each stage of training to understand what material you might have forgotten, as well as to realize what else you are missing.
Don’t stop
The world is changing every moment. When you follow how this happens, you understand which skills must be improved or updated. Over time, everything becomes outdated, and the knowledge you received five years ago may not be helpful today. Therefore, it is important not to stop on the path of your development, be curious, and not be afraid to learn something new.
