Are you strategic and future focused or are you always scrambling to get things done?
The answers to these questions can shape how people think of your professionally and influence how quickly and how far you progress in your career.
It was famously said that the great dividing line between success and failure can be expressed in five words: “I did not have time.”
Do you have time to do all the things that are important to you? If not, what strategies do you have in place to manage yourself, and the people around you, to make the most of the time you have?
In our face-to-face workshop, we covered a range of practices that should help improve your productivity so that you can deliver high quality work on time, achieve your goals as efficiently as possible and build a professional reputation based on focus, reliability and efficiency. Access the slides here and explore the links below for further development.
Do you turn up to meetings on time?
Can you be trusted to meet deadlines?
Are you reliable?
Are you efficient?
Are you strategic and future focused or are you always scrambling to get things done?
The answers to these questions can shape how people think of your professionally and influence how quickly and how far you progress in your career.
It was famously said that the great dividing line between success and failure can be expressed in five words: “I did not have time.”
Do you have time to do all the things that are important to you? If not, what strategies do you have in place to manage yourself, and the people around you, to make the most of the time you have?
In our face-to-face workshop, we covered a range of practices that should help improve your productivity so that you can deliver high quality work on time, achieve your goals as efficiently as possible and build a professional reputation based on focus, reliability and efficiency. Access the slides here and explore the links below for further development.
When we multi-task our brain is actually switching very quickly from one task to another. This switching reduces productivity by up to 40% and increases the likelihood of making mistakes. Check out this study for a more detailed explanation of the cost of frequent switching. This article includes links to other studies that support these findings. It’s up to you to manage how frequently you switch tasks. Try to focus on one task at a time and implement ways to reduce distractions on your phone and in your emails.
If you’re one of the 39% of Australians who think they use their phone too much, maybe you could benefit from an app that helps you track and reduce your usage. Or maybe you just need to configure your phone in a way that reduces distractions. This article provides comprehensive instructions for How to configure your iPhone to work for you, not against you. Have a read and make some changes.
Have you got time to spare in
your current placement? Invest that time wisely. Set yourself a goal to read
one book about professional development per month. The books below provide
additional strategies for increasing your productivity at work:
What are other grads doing to
increase their productivity? Check out the resources below – and remember to email
Danielle.rees@transport.nsw.gov.au if you have anything interesting
to add.
Manage emails, calendar and meetings to increase efficiency
Manage interruptions
Alignment with the PSC Framework
Manage Self
Show commitment to achieving work goals (Intermediate)
Deliver Results
Complete work tasks to agreed budgets, timeframes and standards
(Intermediate)
Take the initiative to progress and deliver own and
team/unit work (Intermediate)
Plan and prioritise
Plan and coordinate allocated activities (Foundational)
Re-prioritise own work activities on a regular basis to
achieve set goals (Foundational)
Respond proactively to changing circumstances and adjust
plans and schedules when necessary (Intermediate)
Consider the implications of immediate and longer term
organisational issues and how these might impact on the achievement of
team/unit goals (Intermediate)
Accommodate and respond with initiative to changing
priorities and operating environments (Intermediate)
Think and solve
problems
Identify and inform supervisor of issues that may impact on completion
of tasks (Foundational)
Demonstrate Accountability
Take responsibility for own actions (Foundational)
Project Management
Plan and deliver tasks in line with agreed schedules
(Foundational)
Check progress against schedules, and seek help to overcome
barriers (Foundational)
Relevant job interview questions
Describe a time
when you had too many things to do and you were required to prioritise your
tasks. How did you ensure all items were satisfactorily completed?
Describe a situation that required a number of things to be done
at the same time. How did you handle it? What was the result?
Describe the system you use for keeping track of multiple
projects. How do you track your progress so that you can meet deadlines? How do
you stay focused?
What techniques do you employ to successfully manage your time? Do
you think they are effective in all situations?
Tell us about a time when you have been working on multiple tasks
or projects and you’ve had conflicting deadlines to meet. How did you make
decisions about how your time would be allocated? How did you prioritise your
work? Did you manage to meet all of the deadlines?
Please provide us with the examples of managing projects/tasks
within very strict deadlines. What was the outcome?
Tell us about a time you had to handle multiple responsibilities.
How did you organize the work you needed to do?
Give us an example of a task/project you worked on that was not
completed on time. Describe the situation, your role and the outcome. What
would you do differently?
Sometimes we’re faced with unreasonable deadlines on our
tasks/projects. Tell us about an important project you were working on that had
unrealistic deadline. How did you react?