Enhancing my work experience
Some of you might remember that in November 2021 I started working again after a 10-month break. Working in a new environment gave me the chance to experience work in a different way than I had before, so much so that I now even enjoy working. (Am I allowed to say this?)
Lots of lessons were learned in the past year and a half, but three of these significantly enhanced the way I experience work. They might help you too, so here they are:
1. Embrace mistakes – you’ll get it right eventually
I started working in communications, a field I had zero experience in. In fact, at my old job my managers even kept saying I needed to work on my communication skills. I decided to follow their advice somewhat and became a communications advisor (lol, can you imagine). When I tell you I had no idea what I was doing in the beginning, I mean it. I had to figure out many things by myself. I made mistakes, small ones, big ones, and I’m still here. Won’t He do it? What I’ve learned is that people are very forgiving of your mistakes, especially when you can own up to them. This gave me space to breathe. I learn from my mistakes and do my best to prevent the same ones from happening again. At the same time, I keep in mind that I’ll be making some more and I’ve come to terms with that.
2. Take up your space – you carry value
As someone who has been brought up with the Ghanaian values of being modest in your ways and not speaking your mind too often (especially when speaking to those older than you), it has not been easy to let my voice be heard. It wasn’t because my work environment did not allow for me to speak. If anything, they were literally begging me to speak my mind. It was because I didn’t know how to take my position and believe that I belonged there. I needed to learn to take up the space that I had at the table. After all, I have a seat so that means I have a right to speak my mind, share my thoughts, and be part of the conversation. Doing this has shown me that people want to know what I’m thinking, they want to know who I am (also because they’re nosy), and they expect me to take up my space. It shows that my value is appreciated.
3. Track achievements – you’re doing great, sweetie!
This is something I would recommend everyone to do. Nothing fancy, just some bullet points listed on a blank page.I track my achievements because at times it feels like I’m not doing much; I can’t tell if I’ve grown since the beginning or if my work adds value. But when I look at my list of achievements such as ‘created a new communication model’ or ‘taught myself how to create labels in Microsoft Word’, I see that my work is not for nothing and I actually am improving. I track all the achievements, great and small alike.
I also believe it helps when I have conversations with my manager about my performance. He doesn’t have the time to be tracking it for me, so I’m showing great initiative (scoring points here) by doing this. Also, if one day I’m looking for a new job, I’ll have a list of achievements to refer to when they start asking those ‘do you have examples of x,y,z’-question during interviews. A win is a win.
Please note: I work in a healthy work environment where there is space for me to put these lessons into practice. If this is not the case for you, still keep in mind that you’ll get it right eventually, you carry value, and you’re doing great, sweetie!
