13 REASONS WHY NEW MANAGERS MUST WORK SMARTER TO SUCCEED IN THEIR CAREER

”Before you work smart, work hard. If you only work hard and not smartly, you may end up only working for the rest of your life .’’

The quote explains itself very nicely by emphasizing the importance of smart work.

And if you think that hard work is the only route to success then you are holding a myth that has been doing rounds in society for a long time and will never allow you to tap into your full potential.

You will never be able to understand what you are truly capable of if you believe in working hard all the time.

So before working smart, you need to work hard and gain some knowledge and experience in that domain.

Only then can you work smarter.

So, a question that comes to mind often is ‘‘What is smart work ?’’

Smart work involves effective and efficient ways to complete a task and manage the quality and time also.
It helps you achieve the goals by a deadline without compromising on the quality.
Smart work involves planning, delegating, prioritizing, and scheduling the working process more smartly.
Smart working is less strenuous physically because more mental techniques are used and you look for multiple ways to complete a task.
The results are visible even with small inputs.

Read –SMART WORK VS HARD WORK AND WHY YOU MUST CHOOSE SMART WORK?

Do you want to 2X Your Productivity in 90 Days ?

Get the FREE ‘ PEAK PRODUCTIVITY PLANNER AND

WATCH YOUR PRODUCTIVITY SOAR LIKE NEVER BEFORE .

In today’s ever-changing world and the new age of technological advancement, working smarter has become imperative to succeed in your career and life.

The world is now well connected via the internet and social media. A change happening in one part of the world quickly impacts the rest of the world -be it on the economic, social, or political level.

Organizational leaders need to make quick decisions and communicate quickly and clearly.

All Professionals Whether they are Leaders, CEO’S, Businessmen, Managers, or Supervisors must work smarter to thrive in today’s dynamic world.

The purpose of this post is to enlighten you about the skills and reasons needed to work smarter so that you can be more successful in your career.

Let us explore the 8 components of Smart Work and The 13 reasons why you must work smarter as a New Manager

THE 8 COMPONENTS OF SMART WORK

Everyone is born with some innate skills, and to work Smarter requires some skills which can be developed over some time.

These skills vary from person to person.

Here are 8 skills that are necessary to work smarter and you too can develop them over some time.

Devising creative and rational ideas and solutions.
Being flexible and adapting to situations quickly.
Possessing Strong communication and networking skills.
Knowing the Who’s Who of your organization/similar industries. Remembering the proper names or first names of your direct reports, colleagues, stakeholders, and employers.
Keeping yourself updated about all the aspects of your work.
Improvising. Being spontaneous in thinking and taking action. Knowing where to invest time and money.
Taking tough/right decisions at the right time.
Being bold but not rebellious with your moves. Being Careful enough to think through things and Knowing how your decisions will impact all others around you.

Now that you know the skills needed to work smarter, let’s move ahead to know the reasons why you must be working smarter.

13 REASONS WHY YOU MUST WORK SMARTER

1. It Helps you Nurture your Creativity.

Creativity is very important to provide value in your service and make the best possible use of your potential.

You have to be competent and resourceful and have strong brain muscle which needs to be trained hard constantly.

With change happening constantly, you will have to challenge yourself to new intellectual levels and make use of both parts to remain relevant in your job.

You must invest your time in formal and informal education and develop your knowledge and abilities.

2. It will help you Earn more.

By working smarter you can earn more. You can do this by acquiring skills and competencies that are high in demand and rare in supply in the market.

By combining the right competencies with the right market, you will have many opportunities and options and will be a winner.

This will add to your value, help you get promotions faster, and the more value you add to yourself the more you earn.

Here are some ways you can do this :

See which markets have the potential for growing exponentially and are expanding rapidly.
Develop rare competencies that are high in demand and short in supply
Develop any special talents you possess that are valuable on the market, like digital design, entrepreneurship, innovation, design thinking, and being a top-tier leader or CEO.
Make a list of all your talents and then rate them on a scale of 10 on a supply and demand basis.
Check which skills and competencies you are building are of low level and can be easily purchased at a low price by hiring others. Stop doing them and focus on high-impact activities that bring you more value.
Keep testing your value in the market from time to time. Try to apply for a job or make a career change that will help you more.

There are many professionals in the market, but to be one of the best in your field is what makes you stand out from the rest and earn more. You have to be exceptional.

3. It helps you in choosing your battles wisely.

When you are exposed to new opportunities, it becomes difficult to keep your head focused and choose the ones which give you the maximum returns.

You always stand the risk of saying yes to everything that comes your way. This will lead to burnout very soon.

Remember your energy and resources are limited. It is therefore important to use them wisely and judiciously.

Be a value investor.
Use Pareto’s 80/20 principle to choose your opportunities wisely. See the 20 % of your activities that give you 80% returns.
Be the best in what you do.
Do not be scared to say No to things that you think will not serve you.
Be patient and wait for the right opportunity with low risk and great potential return.
Think like an investor about every opportunity that comes. Every minute and every dollar that you spend must be of value and think in terms of the returns you will get.

Here are some questions that will help you Weigh the pros and cons of every opportunity carefully.

What could go right if I engage in this opportunity?
What could go wrong?
How much of my resources do I need to invest?
What other risks are associated here?
What is the maximum reward or potential return on my investment?

4 .It Helps you Prepare well and be Flexible.

An essential part of Smart work is to think hard and plan diligently before taking any action.

Do not act foolishly because there is something you have to do. Instead, be wise and always make it a habit to think before you act.

Choose very carefully when to say yes, but when you do say yes, make sure to execute the plan with surgical precision.

Plan diligently before taking any action. Detailed Planning will save you many hours in execution.

Whenever a new task lands up, be proactive instead of reactive. Set aside some time to use your analytical thinking skills to ask yourself such questions.

Why am I doing this? Is it necessary? Why?
Can it be avoided?
How much of my resources will it require?
What will the returns on investment/rewards be?
What is the optimal way to do the job?
Which tools can help speed up the process?
Can it be delegated to someone?

This will help you prepare well, stay flexible with your schedule and tactics, and save tons of work and time later.

You will have lesser communication, and fewer meetings which will save more time and you will be more respected for being well prepared.

5.Saves a lot of your time .

Working smart can save you a lot of time because it helps you minimize your work by using logical and innovative ways to reach your goals. You can save a lot of time learning something new while working on your goals.

6.Helps in Accomplishing your goals faster.

It is a faster way to get more done in less time and reach your goals faster.

7.Builds Your Strengths and capacities .

When you gain in-depth knowledge on how to perform work, you can achieve your goals faster. This builds your strengths and you become masterful in doing the tasks efficiently.

8.It is the need of the present time .

In this age of rapid technological boom, moving fast and working smarter is the need of the time. Working smarter helps you to perform tasks more easily and accomplish them in a shorter time frame.

9.It is an evolution of hard work .

Smart work is an evolution of hard work. After gaining knowledge and experience from working hard, you can develop a better understanding of the work and become more efficient at it and use your as well as others’ potential well.

10.It encourages you to look for multiple ways to complete the task.

Smart work helps you to look for multiple ways to complete the task.

Some of the tools applied to work smarter are delegation, outsourcing, increasing manpower to increase production, reducing manpower but keeping the production same or increasing production with the same manpower, and automating some parts or tasks.

11.Less physical strain.

Smart work advocates more use of Mental techniques, hence there is, less physical strain. You first evaluate, plan, and then work, instead of jumping to work and then realizing.

12.Better quality of output.

Smart work means the quality of work is always put first even if the quantity is increased. The quality of output is never compromised.

13.Even with small inputs, results are visible.

Smart work also means making small changes or getting bigger results with small inputs. You do not have to make big investments in terms of money or time.

To deepen your knowledge further, read –18 MISTAKES THAT PREVENT NEW MANAGERS FROM WORKING SMARTER

CONCLUSION

Having said that, I would like to conclude that Dreams will only remain dreams if you keep working hard.

To accomplish your dreams, you will have to blend Hard work and smart work.

You must work hard and evolve into working smarter. The experience you gain by working hard will help you to discover new ways of doing things and getting them done faster.

We all work and put in the effort. But the difference lies in knowing where to put in your efforts. And that is working smarter.

I hope you have found much enlightenment by reading the post.

How has the post helped you? Please share your thoughts below.

If you’re curious about learning more about working smarter , I support managers at all levels with coaching specifically on this powerful topic. If this sounds like you and you’d like to explore how coaching can help, please schedule a FREE DISCOVERY SESSION NOW

Babita Sharma

Leadership Coach

P.S-Please share the post and enlighten someone today!

”Before you work smart, work hard. If you only work hard and not smartly, you may end up only working for the rest of your life .’’

The quote explains itself very nicely by emphasizing the importance of smart work.

And if you think that hard work is the only route to success then you are holding a myth that has been doing rounds in society for a long time and will never allow you to tap into your full potential.

You will never be able to understand what you are truly capable of if you believe in working hard all the time.

So before working smart, you need to work hard and gain some knowledge and experience in that domain.

Only then can you work smarter.

So, a question that comes to mind often is ‘‘What is smart work ?’’

Smart work involves effective and efficient ways to complete a task and manage the quality and time also.

It helps you achieve the goals by a deadline without compromising on the quality.

Smart work involves planning, delegating, prioritizing, and scheduling the working process more smartly.

Smart working is less strenuous physically because more mental techniques are used and you look for multiple ways to complete a task.

The results are visible even with small inputs.

Read –SMART WORK VS HARD WORK AND WHY YOU MUST CHOOSE SMART WORK?

Do you want to 2X Your Productivity in 90 Days ?

Get the FREE ‘ PEAK PRODUCTIVITY PLANNER AND

WATCH YOUR PRODUCTIVITY SOAR LIKE NEVER BEFORE .

In today’s ever-changing world and the new age of technological advancement, working smarter has become imperative to succeed in your career and life.

The world is now well connected via the internet and social media. A change happening in one part of the world quickly impacts the rest of the world -be it on the economic, social, or political level.

Organizational leaders need to make quick decisions and communicate quickly and clearly.

All Professionals Whether they are Leaders, CEO’S, Businessmen, Managers, or Supervisors must work smarter to thrive in today’s dynamic world.

The purpose of this post is to enlighten you about the skills and reasons needed to work smarter so that you can be more successful in your career.

Let us explore the 8 components of Smart Work and The 13 reasons why you must work smarter as a New Manager

THE 8 COMPONENTS OF SMART WORK

Everyone is born with some innate skills, and to work Smarter requires some skills which can be developed over some time.

These skills vary from person to person.

Here are 8 skills that are necessary to work smarter and you too can develop them over some time.

Devising creative and rational ideas and solutions.

Being flexible and adapting to situations quickly.

Possessing Strong communication and networking skills.

Knowing the Who’s Who of your organization/similar industries. Remembering the proper names or first names of your direct reports, colleagues, stakeholders, and employers.

Keeping yourself updated about all the aspects of your work.

Improvising. Being spontaneous in thinking and taking action. Knowing where to invest time and money.

Taking tough/right decisions at the right time.

Being bold but not rebellious with your moves. Being Careful enough to think through things and Knowing how your decisions will impact all others around you.

Now that you know the skills needed to work smarter, let’s move ahead to know the reasons why you must be working smarter.

13 REASONS WHY YOU MUST WORK SMARTER

1. It Helps you Nurture your Creativity.

Creativity is very important to provide value in your service and make the best possible use of your potential.

You have to be competent and resourceful and have strong brain muscle which needs to be trained hard constantly.

With change happening constantly, you will have to challenge yourself to new intellectual levels and make use of both parts to remain relevant in your job.

You must invest your time in formal and informal education and develop your knowledge and abilities.

2. It will help you Earn more.

By working smarter you can earn more. You can do this by acquiring skills and competencies that are high in demand and rare in supply in the market.

By combining the right competencies with the right market, you will have many opportunities and options and will be a winner.

This will add to your value, help you get promotions faster, and the more value you add to yourself the more you earn.

Here are some ways you can do this :

See which markets have the potential for growing exponentially and are expanding rapidly.

Develop rare competencies that are high in demand and short in supply

Develop any special talents you possess that are valuable on the market, like digital design, entrepreneurship, innovation, design thinking, and being a top-tier leader or CEO.

Make a list of all your talents and then rate them on a scale of 10 on a supply and demand basis.

Check which skills and competencies you are building are of low level and can be easily purchased at a low price by hiring others. Stop doing them and focus on high-impact activities that bring you more value.

Keep testing your value in the market from time to time. Try to apply for a job or make a career change that will help you more.

There are many professionals in the market, but to be one of the best in your field is what makes you stand out from the rest and earn more. You have to be exceptional.

3. It helps you in choosing your battles wisely.

When you are exposed to new opportunities, it becomes difficult to keep your head focused and choose the ones which give you the maximum returns.

You always stand the risk of saying yes to everything that comes your way. This will lead to burnout very soon.

Remember your energy and resources are limited. It is therefore important to use them wisely and judiciously.

Be a value investor.

Use Pareto’s 80/20 principle to choose your opportunities wisely. See the 20 % of your activities that give you 80% returns.

Be the best in what you do.

Do not be scared to say No to things that you think will not serve you.

Be patient and wait for the right opportunity with low risk and great potential return.

Think like an investor about every opportunity that comes. Every minute and every dollar that you spend must be of value and think in terms of the returns you will get.

Here are some questions that will help you Weigh the pros and cons of every opportunity carefully.

What could go right if I engage in this opportunity?

What could go wrong?

How much of my resources do I need to invest?

What other risks are associated here?

What is the maximum reward or potential return on my investment?

4 .It Helps you Prepare well and be Flexible.

An essential part of Smart work is to think hard and plan diligently before taking any action.

Do not act foolishly because there is something you have to do. Instead, be wise and always make it a habit to think before you act.

Choose very carefully when to say yes, but when you do say yes, make sure to execute the plan with surgical precision.

Plan diligently before taking any action. Detailed Planning will save you many hours in execution.

Whenever a new task lands up, be proactive instead of reactive. Set aside some time to use your analytical thinking skills to ask yourself such questions.

Why am I doing this? Is it necessary? Why?

Can it be avoided?

How much of my resources will it require?

What will the returns on investment/rewards be?

What is the optimal way to do the job?