I was asked to provide a summary of my
professional achievements during 2017. My first unspoken reaction was “Ah! Another extra thing on the list of things to do”. However, when I started exploring my diary, I felt it’s actually a good exercise. To see plenty of things on the list, I was encouraged. It gave me another thought i.e. if we track what we have done and how our contributions have made a difference, it can motivate us for our future work, to do it even better. Now I’m motivated-enough to set goals for 2018 and to create a plan to achieve them. I’m writing it here to 1) keep myself in high spirits, and 2) encourage you to try doing the same.
So here’s what I did and what you can do.
- Categorization of achievements into Personal and Professional types.
- Sub-grouping of each type, such as within work I separated work related achievements from training and qualifications.
- Rating each achievement on certain scale. For instance, I see my recent qualifications (described here) as potential contributing factor to perform better in 2018 and onward.
- Comparing the contributions with the cause. For example, as part of SAP Support team engaged at different assignments, I handled the Change Management function which, among other activities, was a major factor in getting various solutions implemented successfully and adopted by end-users.
Now as I’m done with such an interesting task (which I thought earlier differently) and celebrating my achievements of the year, I’m setting some targets for myself to achieve in 2018. For time being, I could think and suggest of
- Reading more books,
- Attending few trainings,
- Attaining additional qualifications, and
- Bringing innovation to the work I do.
To do anything, better, in future we have to have some sort of plan. And it can be created as follows:
- Goal: Decide what you want to achieve, such as attaining an additional qualification.
- Activities: Get to know the pre-requisites and steps to reach to your target.
- Time: Learn how much time is required for each step and how much you can spend.
- Plan: Write the steps down, allocate time, update your calendar and to-do lists accordingly.
- Control: Follow what is due on certain day and try not to postpone the activity; if you have to, try making it at another time.
- Review: Monitor your progress over weeks and months.
And if you have MS Project available, it can help you in creating good plans for all of your goals, professional as well as personal. I wrote a tutorial earlier on using the tool and you can see it at the link provided below:
Managing project activities through MS Project
The above can help you in determining your achievements for the year and in setting goals for upcoming period.
At the end I’m going to mention some of my achievements, as an example, for which I felt they were great addition to my professional profile.
- 2 certifications by TOGAF and ITIL which endorsed my knowledge in and understanding of Enterprise Architecture and IT Service Management,
- 7 courses on Data Science, Sketching Basics, Copywriting, Screen Personas, Software Design, Digitization Impact and Solution Manager (7.2) by openSAP which helped me a lot in developing myself with additional knowledge areas
- Engagement at SAP Community Network, including the one (LinkedIn Profile of a SAP Consultant) which helped many fellow Consultants, as of their feedback, in improving their profiles.
- Recognition by SAP Community where I was nominated and voted by my network for the Appreciation Award.
- Organizational Change Management, which is my core job with my current employer, at various assignments to enhance Finance, Procurement, Sales and HR Processes through SAP Funds Management, SRM, CRM, HCM & SuccessFactors.
- Assistance in writing certain Policy, Process, and Procedure documents.
Don’t you think these achievements are worth-celebration?
