Overcoming barriers to success involves assessing the situation, consulting experts, considering alternatives and taking action. To manage your career effectively, you need to take charge of your own development. By assessing your own skills, getting advice from others, learning new skills and making informed decisions, you can achieve your goals. Overcoming challenges and setbacks usually requires a positive attitude, as well as dedication and commitment.
Get Feedback
To communicate more effectively and overcome objections, start by collecting information about the problem at hand. Avoid misinterpretation, misunderstanding and mistakes by assembling all the facts. Depending on the situation, you can conduct surveys, run focus groups or simply start a conversation with a colleague. Listen carefully and pay attention to the subtle nuances of what people say. Then take action to use the feedback and address the problem, tell people what you did, evaluate the outcome and refine your approach if necessary. For example, to improve your chances of getting a new position, ask a friend or colleague to review your resume and cover letter. Does it reflect your skills and knowledge in the best manner? Make modifications based on their feedback and submit your application. Join a professional organization in your industry to network with other business professionals. By making new contacts, you can learn about new opportunities to use your unique skills and experience.
Commit to Change
Barriers to change include reluctance to part with old ways, sadness and regret associated with loss, and fear of the unknown. Managing change effectively and overcoming these obstacles involves setting a clear course for the future and establishing realistic goals. Recognize that change can be disruptive. Then commit to the transition and form new strategies. For example, once you decide that you want to pursue a new a career in a higher-paying field, get the training and experience you need to succeed, according to your budget and time availability. Define goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time constrained. For example, if you want to pursue a career in health services, you might aim to complete your bachelor’s degree and earn a nursing degree in the next six years by participating in an online university program.
Make Decisions
Barriers to success often involve an inability to make good choices. Learning how to evaluate options efficiently can help you ensure career success. Sometimes you need to make a quick decision without consulting others to ensure your safety and well being. Other times, get input from other people you trust to help you make an informed decision about the next step to take in your development. When you work on a team, there may be times when the group needs to collaborate to make a choice that impacts everyone. This can take time but the results are typically beneficial in the long run. When you don’t have time or the outcome doesn’t really matter to you, delegate decision making to a subordinate to keep processes flowing smoothly. This might include tasks such as approving travel expenses that are under a certain amount.
Increase Your Productivity
When your goals don’t align with those of your company, your motivation and desire to perform decrease. Ensure that you fully understand your company's strategic objective, mission and values so that you can position yourself appropriately. Examine your work habits. Manage your work day effectively to achieve your short and long-term goals. For example, use online time management tools to focus your attention on the task at hand and complete work in short segments. Managing your own productivity tends to improve your long-term success.
About the Author
Tara Duggan is a Project Management Professional (PMP) specializing in knowledge management and instructional design. For over 25 years she has developed quality training materials for a variety of products and services supporting such companies as Digital Equipment Corporation, Compaq and HP. Her freelance work is published on various websites.