Is your work Important? Is it Urgent?

Based on the lead quote, Stephen Covey popularized the concept of the "Eisenhower Decisions Matrix" in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The basic premise is that you should rank the things you need to do based on two axes - Is it Important? and Is it Urgent? Anything that is both important and urgent should be your primary focus. Things that are important but not urgent should be work that you schedule to do later (once the first group is complete). Things that are urgent but not important should be delegated to someone else. And, lastly, anything that is not important and not urgent should be ignored. This is a very simplistic but effective approach to managing your work.

In Episode 001 - Higher Level Tasks, I talked about how taking on tasks with increased scope and impact to your team / organization / company will put you in a better position to advance. But, when your work is controlled by someone else, what do you do if you find yourself working on items that fall into the last two quadrants?

The first step is to have a conversation with your manager or whoever assigns your work. If you haven't created your Individual Development Plan (covered in Episode 002 - IDP), go to ManagineACareer.com and fill out the contact form to request the free template and complete your development plan. Once you have your IDP, schedule a 1x1 with your manager and talk to them about your career goals and how you would like to have assignments that help you make progress towards your career vision.

If you manager agrees and provides you with more challenging opportunities, great. You're on your way. But this isn't always the case. If this doesn't result in new assignments, understanding why will help you decide on your next course of action.

I would like to give you something more challenging, but you're just not ready. If your manager indicates that you aren't ready for the next level of task, hopefully that included an honest conversation about what areas are holding you back. Before you leave the 1x1 you should work with you manager to identify several items to add to your Action Plan. You should also immediately schedule a follow-up with your manager in a month to a quarter to review your progress depending on how involved the action items are. Be sure to update the Assessment section of your IDP with the feedback as well.

I have nothing more challenging that I can give you. If your manager is unable to give you higher level tasks, you should reflect on your place in the company. Does your team actually have any work that is important to your organization? Does your organization have work that is important to the company? Does your manager have enough political clout to attract more impactful projects? If you can answer yes to these questions, then you should ask you manager how you can help your team win this work.

If your manager won't help you find work that is bigger in scope or can't point to areas that you need to improve, is there something else?

Have you had opportunities in the past that you were less than successful at? Have you lost the trust of your manager? To regain that trust, focus on performing your current assignments at the highest level. Reflect on what improvements you can focus on to eliminate that failure and add them to your Action Plan. After you have made progress, schedule time with your manager to review your progress and show them that you are working on bettering yourself. Once you have regained their trust, revisit the discussion about higher level tasks.

Do you have a good relationship with your manager? You don't necessarily need to be a favorite, but if your manager doesn't like you or if they have some sort of bias, that may be holding you back. It may be time to bring someone else into the conversation -- either your next level manager or someone from the HR department. Whether they act as mediators or override some of the choices of your manager, having someone else on your side can get you the advanced assignments you're looking for. Just be sure to execute on these assignments or you risk making a tense situation worse. Plan on communicating often (maybe even OVER communicating) with both your manager and the other person in order to give progress on the new assignment. Having this audit trail will serve as protection from retaliation if your manager does not take the escalation well.

Lastly, if your team or organization doesn't have more important work and your manager is unable to use influence to gain that work, it may be time to look elsewhere -- whether within the company or outside. This may seem like an extreme step, being on a strong team and having a strong manager will help you advance faster than a weak team or a weak manager. It's your career and if you don't own it, no one else will.

Have you experienced any trouble in trying to increase your scope of responsibility? If so, why not go to ManagingACareer.com and access the community and share your story.

Are you looking for a career coach? If you reach out to me via the contact form, I will arrange an introductory session where we can talk about your career goals and how I can help. If we're a good fit, we can schedule regular coaching sessions.