MentorSET held a very successful personal development workshop on the 30th January 2010, entitled 'Six Steps to Career Success'. All the attendees were MentorSET mentees and mentors, all working in Science, Engineering and Technology. Miranda Coates, the facilitator, brought a relaxed but professional atmosphere to the workshop to keep the day interesting and inspiring.
The topics were: visibility, assertive language, asking for what you want and where does your self-confidence come from.
For "visibility" we were asked to describe a colleague we see as a successful role model and to consider their (positive) qualities. We thought about how they promote themselves at work: pink suits with large broaches or editing the company newsletter .....
We then discussed how to make ourselves more visible in the work place. It is worth ensuring that your manager knows what you want from a career and that you have a personal plan to achieve your goals. Speaking up at meetings, embracing opportunities for high profile projects and representing the company at events provide valuable exposure.
The saying 'no' section was intriguing as we all realised that we had difficulty saying no to at work to certain requests, even though they are not part of our job, e.g. helping a colleague with an IT problem. Participants came up with assertive but delicate phrases to be used instead of the word 'no': "You could ask Michael", "I don't have expertise in that", "Have you tried X,Y and Z,", "I would prefer...", "The key problem here is that", "We need to...", "I need to some zone-out time", "When you...I feel", "I can't take this further today and I need to end this conversation".
There was awareness that workplace language varies and you need to observe what individuals find comfortable.
"If you don't ask" was the title of the next section which concluded that if you don't ask you are unlikely to get. If you want something, then ask, however be ready to back up your request with good reasons, have solutions to potential problem prepared and be ready to negotiate.
We discussed management styles: some managers like proactive solutions put on their desk while others like to be involved in finding the solutions. In the second case, you need to ensure your manager believes that the solution is theirs, even if it was your idea all along.
Some of the comments from the participants:
There was a lively atmosphere throughout the day with individuals openly discussing major career issues in the confidential environment. Everyone seems to have moved issues forward by the end of the day and participants left with individual action plans, things to work upon with their mentors.