Sometimes we all feel we are in a rut, both in our personal and professional lives.  You may feel you are stuck in your current position with no chance for advancement.  This is even more reason to work on your professional development.  Create your own opportunities and watch the doors open up. Here are 3 quick ways to jump start your career.

Communication

I can’t stress it enough…  Communication is the key to your success.  How you talk to your team, your leadership, even your clients, will determine how you progress in your career.  The impression you make on someone with what you say, and how you say it, may mean the difference between landing that contract or not.  Be confident in yourself, supportive of the team, and respectful of other’s time.  Speak succinctly and in terms understood by all.  There is no need to show off your voluminous vocabulary!

Request Feedback

It may sound like a simple thing, yet it is rarely done.  Even as a manager, you will report to someone.  Do not hesitate to ask for their advice.  Find out what you can do to increase your productivity.  Chances are, they will be more than willing to assist you.  This also will help you when your team comes to you for feedback.  You will realize someone was there for you, and now you can do the same.  Just keep your requests to what you really need help on.  Start to ask about every little thing, and people might question your ability.

Manage Your Time

Create a schedule and stick to it.  This may seem obvious and, yet, it does not get done.  Create a list of tasks and organize them by priority.  Be conscious of the time you spend on any task.  It is not necessary to check your email every few minutes.  Once in the morning and once in the afternoon is fine.  Check them, respond to them, and file them.  Never touch the same email twice.  You can use this same philosophy with memos, files, and other paperwork throughout your day.

There are plenty of ways to advance your career, but if you are looking for a quick jump start…  work on your communication, request feedback, and manage your time.  It sounds simple because it is.  You will see improvement right from the start.