Boosting workplace language skills this year
Every year, it’s the same thing. In January, we start a new year telling ourselves that we’ll do better than the year before.
And we list all the professional New Year’s resolutions we have in mind. “This year, I want to learn this,” “I want to change that,” “I want to manage to improve this,” … And then the year goes by without our goals being achieved. How can we make them happen?
The SMART goals method
Do you want to fulfil yourself in your work, change careers or better manage your working hours in order to balance your personal and professional lives, like 38% of employees according to a recent study carried out by Indeed? Quelles que soient vos ambitions, 2018 peut être pour vous l’année de la réalisation. Whatever your ambitions, 2018 can be the year you achieve them. But professional New Year’s resolutions sometimes remain nothing more than wishful thinking. Only 12% of people who make New Year’s resolutions keep them, according to a study by the University of Hertfordshire.
To make them happen, you need to ensure that they become real goals that are both ambitious AND achievable. To do this, you can use a tried-and-tested method: your goal should be SMART.
This means that each of your resolutions should meet the following 5 qualities corresponding to the acronym SMART:
- S for specific: your resolution is clear, concrete and applies to only one area;
- M for measurable: its success can be evaluated;
- A for achievable: you are or will be capable of accomplishing it;
- R for realistic: it takes into account all the realities and constraints you face;
- T for time-bound: it is defined within a specific timeframe (or even divided into different stages).
How should you set your professional new year’s resolutions this year?
With the SMART method, you’ll be on the right path towards change. Professional New Year’s resolutions should create real momentum. So pay attention to how you formulate them. As much as possible, use positive terms. And don’t forget that achieving your resolution depends on you and no one else.
Also make sure you don’t create an endless list. In other words, don’t be too ambitious when it comes to the number of resolutions you set. If you tend to forget them quickly, keep only 2 or 3; if you really want to create profound change, aim for around ten goals. The important thing is to maintain your motivation throughout the year.
As part of this process, consider the different areas related to your job:
- business,
- work organisation,
- salary / benefits,
- personal balance,
- communication / relationships,
- customer relations,
- ecology,
- training / skills.
What about you? Can you share one of the goals you have set yourself among your professional New Year’s resolutions for 2018?
