Get your work noticed

It's all too easy for your work to get overlooked in the busy hurly burly of office life. You're slaving away and it can be hard to remember that you need to put in some effort to boost your individual status and personal kudos for your work. But it's important. You have to make your marks so you stand out and your promotional potentials will be realized.

The best way to do this is to step outside the normal working routine. If you have to process so many widgets each day -  and so does everyone else -  then processing more wont't do you that much good. But if you subject a report to your boss of how everyone could process more widgets then you'll get noticed. The unsolicited report is a brilliant way to stand out from the crowd. It shows you're thinking on your feet and using your initiative. But it must not be used too often. If you submit your boss to a barrage of unsolicited reports you will get noticed but in completely the wrong way. You have to stick to certain rules.

1. only submit a report occasionally
2. Make really sure that your report will actually work - that it will do good or provide benefits.
3. Make sure your name is prominently displayed.
4. make sure the report will be seen not only by your boss, but by their boss well.
5. It does not have to be a report - it can be an article in the company newsletter.

Of course, the very best way to get your work noticed is to be very, very good at your job. And the best way to be good at your  job is to be totally dedicated to doing the job and ignoring all the rest. There is a vast amount of policies, gossip, gamesmanship, time wasting and socializing that goes on in the name of work. It isn't work. Keep your eye on the ball and you will be already playing with a vast advantage over your colleagues. The rules player stays focused. Keep your mind on the task at hand - being very good at your job - and don't get distracted.