Stay Relevant, That’s All

You will be banking on what you already have in term of skills and abilities or what you can offer in the new environment.

You must have read or listened to adverts requesting for applications into some positions within an organisation. Job placement requests for application from individuals possessing relevant skills and experiences for the job openings. Employers are interested in absorbing only persons capable of handling the required roles and responsibilities at the least cost possible for the organisation. An organisation will look forward to the smooth running of the system without interruptions after the process.

The above is one of many applications of the concept of ‘relevance’ to professionalism. According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, relevant means, “relating to a subject in an appropriate way.” Related words include appropriate, apt,  fit, fitting, suitable, important, meaningful, significant; sensible, useful; admissible, allowable.

As a new employee in an organisation, you will be banking on what you already have in term of skills and abilities or what you can offer in the new environment. You will be using your worth to meet specific needs in the new environment. You want to be rated best in your profession. You want to develop your unique style of doing things. I know you will not want to remain an eighth-century practitioner in your line of business. Similarly, as a business owner or partner, you are collaborating or have collaborated to have a business that consistently meets your customers’ needs any time and every time. You are thinking of competing favourably and outperforming your industry leader, and produce the best product or offer the most appealing service.

You need to make progress as others are doing, but you can prove smarter by going extra miles ahead.

In all the cases, the key is staying relevant, and being on the top of the game. There might be time to get trained in recent development in your field, obtain an additional degree to improve on your skills, and network to be abreast of what is going on in your industry. You need to make progress as others are doing, but you can prove smarter by going extra miles ahead. You cannot do less if you do not want to die while you are still in existence.

How relevant is what you are doing presently to winning the world? How relevant is your skillset to make this possible? How relevant is the energy you are expelling? What is your motivation for doing what you are doing? Know what you are supposed to be doing when you are doing something. In other words, Richard Templar asked, what are you supposed to be doing? What is your priority? What is the endpoint? What is the goal? Has anything changed recently? So, how can you stay relevant?

How to be relevant every time

Rules 1-6: ‘More mastery’, ‘up to date’, ‘more actions’, ‘what others do’, ‘with others’ and ‘clients’ need’

Achieve more mastery: You can gain mastery by consistently improving on your skills and abilities. No time to slack! Situations are not static, you are not expected to remain the same too. Develop interest in what you do and consistently improve on what you can offer. This will enable you to give commensurate values to those you are responsible for or those depending on you for meeting their needs.

Be up to date: The advent of the web has increase access to information. Individuals and organization use information to improve their capacity to meet certain needs. Knowledge has been said to be power. Your knowledge level is the power you have to win in the marketplace. Knowledge will come from the amount of information you can accumulate over time. In a project-based organization, information about the previously implemented projects is used at the planning and implementation stages of current and future project. This shows how relevant is information gathering.

The key to being up to date is knowing what you are supposed to know. You don’t need to know everything. You should know a few details about many things but know many about a few things that are relevant most especially those trending in your industry. Perhaps, Feedly and prominent websites in your industry will help in this area. You should also create time to attend industry events. You need not travel – hookup with webinars on different topics will improve how you work. You should also lookout for new opportunities as you attend events.

Take more actions: Do more than you are doing now to produce results that exceed yesterday’s expectations. Put what you have in motion. Use it to improve it before it becomes absolute and waste the resources of time and money that goes into it.

Know what others do: Somebody said, “If you fear competition, what you really fear is your own competence”. Don’t be afraid to fly on the wings of the eagle. You have other actors in your industry. If you are not the highest-ranked among them, then, you have one or more ahead of you. If person A or business B has found a clue to achieve results on time and with minimum resources, it is not out of place to follow your leader, but you must also strive to think outside your business premises.

Work and walk with others: This is called networking. Taking a step back and looking around you provide the opportunity to seek help and advice on how to make progress. Be delighted and diligent in attending meetings within and outside your organization. This is not limited to formal meetings but also extracurricular social activities that help you develop relationships with people across your organization. This is how to become a star.

Familiarize with clients’ need: Just like your needs changes with time to remain acceptable, the knowledge of clients’ needs is very important. Clients are dominant factors that drive changes in the business world. If a professional knows what they need, he would appropriately utilize the available resources to his benefits. Social media is a great way to stay in touch with clients. It is an avenue for users to express reservation, ask questions and comment on service delivery. With this knowledge, you must be visible and professionally active on social media platforms to keep what you are doing in the front burner. You may need to learn how to use social media or partner with someone that help you in this area.

You can define your rules but be sure they have these ingredients: More mastery of the relevant, up to date, more actions, what others do, with others, and for clients’ need. Kindly share your experience on the job in the comment section and remember to share. This is very relevant!