When you are in over your head

Deep down we all know when we have bitten more than we can chew; too many unfinished tasks, having an important piece of work to do but no clue where to start? If you find yourself in that situation what can you do?;

GET HELP QUICKLY. Don’t drown thinking you have to do everything yourself. You are not expected to know everything but must know where to get the help you need to deliver. Focus on what the result is that you must achieve and solicit the help and resources you need to achieve it. Never underperform because you personally do not know how to do something you are responsible for.

OWN THE EXECUTION: Find help and learn from others so that you are able to do the task next time. The more you learn from others, the more you increase your capability and discover things that you might not have thought of on your own. Seek out people who can bring value to your work so you can call on their help and receive it when you need it. To do this you’ll also need to invest in other people too and go to their aid when they need support too.

BUILD AN EXTENDED TEAM: Sometimes you may feel you are not qualified or not doing a good enough job. Take an inventory of the skills you bring to your role and build a targeted list of people who know things you don’t know and ready to assist you learn what you need. Don’t think of people who can help you only as your peers or those above you. People have skills beyond their job titles so look for able and willing individuals rather than rank.

BE SYSTEMATIC IN LEARNING: Set some priority learning goals. For example; what do you want to be able to do in the next 3 months that you’re not able to do now? What are you gaping weaknesses that you need improve significantly? Then develop a plan to skill up. Don’t ever fail because you buried your head in the sand!

Now take action: Where in your job are you average but need to be high performing?