Build Career Momentum Where You Are

So on that note of accumulating more work, I want to ask, is being trusted with more work always a positive sign? And how can professionals tell whether they're genuinely using that extra work to progress or simply accumulating more responsibility?

There is a fine line, I would say, between the two, which is why it's very important for that project professional to understand what is their why.

Why do I wanna do this? And in knowing what your why is, then you're able to craft or create the types of opportunities that will resonate with where you wanna grow.

And that is important to know, like, where exactly do I wanna grow? What are the skillsets? What are the pieces of information do I wanna gain, and how I want to leverage that? Having that understanding, you're sort, you're then creating boundaries for yourself because there's only but so much work you can do because you are responsible for a portfolio of work and the outcomes and the deliverables.

And anything beyond that, it should be a bonus to you as well.

You should definitely get a benefit out of it.

So I wanna shift now to helping people recognize that they're making momentum when they're staying in the same role.

So a lot of people worry that if they're not moving on to a new role or getting promoted, that they might be falling behind.

Any advice on what are some clear signs that someone is building momentum, even if they're staying put?

I think it goes back to somewhat what I mentioned earlier is, like, there are the practical things of, like, what is the size of this project? How many people am I sort of wrangling here? And then the idea of if it is laddering into sort of the priorities of the org or the company.

But I think it is more, you know, like Gianna mentioned, it's more than just saying yes to all this new work because that can just set you up for burnout.

It's more of, like, is this still challenging me, I think.

I think that's my personal litmus test that's like, do I feel challenged? Am I bored? That sort of thing.

I love the indicator of, "Am I being challenged?" 'Cause that's such a simple tidbit that we can take away and ask ourselves when we're, we're feeling a little bit confused about that role.

Gianna, what should project professionals track or document so that they can see their own growth more clearly? Do you have any tangible examples or tips on doing this?

For project professionals, I would say that they should track a number of things.

And it could be as simple as Excel sheet, any type of documentation.

Rather than wait for your performance review at the end of the year, you should be tracking your own performance.

Projects that you are currently working on, keep track of the feedback, be it from your manager or a different stakeholder.

Anything that they have given you credit or kudos for, keep track of that so that it helps you to see and identify in real time, oh, someone called out this particular result that I created for them, or I made a connection.

Because in the day-to-day work, we may not necessarily see and acknowledge all that we're doing or see and acknowledge all of our greatness.

Also, track the projects that you're working on, areas that were new to you on specific projects, pieces of information that you didn't know, so that you can then see how your knowledge base is expanding.

You need to be able to take agency and manage your career by tracking how you are showing up as a professional in that space.

I think that is very essential for project professionals, especially in a AI-enabled workplace.

You wanna be able to track- How you're growing and developing.