The Success at Work Framework (The 6 Categories You Need to Improve at Work This Year)

“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” — Aldous Huxley

As a mentor at work, I like to checkpoint results.

While I can do area-specific coaching, I tend to take a more holistic approach.

For me, it’s more rewarding to find ways to unleash somebody’s full potential and improve their overall effectiveness.

Are You Improving Where It Counts?

Aside from checking against specific goals, I use my Work Success Framework to gauge progress.

I’ve used my Work Success Assessment as a very effective lens to quickly find areas that need work or to find sticking points.

It also helps show where there’s been dramatic changes.

While situations or circumstances may not change much, I find that changes in strategies and approaches can have a profound impact.

My take on this is that while you can’t always control what’s on your plate, you can control how you eat it.

The 6 Key Categories for Improving Your Success at Work

Here are the categories I use for my self-assessment for work success:

1. Thinking / Feeling
2. Situation
3. Time / Task Management
4. Domain Knowledge
5. Strategies / Approaches
6. Relationships

The Success at Work Framework

Here’s a sampling of the questions I use to assess myself or another person’s success at work.

Area	Prompts
Thinking / Feeling	Do you find your work rewarding? Are you passionate about what you do? Are you spending more time feeling good? What thoughts dominate your mind now? Is your general outlook more positive or negative? Do you have more energy or less in general? Are you still worried about the same things? Are you excited about anything? Have you changed your self-talk from inner-critic to coach?
Situation	Are you spending more time working on what you enjoy? What would you rather be spending more time doing? Do you have the manager you want? Do you have the job you want? Are you moving toward or away from your career goals? If your situation was never going to change, what one skill would you need to make the most of it?
Time / Task Management	Are you driving your day or being driven? Are you spending less time on administration? Are you getting your “MUSTs” done? Are you dropping the ball on anything important? Do you have a task management system you trust? Are you avoiding using your head as a collection point? How are you avoiding biting off more than you can chew? How are you delivering incremental value?
Domain Knowledge	Have you learned new skills? Have you sharpened your key strengths? Have you reduced your key liabilities? What are you the go-to person for? What could you learn that would make your more valuable to your team?
Strategies / Approaches	What are you approaching differently than the past? How are you more resourceful? How are you finding lessons in everything you do? How are you learning from everybody that you can? How are you improving your effectiveness? How are you modeling the success of others? How are you tailoring advice to make it work for you?
Relationships	Are you managing up effectively? Are your priorities in sync with your manager’s? Has your support network grown or shrunk? How are you participating in new circles of influence? How are you spending more time with people that catalyze you? How are you working more effectively with people that drain you? How are you leveraging more mentors and area specific coaches?

Your mileage will vary.

By asking some key questions within the 6 categories you can reflect on insights and explore potential actions.

As you get comfortable with the framework and checking your progress, you can add new categories and create new prompts.

Your Success at Work Framework should generate continuous learning and improvement that adapts along with your personal growth.

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