At some point we probably feel stucked or stagnant at work probably because you have not had any promotion for a while and it certainly does not look like promotion is coming your way anytime soon.
It is quite easy to feel stuck, the feeling of insecurity about your skills can set in and start to get worried you are probably lacking in your skills and you get insecure about your job. It is quite normal to feel like that but it is best to know that this does not necessarily mean you are slowing down just because your title or role does not change. It does not mean you are not improving at all.
It’s true your boss should probably be acknowledging and probably rewarding your efforts especially now that you have actually grown. How do you realize you are actually improving? Here are some signs to show and evaluate if you are actually improving your skills without realizing them
1. You Start To Get More Positive Feedback And Less Criticism After Carrying Out A Task
This statement is definitely well self-explanatory and probably an obvious statement. Regardless of how simple it looks it is also not something to overlook in your daily hustle and bustle.
Put more attention on your feedback, on how it changes over time. In the beginning of your career you probably got off on the bad foot of everyone and probably got your work criticized and your boss probably made a lot of corrections and revisions before you finally got it right.
So eventually make your way to getting positive remarks and less corrections. Your boss probably starts appraising you a lot more and you get less or no criticism.
2. You Start Working Faster And Smarter
After you eventually discover you have more positive remarks and less criticism from your boss, you also run some self-evaluation and find out that you execute and finish up projects long before the deadline approaches.
At this stage you definitely can work autonomously without asking your colleagues, or your manager for their help before doing anything at the office. You discover you no longer take a long time to finish up and wrap up your tasks.
Definitely speed does not make up for everything but to an extent it is quite a huge flex to be able to work faster and smarter. It is easy to work fast but definitely hard to work faster and smarter at the same time. Be careful working faster as it sometimes might backfire and take you back to the first point raised above.
3. You Become More Confident In Everything You Do
Probably a few weeks back or couple of years ago you probably were still timid or intimidated to talk or even raise your hand in meetings at work, or you probably could not carry out a task successfully without constantly asking or showing your boss frequently even before you complete them.
You noticed you have already evolved and grown, you are becoming more confident in yourself. Your self-esteem has increased and definitely your confidence has probably reached its peak. Confidence is usually an assurance of skills and improvement.
You become more outspoken and can suddenly speak boldly in meetings and even criticize ideas you probably have reasonable alternatives for. Your confidence lays down your value and your executed projects.
You are not scared to go on new adventures and try out new great things. You start to think outside the box and become confident in execution. It is safe to say over confidence is not entirely right, it is safe to be confident and not go overboard.
4. You Start Receiving New Tasks With Little Or No Oversights
Growing confidence and actually executing your confidence, your boss also starts developing confidence in you and your task execution skills. At this stage your boss does not even need you to seek his approval before you start working on tasks because they trust you enough to execute without any supervision.
The company lets you go forward with your tasks without approvals and showing their confidence and faith in you. This is one of the many rare things companies or organizations do.
5. You Start Completing Tasks You Never Thought You Would Even Be Capable Of Starting
Reminisce on when you started off in your current role and how under qualified you felt for the role initially. You probably never imagined you would finish or actually outgrow the current role you have.
So it is best to reflect on the journey and find out you are actually getting a lot of things done, even things you never thought you could do before.