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TAKING INITIATIVE Part 1

AGENDA In this course participants will be able to identify initiative in action determine when initiative is appropriate and display initiative in a real life setting Identify Taking Initiative Initiative in Action When to Show Inititive Initiative in Real Life

WHAT IS INITIATIVE Initiative means the ability to assess and initiate things independently as well as the ability to take charge before others do What does taking initiative mean for you in the workplace

WHAT DOES INITIATIVE LOOK LIKE 01 02 03 04 Doing things without being told Finding out what you need to know Keep going when things get tough Spot and take advantage of opportunities

INITIATIVE IN PRACTICE BEING PROACTIVE Proactive people are always looking ahead at future activities projects and events and anticipating needs problems and possible outcomes TAKING ACTION Taking positive action at work or within your job function has benefits such as increasing wellbeing engagement productivity and your sense of belonging to something bigger i e Taking ownership of a problem and seeing it through that it gets corrected i e If you are attending a conference in a different city you go beyond actually booking air travel arranging ground transportation and booking a hotel room

TAKING INITIATIVE IS A FORM OF SELFEMPOWERMENT Steve Covey author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People OR CLICK HERE

Taking Initiative Take a moment to scan the QR code to look at individuals who took initiative and made change OR CLICK HERE Return after Completion Initiative

Benefits of Taking Initiative Personally With Co Workers With the Company Taking initiative helps to build and strengthen your decision making skills and analytical skills where you get to analyze pros and cons of different courses of action Taking initiative on certain projects establishes you as a valuable team member at work Your team members know they can rely on you to create a more productive environment Using your initiative makes you a desirable candidate for jobs and opportunities as you are showing you can think for yourself as well as proving that you will continue to develop and grow in your role

When not to Take Initiative THERE IS A RIGHT AND A WRONG WAY TO TAKE INITIATIVE WHEN IT COMES TO CREATING POSITIVE CHANGE PROACTIVE EMPLOYEES DON T NEED TO BE TOLD TO TAKE INITIATIVE YET EMERGING EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT IF PROACTIVITY IS NOT CHANNELED IN THE RIGHT WAY IT CAN BACKFIRE AND HAVE UNINTENDED NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES Managing Yourself Being proactive takes considerable time and energy so it is important to recognize that some problems are not yours to solve Taking on too many or too large initiatives can easily lead to burnout Considering Others Most of the time the changes you make to your work methods implicate other teams Yet many proactive employees don t fully consider how their proactivity might impact others Aligning with Organizational Goals If an idea doesn t align with your key strategy or the larger mission of your organization it is likely to be a waste of time and resources Avoid change for change s sake

Read over the next two scenarios and consider whether they are positive or negative initiative

SCENARIO Helen s manager was due to meet with her and her co workers to discuss their role in the next product roll out Unfortunately he s been snowed in at an airport on the other side of the country and his cell phone battery is dead The deadline is tight and the team can t afford to waste a day because of his absence Helen was the last person to talk to her boss before he left and he d outlined who was going to be doing what on the project So Helen takes command and within an hour everyone on the team has their preliminary tasks mapped out

Did Helen have positive or negative initiative POSITIVE

SCENARIO I m pretty negative on having meetings of any type We just sit around talking and don t really accomplish anything So I took the initiative to tell my boss I wasn t going to attend any more meetings so that I could get something productive done during that time when everyone else is in the stupid meetings Of course my boss wasn t very happy about that which is why we re sitting here talking today Shawn

Did Shawn have positive of negative initiative NEGATIVE

WRAP UP 1 2 3 INITIATIVE IS TAKING ACTION AND BEING PROACTIVE IT S ABOUT GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND THE BENEFITS OF TAKING INITIATIVE IS PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL GROWTH INITIATIVE MUST BE USED AT APPROPRIATE TIMES SO YOU ARE KEEPING YOURSELF AND OTHERS IN MIND

Click on the link to complete the quiz Initiative QUIZ