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WORK & MONEY HOW AM I DOING? Published October 31, 1996 Other Columns by Bruce Tulgan Read the Tripod Interview with the author.

Retail salesperson: "We don't get any performance evaluations. Even if my manager is standing right there when I am working with a customer, he doesn't say anything to me about it, one way or the other. So, I set little goals for my own progress. I'll say to myself, 'last week I made a sale for every four customers I talked to, so this week I want to improve.' Or sometimes, I'll say, 'Tuesdays are so slow, if I can get my inventory records done today, I will feel good.' That's the way I keep myself going." How do you measure your progress at work when you are not getting any feedback from your manager? These days, you cannot afford to be satisfied with your work quality and productivity just because nobody is complaining. Remember, no matter who is cutting your checks, you are working for yourself. You never know when you're going to have to prove your value. You have to be collecting evidence, all the time, of the quality and productivity of your work. The best evidence is FAST feedback from your manager (FAST = Feedback that is Accurate, Specific, and Timely). With FAST feedback from your manager, you can keep a solid record of the tangible value you are adding every day. Even more important, you can gauge what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong. FAST feedback is a great learning tool that can help you make adjustments in your approach to work and improvements in everything ranging from your attitude and style to your skill and technique. If you're not getting FAST feedback from your manager, work can be very frustrating. Without daily confirmation that your work is paying off and daily guidance to steer your learning and growth, it is easy to grow anxious on the job. That means you have to generate your own FAST feedback. The first key to meaningful self-feedback is to set realistic goals (long-term, intermediate, and short-term) for yourself in every category of your job. But, even before you can set realistic goals, you have to make a list of every little piece of your particular job and think about what it means to accomplish each piece as well as you possibly can. If you have a hard time thinking of everything, spend a week writing down every single thing you do, starting from getting in on Monday morning (on time!) and going all the way until it's time to leave on Friday afternoon (don't forget to turn off the lights and lock the door!). Once you have meaningful goals, you have to schedule the accomplishment of every single goal. And you have to hold yourself to strict deadlines, or else you have no bench-marks against which to measure your productivity. Don't be too hard on yourself and don't be too easy -- just figure out how long it takes to get each thing done and schedule time for the accomplishment of each goal. But make sure you break down each goal into little mini-goals that take two or three hours each so you can tell right along whether you are keeping up with your schedule. As you accomplish each mini-goal, make a note on your schedule. This will become your own ongoing record of the value you add hour by hour, every day and lasting proof of your value as an employee in any workplace. If you find you are not keeping up with the goals and deadlines on your schedule, then you need to adjust your goals, or your schedule, or the way you are going about achieving your goals -- or all three. Just regroup, make some changes, and try again. Even if you don't get it right the second, third, or fourth time, you will get closer and closer and closer until you are on track with your own self driven performance. Speaking of self evaluation, how do Generation Xers evaluate ourselves? Fun-loving and hard-working, say 67%. Responsible, say 63%. Creative, say 49%. Ambitious, 47%. Competitive, 44%. Adventurous, 42%. But, how many of us have confidence in our own skills and abilities? 84% Bruce Tulgan is the author of "Managing Generation X" and the President of Rainmaker, a consulting firm that specializes in teaching organizations how to retain and motivate young talent. © 1996 Bruce Tulgan. All Rights Reserved