Professionalism Skills Blog- August: Choices
Choices
“One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes…
and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
As web professionals, we will continuously have choices to make throughout our careers. The key is to learn how to make the best choices we know how to make in each circumstance, and to live with the consequences. Another important key is to know that we are held responsible for the choices we make and have to live with the consequences. It is usually when we discover that we are responsible for the choices that we make, that we learn to want to make better choices.
The choices we web professionals have to make can be the simplest choices such as what music we will listen to while we design and how we manage our time. We will be faced with tougher choices such as how we handle difficult clients or if we go by the web standards or not. Many times, we may become indecisive and think that we do not want to make a choice. However, choosing to not make a choice is still a choice.
Practice Making Great Choices
No matter what kind of decision maker you are, you will make poor choices from time to time. The important thing is to learn to practice making great choices, so the poor choices you make are far less than your good ones. I think the most important choice types to keep in mind as a web professional are choices related to time management, professionalism, and integrity.
Time Management Choices
Time is very crucial in a web professional career. If you are not careful, it can get away very quickly, I have learned. The job of a web designer or developer can be very detail oriented, and if we are not careful a project may never get completed if we continuously focus on perfecting every minor detail. Do not get me wrong, being detailed and making sure there is a dot on every i and that every t is crossed, is not necessarily a bad thing. The problem is when we may get so carried away with trivial details that we end up not finishing a project within the time frame. Understandably, there may be times beyond our control, that we are unable to finish a project before the deadline. The important thing is to practice making good choices related to time management and practice choosing to finish projects before their deadlines. Work smarter, not harder. Make choices that will help you save time or manage time wisely, rather than waste time. It is so easy to take a break from a project with the intent of only checking facebook messages for a moment, and before you realize it, 3o minutes has passed by.
Professionalism Choices
I personally think that as a web professional, it is very important to be professional. If you are not professional, people will not take you seriously as a web designer or developer. Practice making choices that will show that you are indeed a web “professional”. Professionalism includes how you handle clients, your work ethics, and how you present yourself. If you get on facebook and complain about one of your difficult clients, it is not very professional. That is a choice that can reflect you poorly. However, sharing projects or newly learned skills can be a good choice. It can exemplify that you are adept with your web designer and developer skills. Keep in mind that poor professionalism choices can possibly keep a client from wanting to work with you or hurt your reputation. Good professionalism choices can help you succeed and give you a good name.
Integrity Choices
Integrity can coincide with professionalism, since it is related to work ethics. Choosing to have integrity is one of the best things you can do as a web professional. People like to work with people that they can trust. Just one poor choice relating to integrity, can hurt your reputation and career. How often have you heard of bankers that ended up being caught embezzling money or the police officers that broke the law? Did it or did it not, change your image about them? I guarantee you that bankers that were caught embezzling money will have the most difficult time ever finding a job in the banking or money related business ever again, just the same with a police officer breaking the law. It can take just one time for a web professional to cause copyright infringement to damage his or her integrity. If a web professional is charged for copyright infringement, it will be very difficult for them to find a job in the field. Practice making choices that show that you have integrity. One poor choice is not worth losing your integrity over.
Taking Responsibility
Lastly, it is very important to remember that YOU are responsible for the choices you make, not your best friend, not your dog, not your spouse, not your teacher, but only you. If you make a bad choice, own it and learn from it, do not play the blaming game. Taking responsibility for your choices helps you to learn from your mistakes and to try to make better choices. Choices, from simple to complicated, are very important in a web professional’s career. The choices you make daily contribute to who you are as a web professional and can influence your reputation. Practice making great choices, so you will grow and develop professionally as a web designer or developer.
