How often do you think of innovations that will improve your work performance?

Question

Karrie Day · Accepted Answer

"Given that I am early in my career, I am constantly innovating to improve my performance. I approach my work with humility and I observe others frequently to look for ways to apply their best practices to my own work. It is a continual refinement process that constantly improves my work."

Karrie Day · Answer

As a leader in the commercial aviation business, Boeing is always looking to make improvements and innovate in what they do. Improved work performance dramatically impacts how their machines are manufactured and their clients benefit from those improvements. Boeing is so committed to innovation that they invest $3B annually in research and development. You can find examples of how their investment has paid off here.

Karrie Day · Answer

Take some time to think about ways you have participated in changes that improved work performance or designs you have found useful in the past. Don't hesitate to talk about ways that you stay up to speed on changes in your field, whether that is through participation in various industry-specific societies or any journals/publications you subscribe to. As well, talking about any ideas you've come up with by attending continuing education credits can also be great to discuss with this question.

Keep in mind that your innovation example does not need to describe the invention of an aerospace or defense technology specifically. Boeing thrives on innovative quality improvements and the application of lean principles, so discuss whatever applies best to your role.

Rachelle Enns · Answer

"I genuinely embrace innovation and creativity in my work. For that reason, I am always on the lookout for new and more productive ways to accomplish my goals in the workplace. Recently I incorporated a new electronics recycling plan in our office that has saved a lot of items from going into the landfill, not to mention reduced the clutter in our office. I also am a firm believer in networking with others in my field to stay abreast of new and innovative ideas in our work."

Karrie Day · Answer

"As an aerodynamics flight engineer, innovation is a constant consideration and one of the key requirements of the role. I am always asking myself how the solutions my teams develop can be improved. Critical thinking and problem solving are skills that I lean on with almost every task that I do. The innovations I apply to my work improve my own performance, but more importantly, they improve the importance of the products I support."

Karrie Day · Answer

"I innovate regularly in my work as a business analyst. I refine my approach to analysis and documentation often. As a process reengineering expert, I continually ask myself, 'how can I make this better for my customer or my team?' For example, I recently took an advanced course in SQL to improve my ability to monitor the systems I am responsible for and to identify and address data issues more efficiently. I was able to apply what I learned by writing several new queries that I use on a daily basis to check for issues and make the appropriate corrections. The changes I made reduced errors by 17% over a three month period."

Karrie Day · Answer

"I look for opportunities to improve my work performance regularly. There are infinite ways to refine and improve the way I present information, plan for projects, and work with stakeholders. Additionally, I look for innovation opportunities at the team-level. I ensure that my teams meet at least once a month to reflect upon our work and develop clear action plans to improve our performance. We address mistakes and ensure that we continue to improve anything that is working well."

Karrie Day · Answer

"I would estimate that I make an improvement to my work performance at least once a week as a software engineer. Refactoring code to make it more efficient is a key responsibility of my role. It is similar to writing and then editing your work to make it clear and concise. The changes I make to improve my work are then worked into the next iteration and improved upon from there.

Major innovations occur less frequently, but I am continually working with my fellow engineers to look for new technologies and internal process improvements we can incorporate in our work. I would bring the same innovative approach to Boeing."

Anonymous User · Answer

"I try t think of innovations all the time. I am a practitioner of the continuous improvement method. I persuaded my supervisor of implementing a new layout which reduced time picking from 10 mins to 2 mins."

Anonymous User · Answer

"I'm always on the lookout for new and productive ways to improve my performance. I have been engaged in software/physics professional development, such as writing good code to drive the overall business environment. I also use some professional platforms such as GitHub to stay connected to other professionals in my field. I'm currently enrolled in a web-developer boot-camp course on Udemy."

Anonymous User · Answer

"I believe that there is always a possibility for improvement no matter how efficient or effective something is. That is how I came up with the idea of shorting the green sheets in the shop. We had a clear process of green sheets working for both the shop and the field, but the field had way more areas on the list that did not pertain to the shop. I brought this up to my boss, and he brought it to his boss, and they allowed me to shorten the list for the shop for a possible new green sheet."

Anonymous User · Answer

"Constantly, especially in my current job, where we are using cloud-based software to run the business, and this changes daily. In my previous job, I did a 'Business Improvement Techniques' course teaching us about Kaizen and 7S systems. This helped a lot to think about the simple steps to take to make significant changes."

Anonymous User · Answer

"I often have ideas on how to improve work performance. Once when our company deployed new software, I made a how-to guide for common operations. I put this file in a shared folder for anybody to access."

Anonymous User · Answer

"I started to color coordinate my calender at work because I always have something due. This has helped me better manage my time, and I have never turned in a late report. Also, eating healthy and working out has tremendously improved my work performance."

Anonymous User · Answer

"When I was still a crew trainer at Mcdonald's, I realized after some time that my trainees get overwhelmed and mentally exhausted every time after I train them. I figured that I was using the traditional, but not-so-efficient, way of training them by rushing them through everything during their training sessions. So I had to be innovative in my ways of training by focusing on one component at a time until they are confident in what they are doing in that allotted time and move on to the next part. After implementing this, I have observed that they became more confident and efficient as part of our customer service team."

Anonymous User · Answer

"At least several times a day. I notice improvements that can be made to my current workflows when I am learning new technologies or seeking to understand new processes. I find that if I write down these ideas, I can incorporate them when I am designing new parts or writing technical documents for others to use."

Anonymous User · Answer

"I am constantly looking for ways to improve my efficiency at work. Even after graduating, I have continued to learn new skills to prepare for the career that I had a passion for. Skills that are perfect for this position."

Anonymous User · Answer

"I know there are always new and innovative methods to enhance my work. Therefore, through conversations and meetings, I'm always listening and seeking out how I can incorporate other people's feedback into my work that would be beneficial. I would also research on my own to find out ways to improve task performance."

How often do you think of innovations that will improve your work performance?

How to Answer: How often do you think of innovations that will improve your work performance?

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14. How often do you think of innovations that will improve your work performance?

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