The article is good for all those who want to increase their workplace effectiveness that is followed by higher rewards and recognition.

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How to be effective in
the workplaces?
Ahmad Tariq Bhatti, FCMA, ACMA (UK), CGMA
Two people, who are qualified from the same institute, are hired in the finance functions
of the two similar companies at a time? One person is achieving high growth in his job,
whereas the other one is just struggling with his job. Given the fact both have passed
the same exams and possess similar technical skills.
The most probable reason for the successful person is that all goals set for him would
have been achieved. That's why, the company gave him increments and promotions,
whereas, the other person could not achieve that much in his workplace, therefore, the
other company did not give him promotions and increments. In this example, the
success rate of the two professionals is not the same. That means one person is more
effective in terms of performance at his workplace than the other. If it is so, then we
need to explore the reasons behind the high effectiveness of one person over the other.
Given the fact that both professionals have the same set of technical skills and can
perform the same jobs with the same level of expertise, there must have been some
other skills, qualities and characteristics that made a difference in their effectiveness.
The second person must have to review where exactly he lacks in performance and
train himself to improve his weak areas.
The other skills that possibly made the difference in the effectiveness and productivity of
the two persons may include the following:
1. Leadership Skills
Leadership skills are the skills that individuals demonstrate while they supervise
processes, guide initiatives and steer their employees toward the achievement of
goals.
Leadership skills are essential for positioning
executives to make thoughtful decisions
about their organization's mission and goals,
and properly allocating resources to achieve
the objectives. These skills include the ability
to delegate, inspire and communicate
effectively. The leadership characteristics
include honesty, confidence, courage,
integrity, commitment and creativity.

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Leadership skills may include the following:
 Strategic thinking, goal setting and decision-making
 Planning, executing, monitoring and controlling strategies
 People management
 Change management, innovation and adoption of new technologies
 Communication with all people in the organization
 Motivating, persuading and influencing people
2. Organizing Skills
These skills are used to stay focused on
routine tasks and use the time, energy,
strength, mental capacity, physical space,
etc., effectively and efficiently to achieve
the required outcomes and targets of a
job.
Organization skills are about creating
work structure and order for boosting
productivity, and prioritizing tasks that
must be completed immediately and
those that can be postponed,
delegated to another person or
eliminated.
These skills are essential for keeping a business running smoothly and
successfully. Employers aim to recruit persons who can work to achieve
results consistently.
3. Communication Skills
Communication, in the simplest words, is the
act of transferring information from one place to
another or from one person to the other.
These skills may be verbal (using voice),
written (using printed or digital media such as
books, magazines, websites or emails), visual
(using logos, maps, charts or graphs) or non-
verbal (using body language, sub-language,
para-language, gestures and the tone and pitch
of the voice). In practice, it is often a
combination of all of them.

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The people who have excellent
communication skills grow faster than the
ones who are weak in these skills.
Excelling in communication skills is time
taking job. So, we must make it a habit to
learn communication skills all the time.
Good communication skills can improve
our personal and professional
relationships by helping us to understand
others and to be understood by others.
4. Decision-making Skills
Making correct decisions is the hallmark of finance professionals. They always
have to be in a decision-making mode. They always need to sharpen these skills.
These skills are learned over time and are not built in a few days.
Decision-making is about the
application of logic and reasoning
in choosing between two or more
courses of action of alternatives.
Reasoning has its roots in the
here-and-now, and facts. It can,
however, ignore emotional
aspects of a decision, and in
particular, issues from the past
that may affect the way that the
decision is implemented.
The best decision is the one that is taken at the correct time. A correct decision
that is implemented at a wrong time may not bring dividends to a business. So,
everything is important in decision-making, application of logic and reasoning,
analysis of all underlying parameters, cost and benefit analysis, timing and
analysis of results of decisions.
5. Presentation Skills
These skills are necessary for a senior finance professional. A finance
professional must be presentable in his appearance and his communication art.
He should learn the art of communication with all levels of management and
staff.

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Presentation skills are the skills you
need in delivering effective and
engaging presentations to a variety of
audiences.
These skills cover a variety of areas
such as the contents, layout and
structure of your presentation, the
design of your slides, the tone of your
voice and the body language you
convey.
6. Critical Thinking Skills
Critical thinking is the analysis of an
issue or situation and the facts, data
or evidence related to it. Ideally,
critical thinking is to be done
objectively—meaning without the
influence of personal feelings,
judgements, opinions or biases
—and it focuses solely on factual
information.
The skills that we need to be able to
think critically are varied and include
observation, analysis, interpretation,
reflection, evaluation, inference,
explanation, problem-solving, and
decision making. Specifically, we need
to be able to think about a problem or
issue objectively and critically.
7. Team Work Skills
Teaming skills are required for making or forming
teams for a job, a project or a function. These
skills become necessary for the following reasons:
1. Good teamwork provides the company with a
diversity of thought, high level of creativity,
different perspectives, learning opportunities for
developing new skills.
 2. Teamwork promotes efficiency and productivity.
 3. Team work increases workplace synergies.
 4. Team work helps complete a job faster.

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8. Emotional Intelligence Skills
Emotional intelligence (also known as Emotional Quotient or EQ) is the ability
to understand, use, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve
stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges
and defuse conflicts.
These are rarely found skills and
are learned with a great deal of
experience. The people who are
emotionally intelligent grow as
great leaders everywhere.
Modern psychology admits to EQ
more important than IQ. So,
finance professionals must learn
ways to improve EQ alongside
IQ.
The concept of emotional intelligence has been around since 1990 when Yale
psychologists John D. Mayer and Peter Salovey presented the concept to the
academic world. But Daniel Goleman has gone on to study it further—and he
found a direct relationship between the EQ of a company’s staff and the
company’s success:
 Employees with a high level of EQ have a self-awareness that helps them
understand co-workers and meet deadlines.
 When people have high EQ, they are not bothered by client criticism; they
remain focused on outcomes, rather than feeling offended.
 If two job candidates have similar IQs, the one with the higher EQ will likely
be a better fit for the company.
9. Research & Analysis Skills
Research skills are the ability to search for, find, collect, analyze, interpret and
evaluate information that is relevant to the subject being examined. Research
skills show companies, you're able to suggest new ideas and help the business
adapt to the ever-changing world. Demonstrate your research skills by sharing
what you know about the industry or company you want to work for. The more
you know, the more likely you are to impress your employers.

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Analytical skills are the skills that allow you to
observe, research and interpret a subject to
develop new ideas and solutions.
Analytical skills are important when it comes
to problem-solving. They’re a collection of
information and its different interpretations
that emphasize a logical, rational approach to
bringing new ideas to life as well as delivering
creative solutions for any problem.
Analytical skills are used in a wide range of scenarios in the workplace. For
instance, brainstorming new ideas involves a high degree of analytical thinking,
because you need to be able to critically evaluate ideas and figure out which
ones are worth pursuing.
Being able to break down a problem into smaller parts, analyze them, and
determine an actionable solution can help you tackle tough organizational
challenges that a business may be facing.
Making decisions is another scenario where analytical skills may come up. This
is because you will need to be able to first analyze a problem before you can
make an informed decision about how that problem can be solved.
10.Self-Management Skills
Self-management refers to a combination of behaviors that focus on how people
manage themselves in their work and their life. For example, Daniel Goleman
and his co-authors define self-management through these six traits: self-control,
transparency, adaptability, achievement, initiative, and optimism.
Robert Kelley includes a full chapter on self-management in his book How to
Be a STAR at Work. Kelley’s research highlights the following key elements in
self-management:
 Committing to lifelong learning in support of both the organization’s goals and
your own goals
 Learning how to make certain that your projects add value to the organization
 Developing your productivity skills to manage both your time and your
commitments
 Building broad personal networks that allow you to tap expertise in and out of
the organization for complex problems
 Being willing to embrace change and rethink both organizational structures
and work definitions as new opportunities arise

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Kelley emphasizes that star employees are intrinsically managing both their work
and their career. By providing high value to the organization, stars get more
opportunity to select which projects they work on and are instinctively building
new skills to further their career prospects.
11.Problem-Solving Skills
Companies need a quick fix for their
problems and people who are good at
problem-solving are in high demand there.
These are highly appreciated skills in the
workplaces. The people who are equipped
with problem-solving skills grow rapidly.
A lot of the work in problem-solving involves
understanding what the underlying issues of
the problem are - not the symptoms.
The people who are good at these skills, think out of the box, have practical
knowledge of the issues. They have creative ways of tackling issues in no time.
12.Anticipation Skills
Planning and managing ahead of time for the possible challenges coming to the
company increase the effectiveness of a worker and is highly appreciated.
Conclusion
Any person who is lagging at a workplace, should review his skill-set and add
more skills like the ones listed above to increase his effectiveness in the
workplace.