It may seem cliche to look back at the past 12 months and anticipate the upcoming year when every New Year rolls around, but I think everyone does it. Like a reset button, the changing of the calendar year provides the illusion of a fresh start. It seems like the perfect time for reflection on the ups and downs of the previous year and goal-setting for the year to come.
So with that in mind, here are some of my professional reflections from the past year and desires for 2017:
- One of the best aspects of my job is the clients with which we work. They are warm, responsive, and hard-working, which makes them a pleasure to collaborate with, and getting to know their communities and target industries provides me with continuous learning opportunities.
- As an employee of a small business, my responsibilities are varied. Whether I’m conducting research, providing customer service, handling financials, or writing newsletters, among other things, the variety of tasks keeps my interest engaged.
- Every so often, a particularly challenging project emerges, and there is one that stands out in my mind from 2016. After feeling that I had exhausted all possible resources to gain information for the client, a quick brainstorming session with my team opened up new avenues to find what I was looking for. When you’re able to push through a challenging situation with the help of others, sometimes you’ll find a new (or better) way to get to the end result.
- I’m thankful for my colleagues. Whether we work in the same building or across the globe, we have a strong team that is built on trust through good communication. After hearing or reading about workplace/colleague horror stories, I’m grateful for each person on our team.
- In 2017, my goal is to increase my weekly reading about economic development, real estate, and business trends in order to share further knowledge with our readers and clients.
- I also desire to discover 3 new ways in which we can improve our WALTER system to become adaptable to our user’s needs.
Wishing you a happy 2017!