I had 2 different incidents where I messed up some filters in Excel when creating an address file for a mailing.
After the second incident, I took a deep look inside and tried to figure out how I could be better at this stuff.
So, I started by shutting off everything I was doing in Excel and moved it all to MS Access. I also overcommunicated.
Since I was doing everything in Access, I learned that tool really well and built a tracking database for this big annual project where we sent out like 5 million regulatory notices.
The tracking DB cut down the time needed to generate reports to like a 1/10 of the time as the previous year.
Normally, if you were on a PIP, you got an automatic ‘Needs Improvement’ rating on the annual review. My boss fought to get me a “Meets Expectations’ so I’d get a bonus.
I just kept on doing what I could to make processes and stuff better. 2 years after that, I got the highest rating possible on my review and the last 3 years, I got 110% of my slotted bonus amount.
That was also when I started my 3 years without a defined role. They knew I’d work on stuff that eventually made things more efficient, so my boss just let me cook.