The counterpart of your strengths will be your weaknesses. Everyone has weaknesses. It’s a part of being human. But for some reason, we don’t talk about them much and even try to hide them. That’s an unproductive way of handling them, to say the least!
It’s important to identify your weaknesses as well as your strengths so that you can deal with them and minimize their impact on your work.
Step One
Take the list of job activities you made for the prior article on identifying your workplace strengths and answer the following questions.
What activities are you worst at? Which do you enjoy the least?
These are going to be your primary weaknesses at work. Don’t hold back when answering this question; it’s important to be honest so that you can get the benefits from leaning into your strengths. Remember, if you dislike something, it’s a weakness even if you are good at it!
What tasks do you dread? Which ones sap your energies and make you watch the clock until quitting time?
These are also going to be your weaknesses at the workplace. Even if you are good at them, if they have this effect on you, they aren’t good for you and count as a weakness. Write them all down. Again, be honest!
Step Two
Answer the two questions from step one above with things from your life outside of work. These also count as your weaknesses, and you need to know what they are so you can avoid them if they come up at work!
Step Three
If you can, ask people what they see as your top three weaknesses (or worst skills). You can also pull things from your past performance reports if you don’t want or can’t ask people. This step is essential for rounding out the list of your weaknesses.
Step Four
Look for ways to minimize how often you have to engage with your weaknesses at work. The more you can reduce their use, the better your workplace performance will be and the more of the benefits you will get from leaning into your strengths.
As before, if your job requires you to utilize a significant number of your weaknesses or to do so often, it might not be the best fit for you. You should consider looking for another position that will be better for you. You’ll be much happier and will utilize your strengths more often.