Time to Read: 4 minutes
Article at a Glance:
- At Redmond, contribution goes beyond output. It includes invisible impact, like improving processes, helping teammates grow, and reducing friction.
- Sometimes, meaningful contribution looks like speaking up, stepping back so others can learn, or noticing a better way to do the work rather than simply working harder.
- Each person brings unique strengths, but the real goal is strengthening the team and advancing the company’s mission together.
- To better recognize and amplify your contribution, talk with your team, explore your Three Circles, and build self-awareness around how your presence and perspective affect others.
Hot take: Contribution isn’t always visible. It’s not just the number of widgets you produce or tasks you check off a list.
It goes much, much deeper.
Here’s what we mean:
A Redmond associate sat at her desk, working on something that only she could do, when she overheard two other associates in the hall struggling with something she was also good at.
She paused. “Do I help them?” she wondered. As she started to get up to help, she stopped herself.
Just because she could do that task better didn’t mean she was the best one to do it, and if she stepped in to do it for them, they’d never learn! So, she trusted those associates to figure it out and returned to the work only she could do.
She contributed to the team by resisting the impulse to rescue someone. That’s not something you can record on a spreadsheet, but it’s a massive win for the team’s development!
Another associate was writing some educational pieces. In the current process, she’d draft the articles and send them to her team for notes and ideas. But her team had lots of enthusiastic ideas, so the articles were soon bogged down with so many notes, comments, and ideas that she couldn’t see the main point anymore.
After trying (and failing) to work through the notes, this associate admitted the sheer volume of ideas and comments overwhelmed her, and maybe the team should try discussing the topics deeply before she started writing. They could also add ideas that were outside the scope of the article to another document so the main idea stayed clear.
She learned she could contribute more by speaking up than just working harder. This resulted in more helpful articles and a much happier writer.
These might not seem like big contributions, but these are the kinds of things that make teams stronger and the company more impactful. And yes, they’re not something you can check off a list or measure on a dashboard.
Deeper Than Productivity: Contribution at Redmond
We talk about contribution a lot at Redmond. It’s even part of our first core value, Passion for Contribution.
Redmond’s take on contribution differs from the traditional definition in a few key ways:
Your contribution isn’t always measurable…or even visible.
We all contribute in visible and invisible ways, though the blend might vary depending on your role.
These visible and invisible contributions are like bricks and mortar. A strong wall needs both! Otherwise, it’s just a pile of cement or a Jenga tower waiting to crumble.
Even if your role is focused on production, your contribution is much deeper.
Think of how you share what you’re seeing, how you help improve processes and work for others, how your learning and growth helps your team, how you step in to help others (or how you let others learn)…the possibilities are endless. And all of those things are valuable.
Think about these questions:
-How are others growing because I’m here?
-What are the ripple effects of my work and perspective?
-How do my coworkers help the team beyond what they produce? (Sometimes it’s easier to see the invisible contributions of others so we can learn to see our own!)
Being yourself is a contribution. If you’re continuously striving to learn, grow, and be helpful, you’ll naturally contribute in visible and invisible ways.
Contribution also doesn’t have to be praised, credentialed, or rewarded to be meaningful. It doesn’t have to be visible to be valuable.
It’s not just about working hard or working harder than anyone else.
Less can be more.
You have an effect on your team whether you try to or not. Working hard has very little to do with team impact. In fact, a lot of your best contributions will feel as effortless as breathing because they’ll be so natural to your wiring.
Working hard could also be a sign that the process needs refining, that a task isn’t in your Three Circles, or that we might not even need that task. In that case, it can be more helpful to target the root issue and reduce the friction, rather than just pushing through!
(This isn’t to say that something in your Three Circles can’t be challenging, or that everything you do has to be in your strengths or fill your cup to be worth it. Sometimes, we contribute simply by doing what needs to be done. We just don’t want that to be the whole story.)
You don’t have to compare yourself to anyone else, because your contribution is unique to you. No one will impact the team in the exact way you do!
It’s not just individual. It’s a group effort.
Contribution isn’t just about what you contribute on your own, but how you affect the contribution of your team and the company as a whole.
Is contribution personal? Yes. Your contribution is unique and won’t look like anyone else’s. But is it individual? No.
No one’s name is on any project here. Everything is a group effort. Even this article is the result of lots of discussions before, during, and after the drafting process!
This is part of Ubuntu, specifically the “I am because we are” part. We succeed together, and our contributions benefit the group and our mission to elevate the human experience.
Your Contribution
So how do you recognize your contribution and amplify it?
Talk to your team.
Your team might see your invisible contributions more clearly than you do, just like you see their contributions better than they probably can.
Ask them where you’re most helpful and how you affect the team. (Be prepared to hear where you’re not helpful and how you might have a negative impact. This is valuable information, and learning/adjusting here is important for growth!)
Explore your Three Circles
This dance will last your whole life, because your Three Circles will shift with your environment and life stage, and there are endless ways you can use your strengths to be helpful. Never stop exploring! Read this article to get started.
Self-Awareness
This is one of the most valuable traits you can develop. You’ll never be perfect, but the more you notice your impact on others, the more intentional you can be. Try these tips to become more self-aware.
Conclusion
Whether or not your role involves a lot of production, you still contribute in invisible ways. Practice noticing how the people around you contribute just by being themselves, and over time, you’ll start noticing how you impact the team just by being you.
Noticing is always the first step!
