Maintain Your Own Portfolio

It is important to maintain a record of the work you do and key situations that you have been in for many reasons.

Artists aren’t the only ones who benefit from having a portfolio. Always keep a file of examples, if not your entire body of work. Keep copies of reports that you have prepared, publications that you have created, your own personnel files, and more. Whether you want to review your work with a superior, or need a portfolio to show a prospective employer (careful - much of your work may be proprietary), or just want to review where you’ve come from there is no end to the usefulness of such a file.

What about when you are not there to do your job? An extended illness, an unexpected family issue keeps you away, or even transferring to another position, are all reasons to leave a strong trail of breadcrumbs explaining how you did your job. Believe me it is far better to leave a clear instruction on how to accomplish your major roles in your absence. When you return it will be clear to everyone that you are organized and on top of your job. Leave a mess or disaster in your wake and people might get the idea that only you can do your job - but you’ll also be seen as disorganized and unable to manage yourself - let alone a team.

For major projects and events I take this to another level and produce a “how to” manual that gives timelines, contacts, budgets etc. This can be referred to the next year as a real time saver, and it can be added to and modified as you modify your approach. Sometimes this is a printed document, in other cases I will do this completely electronically. Either way, you are saved from recreating the wheel in the future.

Of course, you have probably thought of this - but what have you done about it? If a new opportunity suddenly came up - how quickly could you produce your portfolio?

Get started this week. In fact, get out a piece of paper, or open that file in your word processor, nd start scribbling down what you would include today in a portfolio of your work. I’ll wager the list is longer than you anticipated and in some cases finding a way to present it is a challenge.