Want to Get Promoted? Don’t Just Showcase Your Results—Showcase This Too!

We work with some of the best product and innovation leaders in the world, and there’s one thing they consistently highlight: productivity and speed are the two KPIs they prioritize most right now. It’s no longer just about delivering results—it’s about delivering them quickly and efficiently.

In today’s fast-paced work environment, it’s not enough to say you’re contributing value. You need to demonstrate how you’re doing it faster and more effectively than expected. Research shows that employees who can clearly link their contributions to business outcomes are 30% more likely to get promoted. If you’re not showing how fast and effectively you’re delivering, you’re missing a huge opportunity to stand out.

So, how do you do this? By tracking your metrics and framing your achievements in a way that demonstrates both value and speed. Let’s dive into some practical steps you can take right now to position yourself as a productivity powerhouse.

How to Quantify Your Impact and Showcase Your Speed

If you want to showcase your results in a way that gets noticed, you need to go beyond the typical metrics of success. Here’s how you can measure and highlight both your impact and efficiency:

1. Track Key Metrics and Time to Delivery from Day One

Start every project by defining the metrics that will showcase success—then include timelines. Speed to market is a big differentiator, so be sure to track how quickly you’re delivering results.

Action Steps:

• Before starting any project, set up key performance indicators (KPIs) that track not only the project’s success but also the time taken to achieve each milestone.
• Include metrics like time-to-market, time-to-prototype, or time-to-feedback to show how fast you’re moving through development stages.
• Use a project management tool like Jira, Trello, or Asana to keep track of each stage and benchmark your progress.

Example: In a recent product launch, don’t just say, “We achieved a 25% adoption rate.” Instead, say, “We achieved a 25% adoption rate within six weeks of launch—30% faster than our previous launch.” This frames your impact in terms of speed and efficiency, making your contribution stand out.

2. Play Back Achievements with a Focus on Speed and Efficiency

Leaders are busy, so don’t just share everything you’ve done—focus on what matters: how productively and quickly you delivered results. This is especially important if you’re aiming for a promotion.

Action Steps:

• When presenting your achievements to leadership, create a one-pager that lists outcomes alongside time and efficiency metrics. For example, instead of saying, “We launched the feature on time,” try, “We launched it 15% faster than projected, leading to a 15% boost in customer retention within three months.”
• Use visuals like graphs or charts to compare delivery times and outcomes from similar projects. This makes your speed and productivity easier to understand and appreciate.

3. Use Data to Back Up Your Efforts

Numbers talk. Always back up your claims with data that highlights your speed and efficiency.

Action Steps:

• Keep a detailed record of project timelines and use data analytics tools to quantify your speed and productivity.
• Set up dashboards to show key statistics like time saved, features delivered per sprint, or budget savings. Use this data in your performance reviews or when pitching new ideas to leadership.

Example: Instead of saying, “I improved user engagement,” say, “By implementing rapid prototyping and customer feedback, I rolled out changes 30% faster than previous iterations, which improved user engagement by 20%.”

4. Highlight How Speed Aligns with Business Goals

When you present your results, always link them to the company’s broader strategic goals. Did you beat competitors to market? Capture key customer segments earlier? Tie your speed and efficiency to these larger objectives.

Action Steps:

• Understand the company’s strategic goals, like “speed to market” or “customer satisfaction.” When presenting your results, explicitly connect your fast execution to these goals.
• Frame your achievements in terms of the business value they drove. For example, “We delivered X feature 25% faster, enabling the company to capture a market opportunity before our competition.”

This shows that your speed is not only improving efficiency but also contributing directly to the company’s success.

Take Action:

Ready to get noticed for more than just your results? Here’s a simple checklist to help you start quantifying your impact and showcasing your speed:

1. Set Up Speed Metrics from Day One: Define what success looks like not just in terms of outcomes but also in terms of how quickly you achieve them.
2. Create a Speed and Efficiency Dashboard: Use tools like Tableau, Google Data Studio, or even Excel to visualize your speed-related KPIs alongside project outcomes.
3. Reframe Your Achievements in Terms of Speed: Every time you present a success, include how quickly it was achieved compared to expectations or industry standards.
4. Align Speed with Business Goals: Link your speed to broader company objectives to show how your efficiency is driving business value.

By quantifying your impact with an emphasis on productivity and speed, you’ll not only stand out as someone who adds value but also as someone who drives results quickly and efficiently. This is critical to advancing your career in today’s fast-moving environment.

Remember, keeping track of both what you achieved and how quickly you achieved it is key to setting yourself apart. The principles and strategies in this article are drawn from The Innovator’s Toolkit™, where we provide structured guidance on maximizing productivity and speed in innovation.