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 1. Career development
 2. Understanding the Bigger Picture and Why It's Important


UNDERSTANDING THE BIGGER PICTURE AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

By Jamie Birt

Updated June 1, 2022 | Published April 13, 2021

Updated June 1, 2022

Published April 13, 2021

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Jamie Birt is a career coach with 5+ years of experience helping job seekers
navigate the job search through one-to-one coaching, webinars and events. She’s
motivated by the mission to help people find fulfillment and belonging in their
careers.




If you're interested in enhancing your decision-making skills at work, being
able to understand and consider the big picture can be an essential skill.
Having a big-picture perspective can help you prioritize effectively, set better
goals and improve time management. By developing a complete perspective of a
situation, you can make decisions that drive long-term results, which can help
you advance in your career.

In this article, we discover what it means to consider the bigger picture, why
it's important and how you can incorporate big-picture thinking into your
professional skill set.




WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO UNDERSTAND THE BIGGER PICTURE?

Considering the bigger picture means thinking about how your actions can affect
the overall success of a project or company aim, rather than focusing on minor
details. Big-picture thinking can be crucial for achievement in the workplace
because knowing what to focus on can help you budget your time efficiently,
manage stress levels and create actionable, achievable goals. You can use big
picture thinking in a variety of roles, including:

 * Entry-level

 * Managerial

 * Supervisory

 * Client-facing

 * Leadership


WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER THE BIGGER PICTURE IN THE WORKPLACE?

By striving to achieve a big-picture perspective at work, you can ensure you
understand the connections between basic tasks and long-term targets, which can
make the goals you create more efficient and achievable. Cultivating big-picture
thinking can also help you:

 * Recognize the link between specific projects and broad company goals

 * Address challenges at work rather than minor symptoms and create a successful
   problem-solving plan

 * Stay open-minded, which can positively benefit your work relationships

 * Find the clarity to make achievable, actionable goals by understanding the
   larger context

 * Respond to obstacles objectively and patiently, which can improve your mental
   health at work

 * Manage your time more effectively, which can make project planning more
   efficient

Related: 10 Visionary Jobs for People Who Think About the Big Picture


DETAIL-ORIENTED THINKING VS. BIG-PICTURE THINKING

While both are useful strategies, employees can apply detail-oriented thinking
and big-picture thinking to a variety of challenges in the workplace. To
understand when to use these types of thinking, consider the ways they contrast:


CONTEXT

Detail-oriented thinking typically emphasizes focusing on a specific aspect of a
project, while big-picture thinking may target the entire project or the project
as it relates to company goals. For example, a big-picture thinker at an
automotive company might think about ensuring a finished vehicle's crash test
results meet company safety standards. In comparison, a detail-oriented thinker
may focus on conducting crash tests and collecting the results.


TIME PERIOD

Big-picture thinkers frequently consider the long-term effects of a project,
while detail-oriented thinkers focus on short-term priorities. For example, at a
fashion design company, a big-picture thinker might predict the next year's
industry trends based on best-selling clothes from the current year. In
contrast, a detail-oriented thinker may dedicate time to creating garments based
on current trends for an upcoming fashion show.


MINDSET

While detail-oriented thinkers may strive to achieve the highest quality product
within a specific time period, big-picture thinkers focus on meeting quality
standards and moving on with production. For example, a big picture-oriented
teacher may structure lesson plans based on standardized tests with the goal of
boosting scores and helping students get into their preferred colleges. In
contrast, a detail-oriented teacher might expand standardized lessons to include
interesting activities or extra information.


HOW TO CONSIDER THE BIGGER PICTURE AT WORK

You can follow the steps below to develop skills for big-picture thinking in
your professional life:


1. FORM HABITS THAT PROMOTE BIG-PICTURE THINKING

You can limit habits you may have that limit big-picture thinking to ensure
you're focusing on the larger context by shifting thought patterns such as:

 * Quality over perfectionism: Rather than attempting to complete any duties at
   work perfectly, big-picture thinkers often consider the overall priorities of
   an organization. For example, if a client values high production, a
   big-picture thinker might strive to complete a high-quality product within
   the time allotted.

 * Setting worthwhile goals: To ensure you're setting effective goals, you can
   consider what's a priority in the larger context. For example, if an
   organization is launching a new service, a big-picture thinker may set goals
   that contribute to promoting that new service.

 * Delegating duties: Big-picture thinkers often delegate responsibilities that
   may distract them from taking a broader perspective. For example, a manager
   might focus on interviewing new employees while delegating scheduling,
   writing interview questions, onboarding and training responsibilities.

Read more: 7 Effective Delegation Steps


2. TRY MAKING ORGANIZED LISTS

To boost your big-picture thinking, you can create a free-form list of what
you'd like to get done at work. Then organize the list into categories such as:

 * High to low priority responsibilities

 * Short-term and long-term duties

 * Daily, weekly and monthly targets

 * [Project name] goals

If your category lists are longer than three bullet points, you can add
subcategories based on the order of importance. To help you determine which duty
is the highest priority, consider a specific deliverable you're aiming for and
who might expect it. For example, you could schedule a meeting with a client to
present a product, then determine what you need to do to prepare for the
meeting. For feedback about how to best organize priorities for your job,
consider sharing your goals with a supervisor.

Related: Tips on Setting Goals


3. CHAT WITH A COWORKER

Through conversations with teammates, you can expose yourself to new
perspectives, which may promote big-picture thinking. Informal conversation,
including asking questions, giving honest answers and providing friendly
suggestions can help you strategize about how best to approach a project. This
collaboration may also motivate teammates to offer further support and guidance
as you're completing the project, as well as provide them a sense of
satisfaction when you succeed.

Read more: Ultimate Guide To Strategic Planning


4. RESERVE TIME FOR REFLECTION

Rather than acting on short-term conditions such as emotions, fatigue, time
pressure or distraction, deciding based on the big picture can ensure you
prioritize effectively and set achievable goals. Here are a few methods you can
use to think about the big picture:

 * Meditate

 * Keep a journal

 * Go for a thoughtful walk

 * Talk to a friend or family member who is a good listener

Related: 12 Tips To Work Smarter Not Harder

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EXAMPLES OF UNDERSTANDING THE BIGGER PICTURE

Here are some examples of how to consider the big picture at work:


BIG-PICTURE THINKING WHEN WORKING WITH A CLIENT

Consider this example of how you can think about the big picture when completing
projects on behalf of clients:

Debbie is a graphic designer responsible for creating 10 modern, minimalist
logos for a new client. To maintain a sense of the big picture, she asks the
client about their timeline, overall goals for the logos and an example of a
logo they like. Rather than focusing on how to make each logo a masterpiece, she
creates 10 high-quality pieces that follow the client's standards within the
allotted time.


BIG-PICTURE THINKING FOR ENTRY-LEVEL EMPLOYEES

You can use this example to develop big-picture thinking in an entry-level
position:

Oliver is a sales representative in a retail store responsible for stocking new
items, tidying shelves and tracking inventory. He creates a list categorized by
his responsibilities and organizes each subcategory from highest to lowest
priority to help him plan his workday. Then he focuses on the departments that
need the most attention, which creates an increase in positive customer feedback
about the cleanliness of the store.


BIG-PICTURE THINKING FOR MANAGERS

Here's an example of how you can use big-picture thinking to enhance your
managerial skills:

Francis is a manager on a flower farm. She often asks members of her staff about
what challenges they're facing with the plants and if they have any suggestions
for how to improve efficiency. This gives her valuable insight into the daily
operations of the farm and reveals strategies for how to improve the overall
production process. By involving staff in the planning and decision-making
process, this method also boosts company morale.


BIG-PICTURE THINKING THROUGH REFLECTION

If you're interested in using reflection to boost your big-picture thinking,
consider this example:

Josiah is a software designer who's working on debugging and testing a program
before delivering it to a client. Since his job demands attention to detail, he
uses journaling to help him maintain a sense of the big picture. He writes about
the obstacles he's facing with the program, the standards the client is looking
for and how he feels about the process. After reflection, he can look at his
responsibilities objectively and easily prioritize them, which helps him create
a plan of action to accomplish his goals.

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