I’m a huge proponent of employees doing side projects provided it’s on their own time. There are countless ways doing side projects can benefit your own career, and maybe we’ll get into those another time (many are very obvious). But today I want to make the case for why side projects also greatly increase your strength as an employee of Joe Schmo or Jane Doe’s company.
Acquisition of New Skills
Some big companies will you send you to training seminars and possibly even pay for your post-grad education, but that’s not reality for most companies; not in a down economy. Side projects enable you to learn new skills (presumably you’re interested or you wouldn’t do them after hours) that could inevitably help you become better at your own job.
I know a project manager for a Fortune 500 company who helps small business build blogs and websites to increase their online visibility and grow their communities. When her superiors saw her work they asked her to lead a team to build an internal community with social tools, and convince their ‘old boys network’ to participate in an effort to increase collaboration.
Expand Your Own Visibility
This is one some company’s get apprehensive about, fearful they might lose the employee. (We’ll talk about this more Thursday.) I understand this, but under the right circumstances an employee that can build a name for himself becomes a valuable asset to the team he’s (or she’s) on.
I suspect there’s lots of vendors out there who want to work with Altimeter group because Charlene hired a rockstar like Jeremiah. Or visual learners who want to work with Dachis Group because Jeff went out and snagged David. Unless they’re local sports fans, most people want to watch teams with the best players. It’s the same way in business. Customers want to work with the most prolific teams.
Obtain New Clients
There are times when someone will come to you, and ask you for X, Y and Z. Maybe you only do X, and maybe they’re one of the few companies with some discretionary income. Perhaps you’re just booked and aren’t willing to give up your weekly time set aside to watch Dexter. (I sure wouldn’t blame you.)
The point is if you’ve honed your craft in your spare time, you’ll get good enough that eventually a client comes along that’s a better fit for your company than your Friday night freelancing. Upselling the potential client often means they still get to work with you (in addition to other smart people) and your boss gets a new client and more money. Everyone’s happy.
Supplement Your Income/Passion/Intrigue
I admit that I’m a frugal freak of nature. If I can’t eat it or read it chances are I don’t buy it. I put nearly everything I make in savings, my Roth IRA or invest. Having a little freelancing income on the side provides me with guilt free spending: a new T-shirt, a 6 pack, a Texas Country Music concert. Maybe you’re saving for a wedding, or your kids’ college fund. It’s always nice to have a little side income – sometimes it prevents you from leaving a job you enjoy for a higher paying job you’ll hate.
I hope you’re doing work you really enjoy, but the statistics dictate that you’d be in the minority. Even if you absolutely love you’re job chances are you have outside interests that don’t overlap with your job duties. What’s the harm in keeping yourself fresh by maintaining a wide variety of interests outside your job, bonus points for earning some spare change. Maybe it’s a cover rock band at the local dive on weekends, maybe it’s writing copy, and maybe it’s babysitting.
Whatever you do, do it because you enjoy it and it supplements your life in such a way that it makes you a more complete person. Typically, those people are high performers at work. There’s a stat somewhere that confirms this, I’m sure of it!
To be fair, Thursday I’ll examine the drawbacks and negative connotation surrounding side jobs.
I know many of you write books, host tweetchats, consult, coach, etc. on the side. How have side projects impacted your career? Enhanced what you do in your day job? What kinds of concerns have your employers expressed? If you don’t do side projects, what’s prevented you? If you work in a big company (Bank of America, Proctor & Gamble, etc.), what’s their stance on outside projects?
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Hi Ryan. I have been doing side projects for over five years both while being unemployed and employed. The most important thing is that if you choose to do them while employed full time, respect your employer and do projects on your time (which is why I’m up at times til the wee hours of the night).
Why do I do this? For all the great reasons you mentioned above. The most important one for me is that I’m always learning, and that makes me highly marketable. Especially in situations when you may lose your “day job.”
You should always have a Plan B, and these side projects are possibilities should you come across times in your life when you may need to do something else.
Great post! Rang very true to me.
.-= Anna Barcelos´s last blog ..Tweetsgiving: What I’m Thankful For =-.
@Anna – Glad to get a response from a seasoned veteran of side projects! I couldn’t agree more than first and foremost you need to respect your employer and do projects on your own time. I sacrifice “television time” to do most of my side projects.
And you bring up a great point about continuing to learn and laying a foundation that you can potentially fall back on in case you get laid off, etc. While the latter isn’t really a benefit to your employer it can be instrumental in finding work quickly if something unfortunate like that does happen.
This is actually the topic of the #u30pro chat this week 🙂
I personally haven’t done any paid freelancing, but have helped out some organizations I’m a member of in doing some marketing. It gets tough and sometimes I feel like I’m not giving them my A-game, but if I have to sacrifice in an area, it is the volunteer help. This may be different if it was paid, and I’d just bust my butt and have less time to myself, but whatever you do shouldn’t cut into your full-time job.
As you said, I can see why some are skeptical, but as long as they’re not stealing clients from the company and isn’t affecting your work, I don’t see a problem with it.
.-= Jackie Adkins´s last blog ..The Limits of Intellect =-.
Hmmm. I assure you I didn’t swipe your topic. Great minds think alike perhaps?
The conundrum you mention is the precise reason why I rarely take on more than one side project at a time, and try to avoid working with friends/family. My day job will always take precedence, and sometimes things come up or you’re just exhausted after a long week. I don’t want to ruin a relationship because I dropped the ball. It’s yet to happen, but it’s a fear of mine that I’ll miss a deadline on a side project b/c I’m overwhelmed.
Of course, I don’t play Call of Duty so maybe I’m okay…
I think better playing Call of Duty? No? It was worth a shot.
.-= Jackie Adkins´s last blog ..The Limits of Intellect =-.
Hi Ryan
As a business head, I have been scpetical about this approach for the longest time.
Your day job does take precedence and the last thing you want is a team member turning up dead-beat because they were at another job over the weekend.
However, if you’re doing 3 days a week at one place and the rest at another I don’t see an issue.
Time management and meeting deadlines becomes the biggest challenge.
This is not to say everyone can’t handle it – indeed some people excel at parallel lives!
If you figure out how, do let me know.
Cheers,
Anita
@Anita – I can certainly identify/relate to skepticism, and you obviously don’t want your employees straggling in Monday morning exhausted, but I don’t think side projects are the culprit as often as people attending weekend concerts, spending time drinking beer on the lake, etc.
Like you said, if employees are meeting deadlines and still doing quality work in their day job, what they do after hours is (and should be) THEIR time. No?
Interesting topic Ryan. Sounds like another area where companies should have a clear policy in place on what is and isn’t acceptable, etc.
I definitely think bigger organizations will need some sort of policy, but with smaller agencies and the like I think clear communication between the employer and their employees will probably suffice.
I know for me, I’ve been doing a lot of volunteer work. I’m not so focused on getting paid because I want to try a variety of things out first. But as you said, it keeps me fresh. I’m learning new things, new applications, that you’re not going to find in a traditional classroom. Sadly, some organizations see these new skills as a threat, that learning them through an online community diminishes value. Similar to most things, positioning this outside work and it’s value to your organization can help. I know my boss is incredibly supportive and encourages me to learn where I can.
.-= Emily Jasper´s last blog ..What do you do when you’re afraid… =-.
Being fresh and learning new things – sounds like two things that could help not only your career, but also the organization you work for. And unfortunately you’re also very right in that many companies see both as a threat, which is unfortunate. I’ve almost always discovered (with very few exceptions) if you take good care of your employees they’ll take good care of you. And I’m glad you’re boss is supportive and encouraging!
This is a really interesting idea – I think that side projects are really important for me, not only for career but for sanity. I think focusing too much on something – especially when in my case it is not my “dream” job, could be detrimental.
I have definitely experienced some of the same. Where organizations are threatened by the desire for education or finding new things. I really hope to one day have a boss that is that supportive – it is great for people to be able to enhance themselves and do a good job at the same time.
.-= Beth Oppenheim´s last blog ..Photo of the Day =-.
@Beth – Great insights, and I’m with you re: sanity. For some people keeping their sanity involves playing video games and watching television. For me it involves side projects and going to the gym. I’d like to think that most employers would encourage their employees to better themselves outside of the office, but sadly I’m sure there are plenty that would rather their employees fill a void and keep watching NCIS.
I imagine that at some point my blog and what I’ve done so far with my blog will have to become a side project. However, in just a short time I’ve realized how important this on going project is for me. Here is how it has helped me:
1 – Connections. Connections. Connections. While I’m not gaining direct compensation from my blog, I’ve made amazing connections that will surely turn into priceless contacts down the line. This will surely help my future business and the company I work for one day.
2 – Research. Luckily, whatever company I work for I’ll most likely always be working in some form of HR or staffing. What I’ve picked as an on-going side project directly relates to that and I’ve needed to engulf myself in research.
3 – Writing Practice/Social Media Skills – I’ve picked up a whole new skill set in this adventure. These skills will help whoever employs me.
I agree with you. Wherever I work will always be my priority, but if that job isn’t what excites me most, then my passion will always come in the form of a side job. This will keep me excited to wake up each day, and a happier, healthier worker in the office.
Great post!
.-= Rich DeMatteo´s last blog ..A visit with Blogging4Jobs =-.
I think you sum everything up here nicely Ryan. For me, having the opportunity to do freelance consulting and design on the side has been extremely rewarding. It allows me to continue developing my skills – it provides me with an outlet for creativity that I otherwise may not get at the nine to five, and it continuously introduces me to new people.
I’m the kind of person who likes a diverse work environment – so being able to do a lot of different things, both 9-5 and in my spare time, is rewarding for me – and I think a lot of people can say the same.
How a side project took Ji Lee from bored ad agency exec to Creative Director of Google Creative Lab
http://the99percent.com/videos/6231/ji-lee-the-transformative-power-of-personal-projects
Enjoy!
Great find Anita. Thanks for having the presence of mind to revisit this post and share that with this community.