In a perfect world all of our activities would be linked directly to corporate goals and we would be constantly monitoring our impact on performance.  If that is the environment in your company, congratulations you are one of the few.  In the real-world many of us don't know how we impact performance and what we can do to improve performance.  So, what should you do?  Just keep doing what your boss tells you and hope that what you are doing is important?

No.  I suggest taking a minute to listen to your company's quarterly earnings call.  But don't hang up after your management speaks.  Stick around for the Q&A.  What questions did the analysts ask?  How did your management respond?  Could they confidently back up their answers?  What was your perception of the analysts reaction to the answer?

This can help you understand what are the most pressing and highest profile performance management areas.  Do you do anything to impact these areas?  Can you influence improvement in those areas?  Are there current or potential performance management initiatives that would be better regarded if they could be repositioned as improving performance in these areas?

You may not come away with an epiphany but the earnings call will surface areas of priority, performance weakness, and lack of insight .  At the very least you will have a better understanding of the challenges your management is facing.  In my opinion it is an hour well spent.