How can I add value to my role?

[MrsBenevolent]

For various reasons I don't have enough to do at work at the moment (this will change in the next few months).

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to keep myself occupied and I would like to use this time to add value to my work in a really high profile way that gets me noticed.

I would really value suggestions. So far I have asked my manager for additional work and reached out to another department to write some specialist copy for them. I hate spinning work out and would much rather do something constructive that is initiated by me rather than bombarding my manager and making her think I can't manage my own time.

Context: mid senior professional role, responsible for new project that has briefly ground to a halt but will be VERY busy from the summer.

Training and/or personal development are the obvious things.

Can you ask to shadow someone who works in an adjacent but slightly different role and/or a more senior role?

I think you need to be careful with proactively taking on extra work as it may not be appreciated or the priority.

Go back to the foundations of what you do and think about future-proofing and growth. Do you have written Standard Operating Procedures for the tasks that you do, are there processes that could be improved to make them more efficient/scaleable, could you create templates that will save you time and effort when the project re-starts or for future projects, is there analysis of previous projects that could be completed to find areas for improvement/trends, do you have KPIs and metrics established for your project management flows, if not could you develop and implement those?

Training (for yourself) - if no funds, look at MOOCs
Write/video training guides for staff development
Mentoring
Shadowing
Holiday cover?