- Impressing your boss may feel like trying to hit a moving target, but there are steps you can take to get there no matter what your field.
- Author Nicole Rollender draws on her 10 years of experience as a manager in publishing houses for this list of the five best ways to impress your boss.
- From generating ideas to simply being responsive, here's how you can stand out from your colleagues.
Early in my career in publishing, when I worked as an editorial assistant, a staff writer, a special projects editor, and then a managing editor, I always tried to read my bosses. How can I impress her? How can I be sure I'll get a raise?
The tables turned 10 years ago when I took on an executive director role where I managed lots of people.
Here are five things I learned that you can do to really impress your boss and stand out from the rest of the team.
SEE ALSO: 26 signs you're a good boss — even if it doesn't feel like it
1. Keep track of everything you're working on.
This may sound like a no-brainer, but I can't tell you how many times I've given an employee an assignment and then followed up a week later only to hear, "I totally forgot to do that. I just didn't write it down."
As an executive managing multiple departments and lots of employees, that's the last thing I wanted to hear. Whenever you meet with your boss or get an assignment, always note it in your online calendar with the due dates, especially if there are multiple parts. When your boss asks you for a status update, you're prepared.
Even better, provide your boss with a status update before they check in with you. Employees who did that always impressed me.
2. Be responsive.
There's nothing worse to a manager than sending her employee an email or leaving a voicemail and hearing radio silence. I can’t tell you how often an employee wouldn’t get back to me at all for several hours.
As an executive (and now a business owner), I always make it a point to respond to every single communication I receive, even if it’s a simple, "Hey, I received your message. I'll get this back to you right after lunch."
Being responsive makes you a team member I know I can rely on.
3. Work smarter, not harder.
You’ve probably heard this workplace cliché before. However, it really is true. It's not the number of hours you work that your boss cares about — it's the thoughtfulness you put into executing a project.
One of my early managers gave me some great feedback. "You rush into things because you think that if you tackle the project head-on and get it done ASAP, I’m going to be more impressed," he said. "However, I'd be more impressed if you sat back and thought about all the possibilities for this project, and then devised a well-thought-out plan we could review together."
Build thinking time into your project. That upfront time will shave hours off your working time later.
The number of hours you log isn’t what gets you the promotion. The smart end product is.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
from Strategy https://read.bi/2VAfg8M
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