Coimbatore Taxi News

Gain early wins in new role to establish credibility

You are hard working efficient and very ambitious. You aspire to move up the career ladder quickly.

You are also aware that to realise your ambition you must put in a consistently high performance throughout. But before you get busy producing results, figure out what is really important. Sometimes you may pursue what you think is important only to r ealise later that organisational priorities were much different from what you assumed them to be. First and foremost identify how success is measured in your organisation. After getting a grip on what constitutes success in your organisation, align your efforts in that direction.

Talking to the right people from the beginning will help ensure that you progress in the right direction. Before you move into a new role or job, talk to various people and gather as much information as you can by going through the job description, organisational manual and mission statements to find where to invest your best efforts and what results to produce. This will also help you to identify the top priorities and key challenges in your role. After you take up the role hold discussions with your team to understand the current status of the project.

You will know what you must concentrate on; whether to turn it around, realign, continue the present momentum or take it to the next level.

Your boss is the best person to tell you about what constitutes success in your new role and how it will be measured. But sometimes he himself may not have clarity in this regard. Perhaps the organisation itself is in a change mode and has not yet agreed on a particular direction. Nevertheless, you must try to gain clarity on what is expected of you as early as possible. You must know what results are important to achieve from the organisation’s standpoint. This is also crucial from your career perspective because only the right wins can propel your growth in the organisation.

Apart from your boss there will be other stakeholders in the project such as clients, peers, heads of other divisions who will also play a key role in your success. Identify and meet these people to know their perspective on what your top priorities should be, what pitfalls you must avoid etc.

Here are some more pointers to keep yourself on target and achieve the growth you aspire for:

Pay attention to your boss: Your knowledge about what your boss expects of you can help you move up the corporate ladder swiftly. To be on a solid footing always pay attention to what he wants you to do and accomplish. In general he would like you to demonstrate:

• A willingness to face new challenges and come up with new and innovative ideas to tackle issues.

• A tendency to collaborate well with others within and outside the department to further organisational goals.

• A high degree of commitment and involvement.

• An ability to keep abreast of developments and take timely action in the best interests of the organisation.

• Learn continuously and gain enriching experience with every task taken up.

• The right attitude necessary to handle good and bad situations equally well.

Focus on learning: Set aside time to meet your boss early on to identify and establish development goals for yourself.

Since new demands occur at every level, old strategies and old skills may not work in the new role and can even get in your way. Therefore, with the help of your boss figure out what new skills are required and what you must give up.

Early wins: It is important to register some early wins in your new role to establish credibility.

Try to break the overall goals of the project into smaller measurable milestones to enhance the visibility for your efforts and success.

In order to achieve your long-term career aspirations, always strive to align your development plans with the organisational objectives. The key to success is to identify and focus on the specific goals and deliverables that are expected of you by the organisation.

-The Hindu