A new boss can be intimidating to deal with, whether you’re starting at a new company or a new member of the management team has just joined your workplace. Either way, a new boss is a new chance to make a good impression. Show your new boss that you’re a professional who takes initiative and who knows how to take direction, too.
Learn Your Industry
Like many people, you might find yourself in a job that you don’t intend to have for more than a few years. Even if you’re not invested in the industry, this is where you work right now. Learn about the industry. Subscribe to an industry news magazine and learn more about your company. Possessing industry knowledge will impress your boss, because it makes you appear engaged in your work. Plus, knowing the industry makes it easier to get your job done, network, and present ideas, so it’ll help you in many ways.
Try Things Your Boss’s Way
It doesn’t matter which of you is new to the team. Both of you have ways you like to do things. When your boss suggests a way to do a task or project that you would never normally do, don’t automatically shut it down. Listen to your new boss, take notes, and ask clarifying questions. Try the project the way your boss wants it done. If you truly run into roadblocks, go ahead and make suggestions or ask more questions. You want to look invested and engaged, not like someone who can’t take direction or is set in his or her ways.
Bring Your Meeting A-Game
Before any meeting, review meeting materials. Prepare whatever you need to, whether that’s a presentation, documents, or a list of questions. Go beyond the bare minimum and come up with a few points to raise during the meeting’s discussion time. While you’re at the meeting, stay on your toes. Sometimes, meetings veer into subjects you didn’t plan for. When this happens, wearing a T-Mobile Apple Watch is your day-saver. Use your watch to provide fast answers when the meeting covers something you weren’t prepared for. Don’t go so far as to show off, but answer questions or provide ideas when asked. The T-Mobile network ensures you’ll always be connected to the internet, even when everyone else is on the company Wi-Fi and slowing things down.
Take Initiative with Ideas
Forbes proposes presenting one “big idea” a week as a way to impress your boss, in lieu of things like getting coffee or remembering lunch orders. Once you share your idea, offer to lead the team that will implement your suggestions. You demonstrate leadership and initiative when you come to your boss with ideas before being asked. If you present ways to carry out those ideas and offer to act as a team lead, you seem dependable and innovative at the same time.
Present Yourself Well
From your clothes to your work space, present the image of a competent, confident employee. Every office is different, so if your office has a casual dress code then you don’t need to be in a suit every day. Your clothes should be clean, wrinkle-free, and in good condition. Holes (even intentional ones), stains, or a lot of wear and tear give you a sloppy appearance. Your desk is a similar situation. If everything is a mess, you look disorganized and like you’re falling behind, even if neither of those things are true. Conversely, when your desk has nothing on it, you appear as though you have nothing to do, or like you don’t really care about being at work. Find a balance between making your desk look used, yet organized.
As long as you understand the line between impressing and kissing up, you’ll show your boss your potential as an employee and make it known that you’re an asset at work. Impressing your new boss is a great way to alter your place at work, or to solidify yourself as a valuable member of an existing team when you’re a new hire.
