To move up in the workplace, you must get noticed. To get noticed, you must be distinctive. To be distinctive, you must be known for results. In other words, you must be “Effective Immediately.”
Three words I would use to describe “Effective Immediately: How to Fit in, Stand Out, and Move Up at Your First Real Job” by Emily Bennington and Skip Lineberg: to the point. Even though the book is 256 pages long, you hardly notice. It’s a quick, easy read, but don’t let that fool you. “Effective Immediately” is chock full of extremely useful information for first-time employees!
To prove it to you, I asked Lineberg to share a few tips from the book:
Three Things Bosses Love
1. Bosses love to be informed. One of the common mistakes young professionals make is forgetting to close the loop. They are often so excited to have an assignment or task, they just put their heads down and plow into the work, forgetting to inform their boss (and perhaps colleagues) about how the work is progressing. A simple e-mail status report (such as "John, a quick note to let you know that I will have the Hinkley spreadsheet analysis completed next Tuesday.") is so vital—yet so commonly overlooked. The benefit is it eliminates the need for the boss to worry...or for the boss to have to babysit the assignment. Accountability involves not only doing the work, but communicating about it as you are doing it.
2. Bosses love a positive, optimistic attitude. No one needs the energy drain or burden imposed by a doom-and-gloom attitude, especially not your boss, who has enough to worry about. In our book, we talk extensively about donning your game face, everyday, before entering the workplace. Imagine a large hook on the exterior wall of the office building, right beside the front door. That's where you hang your worries, your personal drama and your exterior stressors. (If you like, you can retrieve them after work on your way home.) Instead, be willing, be helpful and stay positive. Be known for saying, "Yes, I can. I'd be happy to work on that."
3. Bosses love to advise. With few exceptions, every great manager is an accomplished problem solver and advisor. Approaching your boss with a work-related challenge or obstacle can be a great opportunity for learning and relating.
It is vitally important in such instances, however, to identify several possible solutions or alternatives before you approach. Ask your boss for his or her opinion on the best way to work through an obstacle or to solve a problem, pointing out the options that you have identified. Naturally, you don't want to do this too often; likewise, avoid pulling your boss into situations that are routine or are addressed by the company's standard operating procedures (handle those yourself).
Three Ways to Raise Your Profile at Work
1. Become a truly unselfish, team player. Throughout our academic experience, we are conditioned, rewarded and programmed to become great individual achievers. In 99 percent of the cases, that all goes out the window when we enter the work world, where so much involves teamwork and collaboration. To establish yourself as a team player, you have to gain the trust and respect of co-workers. This comes from taking a real interest in them, in caring and discovering their talents and interests. Proving how much you know, or how smart you are, is really not important, especially at the entry-level stage. Over time, your attitude and your work will demonstrate that for you.
The other part of it involves being willing to help. When you find you have downtime...or when you are idle, volunteer to help. Approach a colleague with an offer of assistance, such as, "Hey Amanda, I'm caught up at the moment, what can I help you with?" Then, whatever Amanda gives you, do it—and do it well.
2. Become great at packaging and presenting your work. The folks who are reading our book are, by nature, the strivers and achievers. They don't just want to go through the motions, they want to excel and to advance. Presentation and packaging of work product is a golden opportunity to stand out and get ahead. It's one thing to do a bang-up job on an assignment. It's a whole different level of achievement to do the bang-up job and to present it in such a way as to make it look like it’s worth a million bucks.
This may sound daunting on the surface, but once you break it down, like we do in “Effective Immediately,” young professionals will quickly see that this comes down to tiny, incremental difference-maker steps that are more about discipline and high quality than reinvention. One example would be the formatting of a final project report. How do the page layouts look? What type of paper is it printed on? Has it been proofread, checked and double-checked to eliminate typos and other errors? Does it have a sharp, crisp cover? Is it delivered with a handwritten note? Is the final report package in a clean, crisp envelope with a neat, attractive label?
3. Find your niche. In every work team there are strengths—and there are weaknesses. Maybe your work group is strong in analysis—but really likes a team member who's great at presentations. Seek out opportunities to become the go-to presentation person for your team.
Or perhaps, your office is overflowing with spreadsheet gurus—but lacks someone with mastery of databases. Maybe your niche involves becoming the trusted, "eagle-eye" proofreader who helps colleagues bolster the quality of their written reports.
We can't identify the particular niche opportunity in your office, but we guarantee you that there is one. Find that niche; fill it—and soon you'll find your profile is on the rise!
For more career advice, visit my blog at HeatherHuhman.com.
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