Getting A New Boss: How To Make It Work!

Your old boss is leaving and a new boss is arriving to take his or her place. So, what’s going to happen now? Does this mean that you’ll also have to change your job? Or is this an opportunity to make a great first impression and potentially change the direction of your career?

Some people in this situation may think things will continue as they were. However, a new boss will likely have different opinions, different policies and even a different management style. The situation has now changed: if you simply keep doing what you did before, you’re not facing reality.

It’s up to you to build a relationship with your new boss. Things will likely be different, so expect to change the way you work; and expect to experience a three-month adjustment period, during which you’ll both “settle in” and get used to each other.

Necessary Conversations with Your New Boss

Here’s a checklist of what you and your new boss should understand and agree upon as you get to know each other. These conversations can range from informal chats at the coffee machine to formal meetings in your boss’s office or elsewhere. Here’s what you want to accomplish.

1. Determine how your boss views the current situation.
Find out how your new boss sees things. For example, does your new boss think that the objective is to maintain a currently strong position or turn around declining performance? You may not agree on every point, but at least you’ll know.
2. Learn what your boss’s expectations are.
What does your new boss want from you now and in the longer-term future? How will your success be measured? If you understand what will help your new boss succeed (see above), this will help you relate to his or her expectations, while making sure that what’s asked of you is still realistic.
3. Figure out your boss’s working style.
What you do is important, but so is how you do it. You have your preferred way of working, and so does your new boss. Find out how your boss likes to operate, and show him or her how you like to operate. This will lead to a better chance of achieving more together – and a better chance that both of your careers will benefit.
4. Determine what resources are available.
If you need more resources or need to keep what you have now, let your new boss know.
5. Find out what’s important to your boss.
Your new boss will likely target several goals during the early weeks and months because this will help confirm to upper management that they made the right hiring choice. figure out how to help him or her succeed.

Career Success Tip:

In some cases, your new boss may be the ‘new hire’. However, you are also a ‘new hire’ to your new boss. In many ways, it’s similar to when you first started your current job – you have to work to make a positive impression, to prove yourself and to be perceived as making a valuable contribution. Also See Manage Your Boss.

Do you want to develop Career Smarts?