Having a new boss at work can bring a mix of emotions. If you had a good working relationship with their predecessor, you may be a bit anxious about establishing a similar rapport with someone new who does know and understand you. Maybe you had your old boss wrapped around your little finger, and that made coming into a job you didn’t like all that much ever easier and now things are bound the change…
If you couldn’t wait to see the back of an irritating or incompetent line manager, anyone else will do, and you could come across as a bit too eager with a new boss who doesn’t know the history!
Whichever side you sit on, most people feel a little nervous, but if you play your cards right, a new boss can be a very positive thing. Here’s how:
- Do your background research
Gone are the days when office gossip was the only way to (wrongly) find out about a new person in the company – especially those at senior level. These days, anyone worth their salt will have an online profile on social media, particularly LinkedIn, and you can have a good old snoop to find out about their skills and experience and what they like doing in their spare time.
This is always worth doing, but try to avoid using the office computer to do it, for obvious reasons…there’s nothing more mortifying that talking about something with your new boss, saying you’ll do a Google search and their name pops up in the search bar as you type because you’ve been doing your detective work in the office.
- Get ready for change
Few new managers don’t like to put their own stamp on things. Get ready for a change in business processes, a change in what is expected of you, and being interrogated about the work you do. It’s normal and should be expected – whether your new boss is really nice, or a bit of a dragon.
If you know that your work ethic has been a little slap dash and your work will leave you red faced, make a conscious effort to put these things right in the weeks leading up to your new boss starting, so you can put your best foot forward.
- Time to share
So you’ve had ideas and suggestions for improving processes which, for whatever reason, you were unable to share with your old boss. You know, those niggly things that have almost driven you out of the job just so you could retain some sanity…this is the time to put your case across constructively and possibly get those suggestions carried forward.
Try not to gossip – your new boss will want to give everyone a fair chance, and if you don’t have anything to say about your colleagues that isn’t malicious or hearsay, they just won’t take your seriously…worst still, they’ll see you as a threat, because if you can spread gossip to someone you hardly know, how can they trust that you won’t do the same about them in due course.
- Time for new pastures
If you can’t get along with a new boss, maybe the issue is bigger than just them…have you been unhappy for a while in your job? Did you actually apply for their job but were unsuccessful? Were you hoping to climb up to that level until the company chose to replace the post without giving you a look in?
Everything happens for a reason, and sometimes circumstances like these can be a wake-up call we need to start getting back onto the employment market and getting the next jobs of our dreams…or creating that part-time business you’ve always wanted.
