There are certain expectations that accompany the circumstance of being new to a job. And we’ve all been there — in fact, a 2012 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics determined that the youngest members of the baby boomer generation, those born between 1957 and 1964, held an average 11 jobs between the ages of 18 and 46. In other words, an overwhelming number of the U.S. workforce isn’t new to the feeling of being new.
What’s less charted is the sensation of being a seasoned employee with a boss who’s the new kid. What’s the value of your tenured reputation when working with someone who doesn’t know you? How much change is reasonable to expect, and how much should things remain the same?
Here’s the best protocol for adjusting while maintaining your professionalism.
Be on guard. Your new boss will most likely join the company with basic knowledge of his or her staff, their responsibilities, objectives, strengths and weaknesses. Still, he or she doesn’t know you, and for now, your reputation is just hearsay. Treat this probation period as an opportunity to make a new first impression. Rededicate yourself to your responsibilities. Work an extra hour or two, and shore up your standing. Curtail the long lunches. Kibosh the cyberloafing.
“Anytime there’s a change in the power structure around you, it’s going to be one of the most hazardous times in your career,” explains Marie McIntyre, author of “Secrets to Winning at Office Politics: How to Achieve Your Goals and Increase Your Influence at Work.” “That’s whether the structure change is because of a merger or acquisition, or because a new boss is joining the organization. It would be a mistake during this period to make assumptions on your new working situation based on your previous working situation.”
See: [The 10 Worst Times to Switch Jobs]
Be prepared. Find out all you can about your new manager before he or she starts. Visit his or her LinkedIn profile for clues on his or her professional background, and take a quick trip to Google to discover any other tidbits you can. Even knowing nuggets about your boss’s personal life — his or her family, interests and culture — ahead of time could unearth some commonality between you two and prevent misunderstandings as colleagues. “You should know if your new boss is a man or a woman, about how old they are and even where they’re from [before they start],” says Patricia Rossi, author of “Everyday Etiquette.” “Men and women sometimes do business differently. Different generations view workplace issues differently. Plus there are different business practices and norms in different countries. You’re going to need to adapt quickly and effortlessly to your boss’s working style, and having a sense of who they are could help you.”
Use the new information you’ve learned about your supervisor to send him or her a quick email before his or her start date, as a welcome to the company and to introduce yourself. “Start up a dialogue with them and eliminate the guesswork,” Rossi says. “Give them a two- or three-sentence professional and personal bio about you as well.”
On the subject of nice gestures, Alexandra Levit, author of “Blind Spots: 10 Business Myths You Can’t Afford to Believe on Your New Path to Success,” suggests taking your new boss out to lunch on his or her first day. “It’s a good, informal way to have a personal, getting-to-know-you conversation, but also to have a frank conversation about goals and expectations for you specifically as well as your department,” she says.
Read: [Getting in the Good Graces of a Gen-Y Boss]
Be proactive. You also should initiate a meeting with your new manager during his or her first weeks for an in-depth conversation about goals and responsibilities. “One mistake people make is that they wait for their boss to reach out to them, and a good new manager probably will, but they also may not,” McIntyre says. “You need to be the one to reach out to your boss. Take time to find out their preferences and their preferred method of doing things instead of waiting for them to share that information with you.”
Does your new manager communicate more using email or IM? Is she one of the office early birds, or does she prefer to work late? You can pick up some of your manager’s ways using the look and learn method. Levit advises spending the first couple of months, and even up to a year, watching and adapting. “You can’t make an assessment that your boss is going to be a micromanager or call meetings all the time or even be hands-off if you’ve only worked with them for a month or two,” she says. “A sensible boss isn’t going to come in guns blazing, and it could take time for their preferences for working to develop.”
See: [The 25 Best Jobs of 2014]
Be flexible. You’re the senior employee, and you’re stuck in the ways of working that have worked best for you. Now’s the time to get unstuck. “Never, ever say [to your new boss], ‘This is the way we’ve always done it,’ or ‘This is the way my old boss did this,'” Rossi says. If you are trying to bring your manager up to speed on old processes, McIntyre suggests you do so in an informational as opposed to directional way. “New managers tend to come in with new ideas, and you should expect them to make changes,” she says.
Ultimately, you have to be receptive to a new way of doing things. “Your attitude should be that the new boss is in the perfect position to do the job and that they’re going to make the company better,” Levit says. “Don’t have firm expectations of the way things are going to be, because expectations lead to disappointment.”
More from U.S. News
Tips for Surviving a Career Transition
Could You Work in a Bossless Office?
6 Questions to Ask Your New Boss
How to Adjust to the New Boss on the Block originally appeared on usnews.com
