Making a good impression and working happily ever after
OK, so let's start at the beginning. It's your first day at work and you want to make a good impression. That's done by impressing those around you, but who do you really need to do to impress on that first day in the office and forever after?
• Your boss?
• Your boss's boss?
• Your staff?
• Your peers?
• The CEO?
• The receptionist?
The answer is of course all of them, BUT the ones you need to concentrate on first are your boss (this chapter) and your staff (see 'Managing Staff'). If they undermine you, you're out of there whether you like it or not.
So how do you impress your boss? Well I could go down the theoretical
route of analyzing personality traits, determining where their personalities lie on the well-known scales and charts, but I did say that I wasn't going to do that.
So here is the REAL practical advice:
• Like them and be liked. By this I don't mean all that brown nose stuff or that you should try to become their friend (although becoming your boss's friend can help a career) but try really hard to understand them, work out what they like and what they dislike. "So what" I hear you say (email or text), let's see the practical stuff that you're talking about. Well, here it is:
• Find out what makes them laugh - write down what things they react positively to. Was it an outright joke, an interesting anecdote or do they really prefer you to jump straight in there and ignore the niceties? Sounds corny I know, but if you make them laugh they'll think you're a good guy. By the way, if you tell a joke or anecdote or other humorist comment and they respond badly, move on and don't dwell on it, and certainly don't repeat it. It could be a culture issue, language issue or simply a lack of GSOH on their behalf. But, whatever you do, don't see it as your fault or problem and don't lose any sleep over it, but do try a different approach next time. Finding out what makes them laugh doesn't need to be done over night. If you are a cautious person you can monitor their approach to humor over a few weeks before making your move.
o Find out their pet dislikes. In fact ask them outright.
o Do they dislike projects or tasks being delivered late, or do they dislike poor communication skills (which, in reality, may mean a lack of communication)? If your boss has to chase you up on something, it probably means you should have updated them already! So find out how often they chase up on tasks and make sure you get in there first.
o Do they hate negativity? No-o