Cross-posted from thegovgurus.com:
10 WAYS TO TELL YOUR BOSS WHAT A GREAT JOB YOU’RE DOING
By Lily Whiteman
Federal Times columnist and author of How to Land a Top-Paying Federal Job
As your work projects progress, ask yourself whether your boss knows what you are doing. I mean really knows what you are doing, as in all of the trouble-shooting, barrier-busting and going the extra mile-ing that you do.
Unfortunately many bosses — taxed to the max and untrained in supervising — rarely take the time and trouble to say to their staffers those five little important words: “What are you working on?” This principle was underscored to me by the manager of a large federal accounting office who confessed as we strolled through his staff’s cubicle farm, “I probably know about 10 percent of what each of these people do daily.”
Why should you work to close this type of communication gap between you are your boss? Because you probably won’t get credit on your annual evaluation for achievements that your boss doesn’t know about. In other words, what your boss doesn’t know about you could hurt you on your annual evulations.
But beware: your annual evaluations are important to you for several reasons:
Your annual bonus will probably based on your annual evaluation.
If you are on a pay-for-performance salary system, your annual raise will be based on your evaluation instead of on a pre-set, automatic salary increase.
Your prospects for promotions may hinge, in part, on your evaluations. That is because many federal job applications require submission of recent annual evaluations. And even if you job applications don’t require you to submit recent annual evaluations, you should — if possible — cite your record of earning positive evaluations and quote praising comments from your evaluations in your resume and application essays included in your future job applications.
If you suspect that your boss or other managers or unaware of your achievements, here are 10 ways to start spreading the good news:
Introduce Yourself: If your boss is replaced, your new boss probably won’t know anything what you can do or have already done. Nor will he know anything about your credentials, such as awards you have won or degrees you have earned.
So don’t just settle for a hallway handshake introduction with your new boss. Instead, make an appointment to introduce yourself to him. During your meeting with your new boss, tell him about your biggest projects; show him some of your relevant work products; identify your upcoming projects and the approvals you will need on them; and suggest some future projects that would interest you and benefit your office. One more thing: no griping or complaining during that first meeting!
Cultivate a Friendly Rapport: Without being obsequious, complement your boss on successes and chat with your boss when you both have some free time, such as before a meeting begins or at the end of the day. By doing so, you will make it easier to deliver your good news as it develops.
Be Direct: Many professionals only hint about their extra efforts. For example, they assume that if they send their boss an email late at night, he will notice the time stamp on the email, make a mental note of their long hours and remember those contributions at review time. But will he? And isn’t it risky to rely on the selective and imperfect memory of a pressured, distracted boss?
Instead, when you’re working like a harnessed beast, take the bull by the horns and tell your boss about your extra efforts. Say something like, “I just wanted to let you know that we are making good progress on Project X…Jane and I are working hard on it; we put in 12-hour days on it every day this week.”
In addition, if you work extra hours, claim the comp time or credit hours that you deserve on your time card. You shouldn’t anonymously donate your time to your office any more than you would make anonymous financial donations to your office.
Provide Updates: Establish a regular method for updating your boss on your projects involving some sort of cyber or paper trail – such as regularly emailed status reports. Be sure to describe in such updates special obstacles you conquered, such as repeated computer crashes or staff shortages. Also mention in your updates positive feedback you have received on your work from other professionals, including other managers at your own agency or at other agencies, your colleagues, stakeholder groups, contractors, clients or your staffers.
Participate in Staff Meetings: If you’ve completed an important phase of a project, tell your colleagues about it in staff meetings. Also, mention any major positive feedback you’ve received. For example, if your office’s top banana just approved your organization’s annual report and complimented you for completing it in record time, say so.
Show-and-Tell: Show to your boss or leave in your boss’s in-box documents that validate your success. These may include, for example, evaluations from trainings or events you organized, complimentary emails from top managers, agendas from conferences at which you gave presentations, articles you published, or web pages you created. Also, invite your boss to presentations, trainings or other events that you organize.
Convey Compliments: If another manager besides or boss or any other noteworthy figure compliments your work, respond by saying something like, ”I’m sure that my boss would like to hear your impressions of my work. Would you mind emailing him a short note telling him what you just aid to me, and c.c.-ing me on that note as well?”
I taught this technique to a Treasury Department Webmaster who used it to convey to his boss his client’s satisfaction with a website he created. In response, his boss gave him a $500 cash award that he otherwise would not have received.
Write About It: Offer to write articles about your projects for your office’s newsletter or Intranet site and for professional publications.
Express Gratitude: When projects that you lead conclude, email each member of your team a thank-you note that describes the team’s successes and c.c. your boss on it.
Talk to the Crowds: Don’t wait to be invited to give presentations at conferences and other meetings of large groups; instead, volunteer to do so. To select good topics, consider what specialized knowledge you have that others would find useful. For example, you could describe a successful case study, provide how-to instruction, or discuss lessons learned from a policy or system implementation. Alternatively, summarize the state of knowledge on a particular topic or discuss ways to adapt to changes in your field. After the event, tell your boss about your presentation and any positive feedback it drew.
Get more practical advice on how to accelerate your advancement in How to Land a Top-Paying Federal Job (Amacom) by Lily Whiteman.