New boss? Here’s what you need to do

Unless you’re at the very top of the food chain in your organization, you report to someone. And that manager is important for your career success. They will evaluate your performance, give you feedback and mentoring, greenlight ideas, and provide support elsewhere in the organization for things you’re doing.

Because of all the roles that a supervisor plays for you, it can be stressful when a new person steps in, or you get promoted and start reporting to someone new.

There are several ways you can make this transition easier and lay the groundwork for a fruitful relationship with your new boss:

Be mindful of the firehose

When your supervisor is replaced with someone else, that person is stepping into a new role. Whenever you take on something new, there is a lot that comes at you those first few weeks. You need to get to know your team, your new responsibilities, your new peer groups. All of that happens while work needs to continue.

That’s the reason the information dump you face when you first start a role is often referred to as “drinking from the firehose.”

If your new boss is drinking from that hose, then you want to provide them with information slowly. Invite them to let you know when you can have a chance to meet and talk, recognizing that it may take them a week or more to get settled in before they’re ready to have an in-depth conversation.

As your supervisor gets settled, you can expand the amount of information you provide. Giving them that information when they’re ready to receive it will greatly increase the likelihood it gets read at all.

Provide an introduction

You do want to introduce yourself in stages. Start with a quick, one-paragraph introduction to share who you are, how long you’ve been with the organization, and your role on the team. If there are one or two critical things that your supervisor needs to call on you for, then highlight those as well.

After that, you can add more information about your broader responsibilities. Highlight projects that you’re working on that may need your supervisor’s input or attention. You might consider creating a cheat sheet for your new boss that lists the things you’re working on, your best contact information, and your key strengths and weaknesses. That way, your supervisor knows when to call on you and the kinds of projects where it might be helpful to include you.

After the initial rush, you can add details about projects that don’t need immediate attention and other projects you have been involved in so that your supervisor can recognize the contributions you’ve made.

Talk about expectations

Your previous supervisor not only knew what you had done but also had a sense of your career trajectory, interests, and goals. Hopefully this person was also actively engaged in helping you grow and providing opportunities for you to move forward with your career goals.

Your new boss doesn’t know any of these things about you. If you have expectations for how you want to be treated and what you would like your supervisor to do to help you succeed in your role and advance, you need to talk about those expectations.

It’s also helpful for you to discuss any weaknesses that you would like help to address. It is common to want to start your interactions with your supervisor by focusing on your strengths. And you should do that. But you might also be tempted to hide your weaknesses. Instead, it can be useful to be up front with those aspects of your work that you are still developing. It can ensure that you get help when you need it and that you’re considered for professional development opportunities.

Ask for what you need

Consistent with highlighting your weaknesses, you should generally ask your new boss for what you need from them. If you like to get feedback in the middle of projects, ask for it. If you need more information about the strategy behind a project or plan, ask.

Nobody is a mind reader. And the less well someone knows you, the less able they are to anticipate what you need from them. Rather than hoping your new boss will give you everything you need, you’ll have to ask for it. Usually, a supervisor will be glad to have some guidance about how you’d like to engage with them. Asking for what you need is the best way to get the relationship with your new supervisor off to a good start.

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