Working in IT strategy can be challenging and rewarding, but also frustrating and stressful when your boss is giving you no direction. You may feel lost, confused, or demotivated, and wonder how to deliver value and advance your career. However, you can still make progress and improve your situation by following these six tips.
The first step is to clarify your goals and expectations with your boss. Ask for a meeting or a call and discuss what are the main objectives, deliverables, and timelines for your projects. Try to get as much detail and feedback as possible, and document everything in writing. If your boss is vague or unresponsive, propose some specific and realistic goals that align with the organization's strategy and vision, and ask for confirmation or adjustment.
An example I have seen is aligning to organisation vision and objective helps you define your ladder for success. One has to own their career progression, Boss unable to give direction is to be perceived as an opportunity to define what you think is right for the organisation.
In a situation where your boss gives you no direction, proactively set your own goals based on your understanding of the company's objectives, seek feedback from peers or mentors, and regularly communicate your progress and challenges to your boss to ensure alignment and gain direction.
Leaders are there to help direct you and if they aren’t providing that, then you will need to “lead up”. Write down the goals you believe are relevant to the role. Go back and look at your job description. As you list your goals, come up with a variety of ideas of who you should be consulting within the company or externally if need be. Then set up a meeting with your leader and go through them to ensure you are on the right track. For leaders out there DO NOT let your team suffer like this. It is your job to ensure they have the right tools, resources and strategic direction. Ask them if they need more clarification. You want to set them up for success. When someone new joins have an onboarding plan; this is for all levels!
Most of the times bosses have very less interest in providing guidance or direction. It's very important to understand that we are responsible for our growth and progress in career. There are few steps can be followed to get direction in career growth. -- Find your interest and setup goals. -- Socialise with people of same interest, skill, industry and get guidance. Build the network within peers. -- Plan learnings and take initiative in the firm related activities. -- Get feedback and be more visible to the leadership.
Look for yourself, see what skills you need to acquire in order to not ask others for direction. Start by Day ONE, rather than ONE Day.
If your boss is not giving you enough direction, you can seek guidance from other sources, such as mentors, peers, or experts. Find someone who has more experience or knowledge in your field or domain, and ask for their advice, insights, or best practices. You can also learn from online courses, books, podcasts, or blogs that cover relevant topics and trends. Don't be afraid to ask for help or feedback, as it can help you improve your skills and confidence.
* Reach out to colleagues, mentors, or other leaders within the organization for advice and insights. * Collaborate with team members to gather different perspectives and ideas that can inform your approach.
Market research and industry specific approaches also help in an environment where you are not always guided. Also begin to build a network within the business you are working in, over time that becomes invaluable
Se está procurando por mentores, busque pessoas externas à organiza??o. Isso porque se você come?ar a se aconselhar com outros líderes da organiza??o seu chefe pode entender isso como ausência de lealdade da sua parte, o que só dificultaria ainda mais a comunica??o entre vocês. Antes de envolver outras pessoas na conversa, encare uma conversa franca e direta com o seu chefe e compartilhe com ele as suas preocupa??es sobre o impacto da falta de clareza na estratégia no desempenho da equipe.
Connect with network peers internally and externally. Look for similar situations and analyse if any of those solutions could form the basis for yours. There is never the ideal and best solution. Progress over perfection
Once you have a clear idea of your goals and expectations, you need to plan your work and prioritize your tasks. Use a project management tool or a simple spreadsheet to organize your activities, deadlines, and resources. Break down your work into manageable chunks and assign them to different days or weeks. Review your progress regularly and adjust your plan as needed. Make sure you communicate your status and achievements to your boss and other stakeholders.
Understanding priorities from customers and stakeholders is the key thing to stay relevant and current with the expectations of the business and to define the purpose of an individual or team, no matter whether there is a leader or not giving directions. If there's one, they can help with validation of assumptions and priorities. Often when someone moves to a different role, team, or company this has to be the baseline expectation. Don't expect others to tell you what to do, and rather ask simple questions to the team, stakeholders to iteratively understand the what, why, when and create a plan of action to address them by partnering with relevant members within and outside the team.
Dê o exemplo! Se o problema com o seu chefe é falta de clareza em rela??o aos objetivos, que tal avaliar como está sendo a sua clareza em rela??o aos seus liderados? Comece melhorando sua própria comunica??o e evidencie os benefícios que esta boa comunica??o está trazendo. Você possivelmente vai inspirar seu chefe e outros líderes da organiza??o a fazer o mesmo.
* Develop a structured plan outlining the steps you need to take to accomplish your goals. * Set deadlines and milestones to keep yourself accountable and ensure progress is being made.
Durante mi trayectoria profesional, he visto direcciones de proyectos tecnológicos deficientes, pero me sirvieron para confirmar mi convicción: ser un gran programador u otra especialidad, no garantiza tu éxito si no gestionas bien tus tareas. Aunque hay muchas herramientas disponibles para ello, su eficacia depende de la organización mental gestor. Una mente desorganizada es caótica y lleva el caos donde se encuentre. El problema no es de la herramienta sino de quien la implementa. He llegado a ver personas que tildaron de negativa una herramienta cuando en el fondo su problema para ordenar sus ideas era el problema. Aprende a gestionar proyectos y tareas. Es clave para su ascenso. Adué?ate de una herramienta y aprende a usarla.
Taking initiative means being proactive and creative in finding solutions and opportunities for your projects. Instead of waiting for your boss to tell you what to do, you can propose new ideas, suggest improvements, or identify potential risks. You can also seek new challenges, volunteer for additional tasks, or collaborate with other teams or departments. Taking initiative can help you demonstrate your value and leadership, and increase your visibility and recognition.
Look at the organisational goal and start creating your and yours team goal based on organisational goals. If you don't get directions then use this situation as an opportunity and start taking initiatives to achieve organisational OKRs.
Piensa en grande. Una visión a largo plazo 3/5a?os. Dónde quieres estar y porque. Piensa los pasos q crees debes dar para llegar ahí. Una vez con esta visualización, habla con tu jefe. Habla sobre lo que te inspira o emociona. Lo que te encanta hacer y habla sobre cómo puedes ayudarlo en sus objetivos utilizando tus capacidades.
? Head of IT Coop Pank AS ?? Engineer of Questions ?? Lifelong learner ?? Changemaker
Look for insight from your organization's vision, strategic plans and yearly goals. That will give you a foundation from where you can start branching out with your own ideas and show how those ideas can benefit the organization. Identify problems, propose solutions and take the first step. It helps to start small and build up, so you can adjust your course with feedback. In my experience there are always ways to make things better, so just start.
Adding business value e.g. improving efficiency, reducing cost or improving profitability are basic rules where one cannot go wrong. If you take initiative and enhance any of those areas making your boss look good it will always work.
When facing times with little direction from leadership, remember that our main focus should always be customer satisfaction. It's about making their experience better in any way we can. Look for opportunities to automate repetitive tasks and share your insights with your team. Approach every task with the willingness to learn and collaborate, keeping the company's goals in mind.Adapting to challenges and working together towards common objectives not only helps us progress but also enriches our professional journey. If you find that your current environment doesn't support your growth or contribution, it's worthwhile to explore opportunities where you can truly make a difference.Work is more than just a paycheck.
Setting boundaries means respecting your own time and energy, and avoiding burnout or overload. You need to communicate clearly and assertively with your boss and others about your availability, workload, and preferences. You also need to learn to say no to unreasonable or unrealistic requests, or to delegate or outsource some of your work. Moreover, you need to balance your work and personal life, and take care of your physical and mental health.
* Manage your workload effectively by setting clear boundaries and priorities. * Communicate openly with your boss about your workload and seek their input on prioritizing tasks if necessary.
Always have boundaries. A boundary defines an acting playing field. Organizations thrive in a sector where rules are defined. You do not. You can always adjust boundaries to focus effort and organizational priorities.
Asking for feedback is essential to measure your performance and progress, and to identify your strengths and areas for improvement. You can ask your boss for regular or periodic feedback, such as during performance reviews, project debriefs, or one-on-one meetings. You can also ask for feedback from your colleagues, clients, or other stakeholders, using surveys, interviews, or informal conversations. Use the feedback to celebrate your achievements, learn from your mistakes, and set new goals.
Feedback is a positive loop. For yourself, others and your organization. Don't be afraid to challenge the status quo. What is an impediment today might become your biggest strength.
* Regularly check in with your boss to update them on your progress and seek feedback on your performance. * Use feedback as an opportunity for growth and improvement, and incorporate it into your work moving forward.
While a boss’s direction is essential in many scenarios, fostering a culture of trust, autonomy, collaboration, and continuous learning can also drive forward momentum and success within an organization, it is also important take necessary steps to seek his/her intervention in complex projects or situations requiring specialized skills, a boss’s direction can streamline efforts, prevent errors, and ensure tasks align with overall goals. This is very important key to ensure aligned outcome. Gaining boss’s attention is an art not a science considering everyone is busy in their own deliverables.
Almost all the organisations are striving for to get better, so benchmarking the best in industry is always something which gives you at least something to compare to and think of. Another step based on the bechmarking is then to try to map what really differentiates your business from the competition and gives you the ultimate competitive advantage.
It is important to know the KPIs or objectives of your boss. As long as your works contribute to his KPIs and objectives, your boss will likely consider you a high performer. 1. Be proactive. When appropriate, ask your boss directly for direction. 2. Obtain direction indirectly: Find out his/her KPIs. Most of the core KPIs are easily observed. For example, revenue, profit, service level, cost reduction, etc. 3. Always maintain cordial working relationships with your boss even when you disagree with his/her direction. Ultimately, it is his/her KPIs. 4. Understand how his/her direction or lack of direction is going to impact your career and manage accordingly.