How can you prepare for a lateral move that leads to a promotion?

1 Benefits and challenges of a lateral move

A lateral move can offer you several benefits, such as expanding your skill set, gaining exposure to different aspects of the organization, building new relationships, and exploring new opportunities. A lateral move can also demonstrate your flexibility, adaptability, and willingness to learn and grow. However, a lateral move also comes with some challenges, such as adjusting to a new work environment, culture, and team, facing potential resistance or jealousy from your peers or managers, and balancing your current and future responsibilities. Therefore, you need to weigh the pros and cons of a lateral move before deciding to pursue it.

3 Acquiring new skills and knowledge

Another key step in preparing for a lateral move is to acquire new skills and knowledge that are relevant and useful for the new position or department. You can do this by conducting research, taking online courses, reading books or articles, attending workshops or webinars, or shadowing or mentoring someone who has experience in the new area. You should also seek feedback and guidance from your current and future managers, colleagues, or mentors on how to improve your skills and knowledge. You should also document your learning progress and achievements, and showcase them in your portfolio, resume, or performance review.

4 Leveraging your network and performance

The final step in preparing for a lateral move is to leverage your network and performance to increase your chances of getting a promotion. You can do this by building and maintaining strong relationships with your current and future managers, colleagues, clients, and stakeholders, and by seeking and offering help, advice, referrals, or recommendations. You should also deliver high-quality work, exceed expectations, take initiative, and solve problems in your current and future roles, and by highlighting your accomplishments, contributions, and impact. You should also keep track of your career goals, monitor your progress, and celebrate your successes.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?