All of your progress and improvement will not get you a promotion unless you communicate your successes to management. Your communication cannot be too strong, or you come across as bragging and pompous. Weak communication leaves managers unimpressed. Either way they will not promote you. Accurate, factual, and timely communication increases your odds to get a promotion.
What to Communicate with Managers
I repeat what I wrote in many posts—you have to convince management of three things to get a promotion:
- You can do the (new) job they want done—and more than what they expect
- You will fit into the new organization or work team when promoted
- You will provide them an even better return on investment than you already do
Basically, you need to communicate that information to management. You need to communicate the facts that prove these assertions. Sharing general information—generalities—will not impress your managers. Generalities sound hollow at best, like bragging at worse. As I’ve posted before, use the home run format and include $s, #s, or %s.
Topics to communicate with managers may include how much you:
- Increased your personal or team productivity or efficiency
- Improved the effectiveness or quality of your work
- Processed or finished your work faster or more accurately
- Helped or mentored a co-worker to improve their work
- Made the company money, new clients, patents, products, or services
- Saved the company money on taxes, overhead, logistics, or more
- Hired someone who improved the productivity, efficiency, effectiveness or quality of your team
- Accomplished any direction, order, or action management wanted you to do
How to Communicate with Managers
You take advantage of many opportunities to communicate your success:
- Private conversations
- One-on-one supervisory or managerial interviews
- Quarterly or annual performance reviews
- Reporting structures, cycles, or periods
- End of week, month, quarter, or year
You communicate with managers using a variety of methods:
- Verbally
- Card
- Official report or form
Friday we end our series by combining the actions into a coherent plan to get a promotion
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