I have been fortunate enough to present at multiple conferences (remember when we could all get together in one physical place and connect?) on a topic I care quite a bit about – which is how to advance in a tech career on the customer side. Though to be fair, it’s not just about advancing. I like to think there’s some content in there that is applicable to you even if you just want to be better respected in your current role.
Important note: if question marks ever start floating in front of you - quickly write down what you have recently eaten - you’ll need it later for the deposition in your civil suit.
I spend a lot of time talking about how to interact with your boss because I believe that the relationship you build with your manager is incredibly important for both your sake and your entire teams’. I’ll certainly be writing more about this as we get further into the blog, but during these talks, I focus a fair amount of time on how to communicate with your boss – especially when you have face time with them.
One of the key points I cover is what I call “the most important question you can ask” when meeting one-on-one with your manager. Simply, it’s to ask what else you can do to support your boss’ goals. I usually suggest that you start by asking for some informal performance feedback and then ask what else you can do to provide value to the team. Over the years, I’ve had significant success asking this question directly of my manager. Inside multiple managers’ answers over the years, I’ve gotten insights into what they think is important, clarity on areas that I haven’t been spending enough time, and recalibration on what they think is important. Then with that information, I’m able to adjust my tasks and priorities in order to make sure that I’m adding that extra value.
While I stand behind that as a piece of advice for talking to your manager, I think my original presentation missed a larger truth and maybe even phrased the question wrong. Essentially, by asking my (or your) manager what we can do to add more value, we’re really asking “how else can I serve you?” And while that makes sense from an employee to a manager, it is absolutely applicable in other situations. Ultimately, it’s my belief that this question should be asked a whole lot more often and in a whole lot more situations.
For starters, let’s talk about any time you’re dealing with an internal or external customer. Imagine how CuSat would improve if your Help Desk folks were trained to ask, “Is there any other way I can help you while we’re on the line together?” at the end of every call instead of ending the interaction and directing the customer to a survey that you know they won’t actually complete. That example is almost too easy. So how about when you have a meeting with a different functional area of IT? Imagine if you ended the meeting by asking if there were any other ways that your team could help their team. Imagine how much better the relationship would be between your network team and your information security team if they were asking each other this question.
This picture is 98% too inspirational for this blog, but the aspect ratio was right, so I’m going with it.
I wish this next example was as natural as the first two, but I try to make sure I ask this question every single time I meet with someone on my team who reports to me. Sure, we do the normal one-on-one stuff like sync up on deliverables, do some coaching, talk about goals - but I try to end every time we connect with “What else can I do for you”, “How can I help you be successful,” or “Is there anything you need from me?” Ultimately, I feel pretty strongly that it’s up to managers to make sure their team is set up for success both collectively and individually.
Honestly, most of the time the people I’m meeting with don’t have anything for me (though occasionally I’ve pushed them for something - legitimately surprised they don’t have anything). Other times though, this question has opened some doors that I didn’t think it would. I’ve had people tell me that they could use some flexible work arrangements or that they could really use some training on a specific technology. One time, I was asked for a reference for an application for further education.
Please keep in mind that none of the above examples came out during our regular conversation. Maybe they eventually would have, but don’t underestimate the unintended intimidation of your role. If you’re on the side of the desk that the drawers open on, you shouldn’t underestimate how awkward it can be for some folks to ask you for help or a favor. By offering – and being genuine about it - you can make it much more comfortable for your team to open up to you. As a random aside on the drawers thing, I’ve made it a point over the past year to not meet with folks across my desk. I try to sit on the same side as them so we don’t have any barriers in between us. You’d think this wouldn’t make a difference, but it totally does.
There are some lofty words for this like “servant leadership” or “being a decent human being,” but I try not to use them. I think that makes more of it than it really is. Ultimately, what I want for you is to genuinely want to support those around you whether you report to them, they report to you, or you both report to some pointy-haired boss named Sam. It doesn’t matter who they are or who you are – you can start cultural change by asking a simple question and following through.
If you don’t manage anyone and think this doesn’t apply to you I beg to differ; you can still put this into practice right away. Just start by asking folks that you work with regularly if you can do anything to help them reach their goals, or just ask if there’s anything that they are dealing with that you might be able to support. Look, this may sound corny but I can absolutely promise that getting known as the most helpful person in your group is never ever going to be a career liability. I’ve never known anyone to say: “Ralph? Yeah, that guy sucks. He used to help me all the time when we worked together. Gross.”
On to you:
Has anyone ever offered you help unprompted? Did you take them up on it?
Do you make a habit of asking people you work with how you can help them?
Who is one person that you want to build a stronger relationship with at work? Can you think of a way to ask them what you can do to serve them?