The annual closing for your organization is coming. Is your increment satisfactory? Did someone outperform you? Did they outperform you without working as hard as you are? Have you ever worried how to impress your boss or your management? Are you earning credits for your work? If you don’t have a proper answer, you’re in the right place. In this blog post, I’ll share a few hacks that’ll keep you on the road for impressing your management.
Pay Attention to the Minor Details
This is the most crucial rule. I have seen many supersmart and talented programmers write very crisp and clean code, and they’ve done it fast. But sometimes, they miss out minor requirement details. These minor details can include applying formatting to a field, validating a date field for proper input, formatting a table, or even a font on a page. If I were your project manager or lead, I wouldn’t be happy with you if you failed to pay attention to these minor details. It’s never good to repeat work over and over again.
Rethink Before You Deliver
One of my bad habits is not reviewing my work. Even after I write an article, I hate to review it. You must make sure to review (sanity or unit test) your work before you deliver it and see how you can improve it. Sometimes, thisis difficult due to tight deadlines, and in that case, I would hold project managers and team leaders accountable for that. If you need extra time to review it, let your boss know. If he does not give you extra time, then you do not need to worry about it.
Choose Design Patterns Wisely
Design patterns are good for undertaking TTD (Test-Driven Development). This reduces the cost for testing, and the chances of the build being stable are high. Adapting to the right tech stack, choosing the right framework, calculating risks on migration, and delivering flexible and maintainable code, all help in building trust with your management. In short, you can impress them by delivering products with the latest and scalable tech, and also by reducing the maintenance cost.
Show Up Excited and Eager to Learn Every Day
This one quality is lacking with many employees and especially among fresh grads. All of their excitement on their work seems to last only for a few months. This really impacts their career growth in a bad way and it definitely creates a negative impression among management.
How do you solve this problem? The ethical solution is to pick a job that doesn’t feel like a job. You should love to do it every day. In short, take up your passion as your job.
If it’s too late for that, then make up your mind and learn about your domain every day. Remember, knowledge is power. The more knowledgeable you are, the more you will be respected by your management, and it will help in cultivating trust. There is a Japanese word called “Kaizen,” which means continuous improvement. This philosophy suits all things in life. Continuous improvements will impact your career in a positive way.
Clear Understanding of Roles and Responsibilities
Most people fail to keep up with their roles and responsibilities. The roles and responsibilities are like promises made to the company. Employees should never forget these or be so casual about it.
These promises determine your daily activity, and remember that the organization is paying for that. So it’s time that we follow those promises to the dot. For developers especially, in most of the companies, they will have the following responsibilities:
- Writing clean and maintainable code
- Reviewing the code regularly and following standards
- Using optimal solutions
- Constant improvement in their performance
- Coordinating with co-workers to meet deliverables
- Contributing more hours when requested by the company
These are some of the basic responsibilities that I’ve seen in many JDs. Mostly, following all of them, or at least 90 percent of them, will create a hugely positive impact.
Understanding Client or Product Requirements (end to end)
If you’re working for a services firm, you need to understand the client’s requirements to the dot. If the requirements are coming from multilevel hierarchy, set up a meet with your peers, vet your understanding, and get an approved document regarding the requirements.
It’s a very good practice to document every conversation you’ve had in these meeting (minutes of meeting, or MOM) and communicate all of their conversations via e-mail (just to have proof with time stamping) to avoid getting into unnecessary politics within the firm.
If you’re working for a product-based company, it’s mandatory to understand the product’s needs and purpose. And the management will love it if you come up with doubts and issues regarding the requirements because it will help them to refine the items on their plate better. So before beginning your work, clarify most of your doubts and vet the solution that you’re planning to implement.
Sticking to the Time
As a developer, you’ll be delivering plenty of items throughout your career. It’s critical to stick to the time promised in order to maintain your trust and reputation.
So before starting your work, it’s essential to negotiate the time period regarding the deliverables. If the timeline for what the management is suggesting is impossible, it’s your responsibility to make them understand and compromise on respective aspects.
In short, delivering things on or within the promised time is very critical to building trust with your management. If you’re good at delivering things on time, then the management will definitely expose you to multiple opportunities and benefits.
Understanding the Psychology of Your Peers, Management, and Clients
You must understandwhat makes your management happy. For that you need to understand their behavior. It can be clients, peers, or your management, but you can understand their character by just talking to them on a regular basis.The equation is simple. Make the client happy or satisfied, and you will in turn make the management happy. If it’s a product-based company, make the users and customers happy; this will definitely make your management happy.
To make your client or customer happy, you need to know what kind of person they are and what they need. To know what they need, you need to establish a good rapport and talk to them frequently. So give them what they need and the equation executes on its own.
Demand Responsibility
Management always encourages and loves people who can take up any of the responsibilities available on their plate. So if don’t have much work, or if you feel you’re not occupied, feel free to ask your management for additional responsibilities (sometimes, managers will keep you free to see how you’re doing — are you demanding work or enjoying the benefits as it is?). If there are any vacant roles, make a request with your management and help them understand why you will be the right fit for it. It’s all up to you on how you play your card.
Feed Them with Ideas Regularly
The management isn’t the only idea vending machine. You also play an important part in it. Sharing continuous ideas and brainstorming ways to improve the product or deliverables will showcase your management skills to your management team.
Also, if you’ve a wonderful idea and management has decided to implement it, then play your card in showcasing that it was your idea. Plus, if your ideas get approval, it will come only to you for implementation. So make sure that your idea is totally implementable.
Show Your Growth on Professional Networks
If you’re not on professional networks like LinkedIn and AngelList, please start creating your profiles today. For every professional achievement within the company or outside, record them constantly and make sure that your management team sees it. This will constantly remind them of your growth, and will prevent them from forgetting you and your contributions.
Remember: You don’t just have a job, you have an opportunity. You have a chance to prove yourself. Show up hungry. Make it matter.
Thank you for spending your valuable time reading this article. I hope you’ve gained few tips to take home and practice. If you’ve liked this article, please share.
About the author
Hari Vignesh Jayapalan is a Google Certified Android app developer, IDF Certified UI & UX Professional, street magician, fitness freak, technology enthusiast, and wannabe entrepreneur. He can be found on Twitter at @HariofSpades.