You’ve been working hard at your job for a while and you feel ready to take on more responsibility so you can grow and develop in your career. How can you get that responsibility granted to you? Use these tips to ask your boss for more.
Make Sure You Appear Ready for More Responsibility
You might be mentally ready to tackle more responsibilities at work, but it’s important to take stock of how you are perceived. If you are someone who misses deadlines, doesn’t reach out to help others, who hops online to shop when your daily tasks are done, you may not receive more responsibility when you ask. If you think you may have some issues with perception, spend a few months kicking butt with your current workload before asking for new responsibilities.
Have Something Specific in Mind
If you just ask your boss for more responsibility without knowing your goal, you likely won’t get more handed to you. And if you do, you’ll be at the mercy of whatever your boss decides to give you, which may not include things you are interested in doing. Before you ask, be very specific about the responsibilities you are shooting for.
Build Your Case
Once you have specific responsibilities in mind, it’s time to start building your case. First, tackle the skills you need to develop or grow. Next, focus on knocking projects out of the park that are related to the new responsibilities you are looking for. Keep track of your successes so you can prove to your boss that you’re the right person for more responsibility.
Talk To Your Boss
Your boss is not a mind reader. You may be working hard to prove you’re ready for more, but that doesn’t necessarily mean your boss is picking up on your signals. The only way to get more responsibility is to sit down with your boss and ask for it. If you know what you are asking for and if you can show that you are the right person for the tasks, it makes asking much easier—and it will make it harder for your boss to say no. However, you should prepare yourself for answers like, “no,” or “maybe sometime in the future.” Just because you ask doesn’t mean you’ll receive.
Looking For a New Job? Contact The Reserves Network!
If you are truly ready for more and your boss turns you down, it’s time to look for a new job where you have more room to grow. If you are ready to start your job search, The Reserves Network can help. Contact us to learn more or browse our current job openings.