Sticky solutions to your everyday business challenges
Question: I started a new job with a marketing agency three months ago. The work is exciting and I’m learning a lot. My only worry is that my manager has stopped showing up for our weekly Zoom meetings. I’m concerned that if this keeps happening, he won’t know what I’m working on and may think that I’m not being productive since I work from home. How can I keep my manager updated on my work if he keeps cancelling our meetings?
Answer: Use this opportunity to “lead up” by taking proactive steps to share your progress despite your manager’s absence. Every Friday, send your manager a weekly update using a simple template, like the one below.
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Weekly Update (Sample)
Projects On Track
Completed: Finished the Q3 forecast and received feedback from managers. Ready to present to senior leaders.
In Process: 60% complete with SEO project; will be ready to roll out by 9/1.
Good News: Monthly newsletter open data remains well above 20% despite adding an average of 230 new subscribers over the last 3 months.
Projects At Risk or Need Input
Need Feedback: Web page includes new accessibility language to comply with ADA standards. Legal needs your feedback on their comments (attached).
Reprioritize: Recommend we move McKinney campaign review to late August since J&J campaign for Discovery Magazine is due next month.
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By standardizing your template, your manager will be able to quickly scan to find out at a glance what you’re working on. When you do get to meet with your manager, you can cover meaningful priorities instead of status updates.
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