So how do I convince my boss I'm not just a big fat waste of space ?

[rookiemater]

Around August last year my old boss left and we got transferred to a new department.Completely different management style, before I was fairly pigeon holed in what I did and also expectation levels were fairly low, new boss is quite exacting, but v difficult to schedule time with as so busy.

Unfortunately after a few weeks this coincided with flaring up of a health issue for me leading to time off for an op, then additional time off as I'm on heavy duty hormonal treatment and it took my body and mind a bit of time to adjust.

When I had my end of year review he stated a number of things I need to do to improve my profile and make a more positive contribution. Generally I agreed with what he said and felt it would have been hard for him to draw any different conclusion based on my performance during the time I had worked for him, although it was in a large part due to this medical incident ( I have no history of taking time off btw)

So today we were scheduled to catch up and I was expecting an innocuous meeting. I have been working really hard and have implemented changes to our team and generally felt that I was doing good. But the meeting didn't go well and partly because I feel a bit nervous around him there were a few instances where I wasn't sure if he was alluding to something that I may or may not have done or for example I said I would like to go on a Leadership course and his response was "Thank Goodness", I know I should have asked what he meant by that but just too gobsmacked to do so.

Thing is my boss is a good guy I just think he has formed an impression of me based on a very difficult few months and I'm swimming against the tide to change it. Its really upset me as I feel that I'm not a spectacularly good mother or employee right now. So how can I make him change his opinion of me ?

It seems to me as though the only way to counter this is to raise your profile and build up a reputation as someone who gets things done. You say you've implemented changes - did he know about them at the time?

It seems to me as though the only way to counter this is to raise your profile and build up a reputation as someone who gets things done. You say you've implemented changes - did he know about them at the time?

Watching this thread with interest as I am struggling with the same sort of thing having come back off maternity leave into a new job with high expectations all round (me, my boss and colleagues) which haven't been met, partly because they were unrealistic, partly because I have felt overwhelmed and not dealt with it as well as I could.

I really want to change first impressions and worry that any changes I do make go unnoticed because of first impressions.

I think I might be a tad depressed. Even the words "raise your profile" and "build up a reputation" make me want to curl up into a ball and cry.

Rookie, not surprising you feel overwhelmed at the thought of raising your profile and building up a reputation - they can be pretty huge things, especially if you're still recovering. But if you can think of small actions that you CAN take, then it might seem more possible. For example, get to work 5 minutes early; keep your desk or work area tidy and organised; have a visible list of priority actions and be seen to be crossing off completed actions; let your boss know about anything that has gone particularly well (but keep it brief)e.g. an email to let him know that there has been a sale to an important client.

In the longer term if you do a leadership course, then discuss with you boss what your current strengths are, what you both expect you will get out of the course, and how you will both know if this has happened.

Make sure you tell him about the things you are doing and changes you are making. If these issues were raised at your end of year review that's not very long ago at all.

Take the initiative. Book in a meeting with him and say that following the recent discussion you have had, it is important to you to raise your profile in the organisation and make a positive contribution. With that in mind you are planning to do x, y and z things to do that, which will result in a,b and c improvements in those areas, and you would like to set a further review meeting with him in a month, (or 2 months or 3 months depending on the intiatives and timescale) to discuss how things are progressing. You would welcome any input from him in terms of what he would like to see from you.

Agree with flowery (as ever) I had a horrific experience in my last job, basically left to sink with no support or guidance and constantly criticised for, essentially, not being telepathic.

This time round I have made a point of scheduling a weekly meeting with my boss. It's not long, but I go through what I've done that week, discuss what needs to be done and bounce ideas off him. It was a bit daunting at first, but I've grown to like it, as has he, because it means misunderstandings are cleared up quickly, he can pass on information in one chunk, leaving him more time to do his own work, I can ask all those niggling little questions that aren't worth interrupting him over during the general course of the week and I feel better knowing exactly what I have to do instead of sometimes having to try to second guess things.

I had to push quite hard for these meetings in the beginning. The boss initially thought that they would take up too much of his time. But he has come to realise that 20 minutes with me and a list of points once a week means a far more efficient operation.

I'm sorry - didn't mean to make you feel bad! All I meant by those things is keep doing what you're doing but make sure he knows about it - men are very good at this, women less so I find.

Thanks folks some great suggestions there. I have scheduled in weekly catch ups that way hopefully the length of the meetings will be reduced. I also had a really good chat with Dh quite helpful to get a male perspective. I need to move up a gear in terms of my communication be ultra prepared when I go in to talk to him.
But best of all I have been given an actual project, I think a main part of the problem is that I haven't been busy enough and its hard to demonstrate how dynamic and thrusting I am when there isn't enough work to do.
Keep your fingers crossed for me that it starts to get better.

Good for you - glad you are feeling more positive!

my dh loves bullet points - he would like to see a list, probably bullet pointed, with short sub titles, so you can have 'things i've done, 'in progress' and 'questions'. that way it's really simple to see what is happening. sounds like your boss wants to see you do better, and isn't trying to get rid of you or anything nasty, just trying to get the most from you.