7 Tips for exceeding at work as a Software Developer

Tips to Exceed at Work

If there was something I never learned in college, it was how to succeed in the workplace. I may have learned many technical skills, but I never took a class in how to make an impact in business or how to exceed expectations. These are skills that are learned the hard way; in the trenches. This article will give 7 ways for new employees to succeed at their new jobs.

1. First job, now what?

Fresh out of school you get hired to your first job. Congratulations, now what? First, you got hired because you are smart and because your manager thinks you will be an asset to the company. It's up to you to prove him or her right. The most important thing you learned in school is how to learn. The key to succeeding in business is to be able to learn new things quickly. Any job you will have over the next 50 years will require some kind of training. As you grow more experienced, the nature of this training will change, but you will always have to learn something. The faster you can learn the skills for your new position, the faster you can focus on becoming a productive team member. So spend some time during the first month to study the company's processes, product portfolio, standards, and get familiar with them. The time spent will easily repay itself later when you Excel at your job knowledge.

2. Training

Rarely is a new hire ready to work on Day 1. Almost all jobs today require some level of training. Coming from school, you are probably a bit fed up with learning and eager to start work. Remember, each company and each position will require new skills, and training is the fastest way to get there. In my own experience, there are several ways to get job training:

• Mandatory training
• Optional training
• Voluntary training
• Mentoring

The mandatory training can be tedious -- proper workplace behavior and ISO-9002 processes come to mind -- but get through it.

Optional training usually involves classes your employer has available, but for which you have to sign up. Carefully evaluate which ones you need and suggest to your manager how these may help your work. Take the initiative and investigate each class. Don't take them just to say you have. Take them if they can truly help you get better.

Voluntary training is training you do on your own. Buy a book on C++ or Web site development. Often your company will pay for these if you ask, but you must be prepared to pay for it yourself. In my experience, reading a book is a lot more efficient than taking an expensive training class. Classes have to go as slow as the slowest participant, and that can be tedious and repetitive. Read a book on your own time, and take notes.

Mentoring can be a great help, but we are not all so lucky as to have good mentors. So find one. Pick a person in the company you respect, someone who is knowledgeable and has some time. Then ask him or her if they would mind helping you out with some questions. Don't waste their time. Take them to lunch and discuss how they solved their worst problems. A mentor can quickly put you on the right track looking for information, and can be great for building your network.

3. Networking

The power of networking cannot be underestimated. Make friends in your company, in management, engineering, sales, marketing, finance, shipping, IT, etc.

Talk to people, but try not to waste their time. Get to know them during lunch breaks and meetings. The more people you know, the more contacts you have. Every contact you have is a potential solution for your next problem. And if they aren't the solution you are looking for, they might know someone who is. Most meetings start with a few minutes of idle chat until everyone has arrived. Spend it to get to know your colleagues better.

4. Never leave anyone waiting

One of my top priorities when I worked in a corporate environment was the rule: "Try your best not have anyone waiting for you." Whenever you wait for someone, you may get annoyed. The same applies to others. By making sure all your actions are done on time, all your e-mails are answered and you arrive at meetings on time, you are making sure that no one can ever claim you as the bottleneck. Not only does this look good when you have to face your manager, but others will think of you as a great co-worker.

Don’t be afraid to go beyond the call of duty when helping others. If someone asks you where a document is, don't just tell the person he or she can find the answer in process ABC-5, send a link. If you have to review a document, do it as soon as possible, not at the last second. You have to do it anyway, so why not be the first to reply?

5. Dealing with challenging colleagues

Sooner or later you will come across a colleague who is challenging.

Here is what you can do:

• Try minimizing your exposure to the person, but don't let it impact work. Work comes first.
• If the person is actively incompetent, document it. If your manager ever asks you, you will need documentation for your complaints.
• Sometimes, the best approach is to be honest. Tell the person that you are having some issues with his or her behavior and you would like to work it out. Talk privately, over lunch perhaps, and see if there is something that can be worked out.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to this type of problem, so play it by ear and be discreet. You may have to simply get used to it.

6. Exceeding expectations

Your manager expects you to do your job and that should always be your top priority: Get it done on time. At the end of the day there are deadlines to meet.

The way to exceed expectations is by doing high-quality work and going beyond the call-of-duty. Perhaps this is best illustrated with a few examples:

• The job you performed is very repetitive and requires training to learn. To succeed, document the process and explain each step. Not only will this document be handy for the next person, but you can easily find a replacement and move on to something more fun or challenging. To succeed even more, find a way to automate the job in the future. Now your manager has to find something else for you to do, and if you are prepared you could make some suggestions.
• The job you are doing is slow because of the processes you have to follow. To succeed, analyze the process and make a list of suggestions on how to improve it. Make sure you understand the purpose of the process and discuss your changes with the process owner. Processes should always be dynamic and most companies encourage improvements. When you meet with your manager, point out how your suggestions helped save time. Note: Always follow company processes; they are there for a reason.
• You are writing a document. To succeed, find and use company templates if they exist. If not, try and make your document so useful, it could function as a template for similar work. Suggest changes to existing templates when they don't work. And remember, a template is exactly that: a template. Don't use sections that are not required, but be prepared to defend your choices. To succeed even more, actively push for a review if needed or find other similar documents and learn from them. Ask your mentor for input.
• You are reviewing someone else's document. To succeed, suggest changes, but remember it is not your document. It's OK if your suggestions are rejected. Suggest a list of abbreviations if it doesn't exist and populate it. Compare it to other similar documents to see if anything is missing. To succeed even more, try to catch the things that are NOT included. Think about the document and try to find information that is missing, rather than focusing on the information already there.

7. Do's and don'ts

• Don't send E-mails to the entire company, unless there is a valid reason to do so.
• Don't “reply to all” in e-mails unless there is a genuine need for everyone to know your response. If you are providing any feedback that could be construed as negative to the sender, it is usually better to reply to the sender only.
• Do praise others for good work. Be sure to thank people when they help you. If you find a great document, send a thank-you note to the creator letting him or her know it helped you. This is also a good way to build your network.
• Don't take credit for other people's work. Your manager will not like it when he or she finds out and your colleague will be discouraged. By giving credit where it is due, your perceived integrity will improve.
• Don't ignore problems that are not yours. Help others solve them or bring them up at meetings. Be sure to offer at least one solution to solve them. It may not be the right one, but it shows your spirit of being involved positively.

Do take all this advice, but know that each situation is unique, and there may be better ways to get noticed in a company. I hope this can be a starting point.