As a professional writer, I value the input of editors whom I trust. When I get a good editor who knows my work, I usually do my best to keep him or her happy. I try to build a great professional relationship with my editors, and I do my best to make it lasting.
I’ve had one editor for the past year at my job whose opinions I really respect. His knowledge of writing is unsurpassed, and, perhaps even more importantly, how he talks about my writing truly impresses me. He just seems to get me; he always knows just how to offer his suggestions and criticism, and he does so in a way that respects my own work. In a sense, we make a good writing team.
Unfortunately, my editor recently left his job and now I’m left adjusting to the change in my workflow. So far, I’ve managed to come up with some ideas that have helped me figure out a way to move on after losing my favorite supervisor. Hopefully these tips can be helpful to others in a similar position as mine.
Understand that things have changed.
The biggest step to make is to accept that certain aspects of your work and environment are going to be different from now on. The faster you can accept the change, the quicker you will be able to adjust to them, thus increasing your productivity and perhaps challenging yourself to get better at what you do.
Once I finished mourning my editor’s departure, I decided to treat the new supervisor as someone who was just as knowledgeable and able as my previous editor. I thought of her arrival as an opportunity to learn and improve as a writer at my job. So far, this attitude has helped me immensely.
Build rapport with your new supervisor.
Once your new supervisor arrives at the office, you should do your best to build a rapport with him or her. After all, this person will now be responsible for you and the rest of the team, and so he or she will naturally want to jump in and make a mark on how things get done. Your goal, as a responsible employee, is to make this transition as easy as possible, which means doing your best to get along with this person. Try to understand how he or she works. Get to know about his or her past works and working style.
My new supervisor was once a professor of writing at a university, apparently, which explains some of the ways she’s tried to connect with us. She is very big on one-on-one conferences and working with her writers in order to help them. I’ve enjoyed how she collaborates with us on a personal level, and it’s really helped me to become comfortable with her.
Begin a new project.
One of the best ways to move on is to begin a new project. If possible, you should embark on a new project with your team and under the direction of your new supervisor. Start afresh. Sure, you’ll still need to work on past projects that your old supervisor oversaw, but it’s also good to start a new project so you can really see how your team will handle the new supervisor and get to know how it will work together under these new circumstances. In a sense, a new project is a blank canvas.
Of course, I didn’t suggest the new project, but when my new supervisor did, I was pleased. It helped me refocus my energy and learn how she worked. So far, we’ve successfully completed a handful of projects and we’ve met all of our deadlines and goals.
Change your routine.
Finally, you’ll want to change your own routine. Of course, you probably most productive when you can follow your specific workflow, so you shouldn’t change that. However, you should change how and when you interact with your supervisor. Be aware that your supervisor is new to the job, so you should try to see how you can help him or her from your side. This might mean going outside your comfort zone, but since you’re familiar with how everything used to be done, then you’ll be able to help your supervisor learn the ropes.
For example, with my new supervisor, I tried to show her how we typically organize our projects and upload them to the company-wide cloud; however, I made a point of explaining that this is how we’ve done it, but we’re open to shifting that based on what she wanted to do with the project. I think it’s important to help a supervisor understand the system, but also to be open to that supervisor’s suggestions for changing the system.
Really, these are pretty simple steps that all stem from realizing that things are going to change and it’s best to go with the newness. If you can keep this realization forefront in your mind, you’ll be able to be successful in your job under your new supervisor.
How do you deal with change at the workplace?
And in case you were interested, things with my new editor are going pretty well!
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