By Ekaterina Grishko

The arrival of a new manager to a team or a company is always a mystery. This mystery can end up bringing a lot of opportunities and professional benefits to you as an employee. However, the most nerve-wracking part of the management transition is that your ability to embrace these potential opportunities depends on the impression you make during the first couple of weeks of working under a new ‘regime’.

Many factors can impact the way a new boss perceives employees. You may attempt to control all those factors simultaneously, thinking that it will improve your professional image. However, this behavior can also result in a decrease of your performance over time. In addition to this, all people are different, so there is no guarantee that the old boss’ favorite parts of your performance won’t become the worst pet peeves for the new one.

Feeling overwhelmed with the arrival of a new boss? Master the following five tasks:

Learn communication preferences
The majority of leaders have strong interpersonal skills. Healthy communication is often a key to their diplomatic victories. Adopting a certain communication style that your new boss is most comfortable with is important if you want to become a part of their victories. Try to figure out basic communication preferences of your new leader, especially when you report to them on your progress. What kinds of tasks must be reported in a written form? Which ones can be communicated verbally? What is a preferred turnaround time? What does “urgent” mean for your new boss? Questions like this must be answered in order to eliminate very basic but very significant issues, and to help you start off a relationship with a new boss on a good note.

Meet regularly
Having regular meetings with a manager is essential to ensure that both of you stay on the same page in regards to current and future projects. This gets even more important at the time of the management transition. In this case, the number of meetings must double not only because you need to be remembered by your new boss, but mostly because you need to clearly understand new expectations that they bring into the system.

Take initiative and offer help
With a new boss, a company gets new priorities, strategies and focuses. This opens a lot of room for innovative proposals and creative ideas. Management transition is the best time for you to vocalize concerns and proposals that were declined before. You never know how your new boss will react to them! However, before you share your ideas and initiatives, make sure that your new manager fully understands the way your company used to operate before them. Volunteer to report on certain matters, offer your help in explaining what’s going on with the team and the business. Introduction into a new work environment is one of the most stressful experiences in anyone’s career. Your new manager is not an exception.

Disable the “switch”
Tardiness, extra coffee breaks, occasional failures to follow dress code standards… All of these may become a norm once you get used to a workplace and management. With a new manager, a lot of people turn their “new boss” mode on and get very obedient to corporate standards … again. All of the sudden, they start showing up to work an hour early and leaving an hour after everyone is gone just to demonstrate their dedication to the company and their readiness to take challenges that demand extra time and effort. Unfortunately, this does not count as a sign of professionalism. If a managerial change makes you feel like raising the bar for your performance and office behavior, then make sure you are able to meet new standards not only for the first couple of months but for your entire career.

Do not overplay
Sometimes our attempts to create a positive impression and to make someone like us lead to quite the opposite result. First and foremost, the appearance of a new boss does not cancel the fact that the rest of the team already knows who you are and is familiar with your typical behavior, habits, and manners. Your desire to stand out in front of the new boss can look suspicious not only to the boss but also to your colleagues. In your attempts to be noticed, you actually lose your true professional identity. This might become obvious to your team very quickly and may result in losing their trust. Instead of trying to put yourself in the center of attention, try to demonstrate your devotion to your team’s collective effort in helping the company grow.

Staying dedicated to who you are as a professional within your organization, avoiding adulation and doing your job well are the best things you can do in order to deserve a positive and stable relationship with a new boss. Do not be nervous and try to act natural. Remember, at the end of the day, the only person you have to explain or prove something to is yourself!

Ekaterina Grishko is a Marketing Coordinator at Ashton College. Founded in 1998, Ashton College has become a national and international force in the field of higher education.