How to Ask to Work on Another Teams Project - The Muse

How to Ask to Work on Another Teams Project - The MuseHow to Ask to Work on Another Teams ProjectYou dont hate your job necessarily, but youre, wellbored. Your day-to-day responsibilities have become second nature, and you no longer feel like youre being challenged.Then an idea smacks you in the face. Someone on the sales kollektiv is working on a new assignment youd love to get your hands on. Or, youve been dying to start a company blog and no ones taken the initiative. Or, youre fascinated by social media and want to spend more time helping out the marketing team.Surely your anfhrer would let you take on an outside project if it was for the good of the company? Heres what you need to know to get them to say yes.Make a Convincing CaseFirst of all, do your homework. How would this help you in your job and help your team, and help your manager get work done? says Muse career coach Valerie McMurray, who has 20+ years of experience in corporate leadership and human resources. Make the c onnection for your boss not just to how this project aligns with team or company goals, but how itll make you a more valuable employee. What skills will you develop? What relationships will you build? What discoveries could you make?Then, she says, write all this out in a plan This is what it would look like, this is the time it would take me, this is how it wont impact my job. (Need an easy presentation template to organize your thoughts? Try this one.)Finally, she adds, Can you get anybody else to advocate for you? Maybe the team member youre looking to work with or another supervisor within your team can back up your claims and help you get permission from your boss. Grab coffee or sit down with them to understand how you can be a valuable asset or how you can participate in their work, and ask if theyd be willing to vouch for you.Approach Your BossYou always want to emphasize and lead with how its going to benefit the boss- how itll make things better for him or her, how itll ma ke him or her look better, says McMurray.This makes sense, right? If you can show itll be good for them (and not just good for yourself), youre more likely to get their stamp of approval.So how do you approach this conversation? Well, you can send an email to start. For exampleHi Boss Name,Id like to discuss taking on a department name project.As of now, Im currently working on projects youre working on. These are on track to be completed by when theyll be finished with the hope of expected result, and are a top priority for me.However, I have a bit of room in my schedule to work on other assignments, and Id love to explore the possibility of taking on new project. I believe this would be beneficial for both of us because reasons why it would benefit you, your manager, and your team.Would it be possible to sit down to chat more about this? Happy to send you my initial thoughts/plan, as well as get your feedback on this idea.Your Name Assuming you get a yes, finalize your presentatio n and prepare to walk your boss through your thought process (and if you get a no, jump straight to the next step)Ive noticed that gap in process or goal and think that this project will helpAs you can see, this would directly contribute to our goals byMy hope is that through this project Ill develop X skills/improve Y processId love to expand my skill set and become a stronger player, and believe this is the best option to do so becauseMore importantly, prepare for and address any concerns they may have. What are the counterarguments to getting this project up? How will you defend yourself when they say theyre worried about it taking up too much of your time? Or, conflicting with your other responsibilities? Or, requiring them to manage you more?Understand That You Might Get a No (for Now)The reality of all this is that theres no guarantee your manager will say yes- even if you did all your homework, even if you made a solid case, even if other people back you up. Your boss has the final say on what you work on, and its possible this project would conflict with their expectations for the future. Maybe they expect a massive project to be handed over to your team in the next couple months and so they need you to be ready and available. Or, theyre aware that company goals might be shifting and this project will no longer be feasible or in-line with the changes.Regardless, be prepared to react in the right way, says McMurray. How you respond to a no says wonders about who you are as an employee, and staying positive and professional may convince your boss to reconsider your request down the road. Here are some phrases to tryI understand why you disagree with this and appreciate you explaining further.I wasnt aware of those changes and am glad you brought them to my attention.Thank you for considering my idea, and Im happy continuing to do what were doing now.Its also possible your boss will blatantly say that theyd be willing to revisit it later on. If thats the case, says McMurray, hold them to it. You can say something along the lines of Great, I understand. Is it OK if in six months I reach out to you to discuss this again? and ask to set a meeting on the calendar.Make the fruchtwein of Your Current SituationIf all doors are shut, says McMurray, are there things you could come up with within your own teamthat gives you a stretch assignment of some kind to help in your development?Basically, are there other options for challenging yourself and learning within the bounds of your current job?Maybe you cant start a blog, but you can assist your team in writing copy for your company newsletter. Or, instead of being able to help out your colleague on the sales team you grab coffee to learn more about the work theyre doing. Or, maybe you take your passions outside your office- signing up for an online class or taking on a side gig.Just because you cant work on something under your boss eye doesnt mean your growth has to stagnate.One more note I ts key to have unterstellung career development conversations with your boss early on- usually when youre just starting out at a new job. This way, when you approach them with a proposal like this, they already expected it and understand how it aligns with your career goals.And managers arent always good at this, so its up to the employee to start that relationship and process out from the very beginning, adds McMurray.So, moving forward, make it clear to your boss where youre looking to go and how they might help you in getting there. Youll immediately set yourself up to have more opportunities for exploration in your role.