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Given how volatile the tech market has been over the past few years, it’s unsurprising that some leaders have had to navigate big role changes.
In January of 2023, just after the holiday season, I received some shocking news at work: our company was implementing a significant reduction in workforce, and our organization was severely impacted. Overnight, I went from being an engineering manager of a small team to an individual contributor alongside other engineers who had similarly survived the layoff. I also happened to be 31 weeks pregnant and was imminently due to go on parental leave in the midst of all of these changes.
With enough tenure in this industry, you will likely run into situations that you did not anticipate for yourself. Perhaps you were thrust into a role with an entirely new set of responsibilities, or maybe you were impacted by a restructuring that resulted in you joining a new team or organization.
In an ideal world, every role change would be carefully planned; we would collaborate with our managers to thoughtfully consider what role would be the best fit for us and how we could best prepare for that position. But sometimes, we don’t have the luxury of time and space to methodically plan.
A mindful transition
Once you’ve had a moment to process and digest the news that your job is about to change, the next step is transitioning from one role to the other.
Depending on how fast your role change occurs, you may be able to wind down from one role and ramp up into the next. If you’re in this situation, you have one important thing on your side: time. You may even have enough time to finish anything in progress and tie up loose ends.
If things move more quickly, you will need to accept that you won’t be able to wrap up your work. However, even if the situation requires that you pivot immediately, you can still take the time to document, compile, and organize everything you know from your previous role.
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If you were leading a project or a team before your role change, take some time and write down any knowledge you might have that isn’t already documented. If you have domain-specific context that you will be leaving behind, identify the new domain owners and introduce yourself to them as a resource. It’s likely that some individual or team will pick back up on the projects or domains that you are leaving behind. By taking the time to document what you know, you ensure that the next project owner retains the knowledge you worked hard to gain.
Resetting goals and expectations
Understanding your new position and expectations of the job is important. Who will you work closely with? What will success look like? What kind of influence will you have? Who will you need to build trust with, and who do you have in your corner to support you?
Work closely with your manager – if you’ve had a manager change, this would be with your new manager – to understand how your day-to-day will evolve and how you should best prepare for those changes. Remember that the skills you acquired in your previous job will likely transfer over into your new position.
Make time to consider your career goals, and if you’re reporting to a new manager, share those goals with them early on. The two of you will need to work together in order to determine if those goals are still something you can work towards in this new role. If they aren’t, you will need to figure out what you can work toward; if that doesn’t align with your longer-term aspirations, you will need to advocate for yourself to move into another position where that is possible.
Build trusting relationships
Work is more fun when we enjoy who we work with. If your new job requires you to work with people you haven’t collaborated with before, get to know them, be an ally, and offer yourself as a resource and helping hand.
In my experience, trust is often built by doing hard things together, which forms a strong bond across all parties. You may find that trust comes more easily once you have actually started solving problems with your new team or peers.
An escape hatch
Some jobs just aren’t a good fit. If, after some time, your new role doesn’t feel fulfilling or enjoyable, be sure to share that feedback with your manager. Hopefully, they can work with you to either address your specific pain points or find another role within the team or organization that would be more suitable.
If talking to your manager doesn’t produce results after some time, you may want to consider looking beyond your company for a position that better fits your long-term goals or short-term needs. It’s okay to leave a role or company that isn’t working for you, particularly if there is no future or clear path forward for you.
However, I recommend treating this option as a last resort. It can be easy to jump ship when the unanticipated happens. But, I have found that there are things to learn from even the most uncomfortable situations, even if we didn’t wish them for ourselves.
Final thoughts
Change is inevitable and the only constant. Whether the changes for you have been welcome or unwanted, knowing that we have tools available to help us navigate them can help put some of that discomfort at ease. And if we accept and even lean into that discomfort, we can navigate the unexpected gracefully.
