3 Tips for Approaching Your Boss With A New Idea
When you’re in the trenches doing your job every day, you really become in-tune with the functionality and efficiencies surrounding your role in your company. You notice where things are lagging behind and where big steps forward are being made, and even your supervisors don’t always notice these things. So when you get to a point where you can see where an improvement can be made but you realize you can’t implement it on your own, it’s time to approach your boss with your new idea. However, this conversation can be a challenge for many women, especially if you feel like it’s not really your place to be making suggestions. So to help you find the most success possible in these scenarios, here are three tips for approaching your boss with a new idea.
Bring In More Than Just Your Newborn Idea
The last thing you want to do is run into your boss’s office as soon as an idea connects in your mind. This could leave you floundering during the conversation and may result in not having your idea come to fruition. Rather than jumping into your pitch too soon, Sara McCord, a contributor to The Muse, recommends coming into your idea meeting having all the answers to any questions your boss might ask. This means you’re going to have to develop your idea from a newborn idea into a full grown adult idea, including things like how you plan to implement your idea, what resources you’ll need, when you’ll see a return on the investment, and more.
Try A Practice Pitch First
Especially if your boss is the owners or founder of the business, you may want to tread lightly during your pitch of your new idea. If you’re pointing out a part of the business that is inefficient or unnecessary that they initiated, you could be putting your position at risk. Knowing this, Kathryn Tuggle, a contributor to TheStreet.com, suggests pitching your idea to a trusted co-worker first. This co-worker will hopefully know the business well enough to understand your idea and help find any holes you may not have noticed. This will make you feel much more prepared for your actual pitch. Because you’ll already have figured out the best way to phrase things that won’t cause your boss to hate you by pointing out the cause of a problem they helped create.
Connect Your New Idea to An Existing Goal
If you work for a fast-moving company, it can often be very hard to bring up a new idea when the company’s already working hard on existing agendas. When you feel this obstacle in front of you, Liz Wiseman, a contributor to Fortune, advises connecting your idea to a current agenda or goal that your company’s working toward. By showing your boss how your new idea could positively impact their business goals, you may have a much easier time getting your idea signed off on.
If you have a great idea for the company you work for but are unsure about how to approach your boss with it, use the tips mentioned above to help you do just that.