OK so you’re the new guy… Where do you start?
Read below or click here to watch video
You walk into a new job as a CFO, Finance Director, or related position.
On your first week, you find out the books are behind, way behind, the audits are delinquent, and your organization is about to lose millions of dollars of grant funding if you don’t get the books closed, the financial statements prepared, and the independent audit completed.
Your new job feels like you have to eat an elephant!
So what do you do?
Here are some ideas to consider:
1. Don’t panic. Get up and walk around the building, or do some yoga. It’s going to be OK. Tell yourself it’s going to be OK. You’re the best person for the job, this is why you were hired. It’s going to be OK, but it won’t be OK if you panic!
2. Sure, there’s little or no work paper of how it was done by your predecessor. You’ll have to create your own work paper, you know how to do this. And you’re not alone. You can do this.
3. Take an inventory of every task to be performed. You can create checklists and policies and procedures later, right now it’s time to stop the bleeding.
4. Triage may be necessary to fix your accounting system. Stop the bleeding and definitely don’t lose those millions of dollars in grant funding. This is your job. You can do this!
5. The first 60 to 90 days on your new job is critical. Yes, I know it’s an elephant of a job, but remember, you can eat the elephant, if you do it one bite at a time.
6. Utilize the staff you have, but don’t overtax them, but they are willing to help you if you’re reasonable and you engage them.
7. Call everybody who can help you, especially regional agencies and your counterparts at other organizations. Don’t be shy about asking for help, this shows you’re resourceful, not incompetent.
8. Don’t panic, I say it again, it will be all right. Take frequent breaks if necessary, but never panic.
9. You maynotice your boss and other staff walking by your office, and looking at you. Don’t worry about this. They are merely wanting to make sure that you don’t take off, that you don’t panic. Remember they want you to succeed just as much or more than you do.
10. OK, go for it. You just do the most work you can do in eight or 10 hours a day. It will be OK, as long as you plan your work and work your plan.
Remember, you’re are the best person for the job, because you were hired to do this job.
Now start eating that elephant… One piece at a time!
All for now on this Motivational Monday.
This is John Herrera from MuniTemps and the CitySpeak blog.