ALT-1 Careers how being an Interim Boss can Broaden Skills
Being selected as an interim boss during the absence of your own supervisor or another supervisor can be incredibly rewarding, and extremely difficult at the same time. Just the fact that you were selected for this position goes to show the level of trust that the company places in your abilities and the status that they give you within the company. This of course could be a good sign of their future intentions for you, if you are able to handle this type of position. It is for this reason, that you should really take these opportunities as a change to truly show what you are capable of, in hopes that you could potentially parlay these moments into a full time management position.
The biggest thing that you have to remember, when you are given this opportunity is that you need to take advantage of the training you are given and the tools that you are provided to learn as much about the job as possible. By showing that you are aggressive in learning the job and that you really want to learn the ins and outs of it, you are showing that you are capable of handling a promotion to the position in the future. It is important that you use this as a spring board into learning about the position before you ever obtain it. In doing so, you will be selected more often to fill the position, until you eventually just assume the position.
But regardless of the future responsibilities and promotions that are available, being in a position of power, also allows you to better understand the business in which you work. You are given greater access to information that you wouldn't normally have in your position and because of this, you are able to find out the deeper details as to how certain things function and why things are done in a particular way. You are also able to get a much larger picture of what the company does and how it operates in both directions in the hierarchy.
You also get to better understand how to deal with people and projects, as well as time management skills that you could even use for your current position. By seeing what your current boss sees you are also better able to understand why they react in the way that they do. For example, if you had worked in construction on the bottom pole for years, and suddenly got to be acting foreman, you would be able to see why the project is being slowed down and what could be done to fix this. You will also be able to see when time is being wasted or when those below you are just messing around. This could help you to better understand what needs to be done in order to get your boss off of your back during these projects and you could spread it around to your coworkers to ensure a higher rate of productivity.
The reality is that by taking a different position, you get to understand the overall work environment from a different perspective, regardless of what industry you are working in. Just being able to see how your boss views you job and the others connected to it, can be invaluable in how you plan out your own work day and do your own work. This of course will help to lead to promotions as you can ensure that you are the best one for that job. But these skills, are what will really pay off, by providing you with the experience and the knowledge that you need to truly succeed in your career path.
