STRATEGY

Shadowing in other departments is an excellent way to broaden your expertise, raise your profile, and subtly seek out transfer opportunities. No supervisor will be thrilled with the idea. They'll fear you're looking to leave, that you're being poached by others in the company, or that your performance will suffer. You're unlikely to get a firm “yes” when you first propose this, so your goal is to overcome all the fears they may have and to keep you from getting an outright rejection. The best ways to do that are to cite your supervisor's own criticisms or suggestions, profess your love of your job, and demonstrate how your regular work won't possibly suffer. Frame this request as a response to what you've been told, not something you've come up with on your own.

TACTICS

• Attitude: You are the ultimate loyal staffer, following your supervisor's guidance and suggestions to be the best you can be at your job. And you're willing to do whatever it takes to do that.
• Preparation: Cite whatever relevant criticism or suggestions you've received in the past from your supervisor that could justify the shadowing. Have a plan to ensure you won't be spending any less time on your current job.
• Timing: Select a time when you're unlikely to have an excessive work load. If your supervisor objects to the timing anyway, ask them to provide you with a time frame that would work.

  
  

• Behavior: Hold this conversation in person in your supervisor's office if possible. Do everything you can to demonstrate your loyalty and focus on your own job.

ADAPTATIONS

This script can be modified to:

• Ask for a temporary transfer to fill a suddenly vacant vital role in another department.

KEY POINTS

• Cite your supervisor's own criticisms or suggestions as the reason for your needing to broaden your experience.
• Demonstrate that you won't be spending any less time or effort on your own responsibilities.
• Ease fears of your being a flight risk or that you were poached.
• Stress your openness to whatever time frame works best for your supervisor.