As you aim to make that career leap from an intermediate to a senior role, you may find that your manager is asking for more than just a well-done job; you are expected to demonstrate leadership. One crucial aspect of leadership that cannot be overstated is driving collaboration. This doesn’t simply mean working with others but being the force that brings people together.

#1. Leaving the bubble

Starting off your career can seem daunting and it’s often a lot safer to work within your team, where more experienced teammates can provide support and guidance. But to continue your career progression, you have to leave this comfort zone and develop the habit of working with other teams.

You need to get comfortable with working outside your team, collaborating with others, and initially, not being the driving force, but just getting used to that muscle of going out, building relationships.

#2. Leading Cross-Team Projects

In the early stages, you can participate in cross-team projects without necessarily having to lead. As your confidence grows, you should take up the mantle and lead these cross-team projects.

In my own experience working in DevRel, a simple example could be leading a project aimed at creating recommended practices for a specific implementation. If the rest of your team are not the experts on the subject, this opens an opportunity for you to take the lead.

This is where the skill of pulling in subject matter experts, who have experience with different types of implementations and can bring diverse perspectives, becomes crucial. By centrally coordinating expertise and diverse viewpoints around a common goal, you demonstrate your capacity for collaboration and initiative.

#3. Plan and Manage Timelines

One key aspect of leading projects is the ability to effectively plan and manage timelines. You need to figure out the next steps, understand the dependencies, and identify who needs to be involved and how long tasks will take. Learning to do this independently is a strong sign that you’re ready to level up in your career.

Initially, when you’re first doing this, you might want to get some help from somebody who’s more experienced on it to kind of mentor you in this way.

#4. Decide and Delegate

Last but definitely not least, it’s important to build the habit of making decisions and delegating tasks. As a project lead, you will face the challenge of having multiple people with competing priorities. Deciding who is the best person for different tasks, which tasks take priority, and how to balance everyone’s dependencies is a skill to be developed over time.

Essentially, a senior must know how to work with others and know how to take charge; to plot the course from a project’s starting point, through the challenges, and on to its successful conclusion.

Are you trying to make this transition right now? Maybe I can help! Post your comments and questions below and let’s figure it out together.

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