Can You Change Professional Places with A Colleague?

Your choice to change professional places with another colleague can be your best opportunity for becoming more visible, relevant, and valuable.

While your employer can provide training programs for you, some of these programs fall short of what you feel you need, professionally. However, no one said you cannot create a program for yourself, did they?

Today’s post features tools from Chapter 3, of my book Do YOU Mean Business? Technical / Non-Technical Collaboration, Business Development and You. Click on the link and buy your copy. Chapter 3 uncovers more about discovering your professional common denominators so you get to where you really need to go. Together. One millimeter at a time.

I recommend you follow these empowering self-service steps to change professional places with a colleague. As a result, discover your professional common denominators in the process. In addition, supplement the excellent programs offered by your employer.

First, is there a colleague (or more) from another professional discipline you have run across while working on a team? Let’s say you became intrigued by their skillsets and mindset, as you collaborated. And vice versa. Consider whether their communication style and how they process information challenges your own.

Next, liberate yourselves from the constraints of discovering these insights during typical time- and goal-driven team meetings. Instead, schedule a time to “shadow” each other. For starters, spend an hour in the professional lives of each other. Also, compare and contrast where, how, and why your functionality, responsibilities, skill sets, mindsets, and professional tools overlap, or not. In addition, consider how each other’s functionality helps you both better serve your specific set of internal colleagues. Once again, consider the degree of overlap between your respective internal professional networks. How can you both improve potential areas for cross-functional collaboration?

Then, identify opportunities to build bridges across your mutual areas of complement, as well as identified functionality gaps. Do each of you know other individuals you both can enlist to continue growing your cross-functionality together?

When you begin your mutual Change Professional Places Initiative, you start to professionally innovate together.

Build bridges across communication and collaboration disconnects between people and professional disciplines. Even if your organization is not ready to do so on a broader scale. As you move forward, together, one millimeter at a time, you become more professionally visible, cross-functionally relevant, and strategically valuable. People will notice, as you become the go-to voices of your respective disciplines, together. All because you took the risk to reach out across the organization and discover what you have in common.

Today’s post features tools from Chapter 3, of my book Do YOU Mean Business? Technical / Non-Technical Collaboration, Business Development and You. Click on the link, buy your copy. Chapter 3 uncovers more about discovering your professional common denominators so you get to where you really need to go. Together. One millimeter at a time. No more “Us versus Them” mindset. Have fun and grow professionally when you choose to change professional places!

Planning your next team, corporate or association meeting? Searching for a one-on-one catalyst to get you unstuck? Engage me to present a One Millimeter Mindset ™ program! Delivered virtually or in-person. Contact me here.

Babette Ten Haken | Change Catalyst | Purpose-Driven Professional Innovation | Cross-Functional Team Leadership | Trust-Based Client Retention | In Person & Virtual Speaker, Consultant, Coach, Author |

Babette Ten Haken is a refreshingly extroverted STEM professional and skeptical thinker focused on intentional innovation. She helps people, teams and organizations make hard calls when designing products, services, careers and cultures. These are not easy conversations to have. Her ability to translate cross-functional conversations between left-brain and right-brain thinkers provides different pathways for behavior, response, insight and collaboration. Think of the strategic business and human capital value of moving beyond avoidance or group-think, together. Instead, let your creativity, critical thinking, and leadership skills co-develop together, one millimeter at a time. Her playbook of cross-functional collaboration, Do YOU Mean Business? is available on Amazon.com. Contact Babette here. Image source: Adobe Stock