Finding opportunities to stretch yourself beyond the day to day at work is the ideal way to give your career a boost. However, looking for new challenges is not just about impressing the boss. Taking on responsibilities which push you outside your comfort zone will also boost your own confidence and sense of self-worth.

Taking on new challenges adds more variety to your role and makes it far more interesting than continuing to carry out the same tasks month after month. Any job can become dull without new tasks or projects. Learning how to work on different tasks keeps your motivation and interest levels higher.

A good boss knows that keeping staff motivated is critical for staff retention, so will be happy to support you as you take on new work.

Don’t wait until you are trying for a promotion to start taking on additional responsibilities. This should be an ongoing way of working, try and make it become habit. As soon as you have become comfortable and fully competent in a role, it is time to start seeking out opportunities to take on new tasks which stretch you. If you continue to work only within your comfort zone, you will find it much harder to step up to a promotion.

Planning for new challenges

Create a personal development plan with goals detailing what you aim to do and when. A very simple plan might state that you aim to take on one new challenge per month, and might list the types of work you would be interested in learning more about.

You need to assess the type of tasks you are ready to take on. It’s important to be honest and realistic with yourself, whilst not allowing self-doubt to take over your decision. Consider not only whether you have the skills to carry out the task, but also whether you have enough time to fit it in, whilst continuing to get through your existing workload. In order to assess your readiness for a new piece of work, it is essential that you have a good understanding of exactly what the work entails, so make sure you get a thorough brief from your manager.

It’s a good idea to start small. Try a piece of work which will take you outside your comfort zone but will not stretch you so far that you feel completely out of your depth. It is better to deliver a small new task successfully than fail on a major project. Over time you will feel ready to take on ever bigger challenges. Your boss will also assess the risk of letting you have a go at a new challenge, and if both of you feel you are ready for the job, it’s time to push aside any doubts and get on with the work.

Feedback and learning

Once you have completed the assignment, take the time to analyse what went well and what could have been improved on. Seek feedback from your manager on the new work you have done, and use it to build on your development plan.

As you take on more challenging opportunities, your manager will realise that they can call on you for increasingly demanding work. This may well get noticed by people in other areas too, so you get known for being a capable and enthusiastic employee who is happy to tackle new projects. It is also worth recording each new achievement. When you have gained new experience and skills, update your CV with the new details, and make a point of taking your records to your appraisal meetings so that you can remind your boss, if necessary, about the opportunities you have taken for personal development.

View your additional work as an investment in your future, not as a passport to an instant pay rise or promotion. Those things may follow, but it is better to enjoy the process, and not see stretching yourself just as a means to an end.

Overcoming obstacles

There are many things which might deter you from putting yourself forward for more responsibility. Don’t let a fear of failure get in your way. Provided you have considered the task realistically, you should not have a problem in completing it. If you need to ask for help, you should not hesitate to do so. People will expect you to need some support when you first try something new.

The majority of people are delighted to find their employees are keen to take on more work, and are more than happy to share their workload and devolve responsibility. Unfortunately, occasionally you may encounter a manager who is uncomfortable with delegating their work, perhaps because of their own insecurities or because they have a strong need to be in complete control. In this situation you will need to make it absolutely clear that you are offering to ease their workload, hoping to broaden your own experience, and not trying to tread on their toes. This will help to avoid getting into a conflict situation.

You could consider preparing a short report or presentation for your boss outlining what you hope to achieve and the benefits for each of you. This might help to alleviate any concerns your manager may have, as you can make it clear that you are simply seeking new challenges, and offering support, not trying to undermine him or her in any way.

Another way to help convince a boss who is not eager to delegate work is to make a point of offering to help with tasks which you know your boss doesn’t enjoy doing. For example, if you offer to write a weekly report which your boss always struggles to complete on time, it could come as a welcome relief. Even if this would not be a favourite task for you either, the additional experience and skills you gain will make it worthwhile.

As your boss and others become more confident of trusting you with new challenges, you may be asked to take on more and more work. Whilst you clearly wish to demonstrate enthusiasm to learn and grow, it is essential to know when to say no. Take on what you know you can deliver, and reject the rest. Your manager will respect you for it, and it shows that you have yet more strings to your bow – self-knowledge and the confidence to stand up for yourself – qualities which you will need as you progress your career.

About this author

Adam Shapley, Managing Director, Hays New Zealand and Hays IT Australia & New Zealand, began working at Hays in 2001 and during this time has held significant leadership roles across the business including responsibility for multiple specialisms in various locations across Australia & New Zealand.

In 2018, he was appointed to Hays ANZ Management Board and made Managing Director for Hays New Zealand.

Adam is also responsible for the strategic direction of the Hays Information Technology business across Australia & New Zealand including driving growth across Digital Technology, Projects & Business Change and IT Operations & Support.

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