Leadership Archives - Linking Humans

Arrows on blocks signifying career progression to a managerial role

All great ServiceNow careers need to start somewhere. For most employees, the path to progression begins with an entry-level position. Over time, as you develop your skills and knowledge, you can apply for promotions and higher-paid roles.

After a while in the ServiceNow industry, you may feel you have the leadership skills, knowledge, and expertise to thrive in a managerial role. A position as a manager can be an excellent way to increase your earning potential, showcase your knowledge, and unlock greater job satisfaction.

However, figuring out how to move into your first management position can be challenging.

Here are some of the top tips you can use to improve your chances of a new leader-level job.

Step 1: Excel in Your Current Role and Do Your Research

To achieve any promotion in the ServiceNow landscape, you first need to show your manager how great you are at what you do. Managers need significant expertise and experience in the field they’re going to be supervising. Showing your leaders, you’re a capable, and accomplished member of the team will make them more likely to see your potential as a manager.

While you’re working on demonstrating your value in your current position, it’s worth doing some research. Find out what kind of skills the current managers in your company have, and determine whether there are any gaps you’ll need to fill in your own abilities.

It can also be helpful to look at how your company handles internal movement and promotions. Are there certain times of year when your employers make decisions about who should be moved into leadership roles? Finding out in advance will help you to decide when to approach your employer about any management opportunities.

Step 2: Develop Your Managerial Skills

There’s more to thriving in a managerial position than being an expert in the ServiceNow industry. There’s a good chance you’ll need to develop some crucial new skills to prove you can succeed in a managerial role.

The research you’ve done into the other managers in your company should help you to determine which talents matter most to your business. However, some of the most common managerial skills you may need to develop include:

Leadership skills: Learn how to motivate, inspire, and engage other employees by taking on the leader position in group tasks and volunteering for opportunities to take charge.
Decision making skills: You’ll need to be able to effectively analyse situations and respond to different scenarios with confidence.
Organisational skills: Demonstrate your organisational skills by ensuring you always meet with deadlines, and deliver punctual work.
Interpersonal skills: Work on your emotional intelligence and communicate regularly with leaders and other colleagues in your ServiceNow business.
Problem-solving skills: Show your ability to respond creatively to problems by suggesting solutions to issues in team meetings.

It’s also helpful to invest in your continued ServiceNow education. Earning new certifications and accreditation will demonstrate your expertise in your industry, and help to differentiate you as a potential leader.

Step 3: Show Initiative

Often, proving you’re ready for a management job means making sure you take advantage of every opportunity to showcase your expertise and abilities. This means you’re going to need to take initiative if you want to stand out.

Volunteer for tasks a manager might normally do, like taking charge of a team project, or helping your boss with a challenge most people would rather avoid. Rather than waiting for your supervisors to offer you training and development opportunities, seek out your own educational strategies to develop the skills you know are crucial to your company.

You can even demonstrate your leadership capabilities outside of your current role, by taking on leadership positions in non-profit organisations, and sharing your volunteering experiences with your company leaders.

Step 4: Ask for the Position

Once you’ve had a chance to demonstrate your abilities, build your skillsets and connect with the supervisors in your workplace, it’s time to ask for your new role. Arrange a time to meet with your boss face-to-face or over video so you can discuss your career progression opportunities.

During this meeting, you’ll need to be prepared to explain why you’re ready for this new challenge, and provide as much evidence as possible. Highlighting your recent accomplishments, and drawing attention to the managerial skills you’ve developed will be useful here. If possible, it’s always a good idea to have relationships with other ServiceNow managers in your team who can vouch for you.

If your employer doesn’t think you’re ready for a manager role yet, or there isn’t a space available for you to move into, ask what the next step is. Work with your boss to figure out what you need to do to transition into your ideal role.

Step 5: Be Prepared to Switch Companies

Finally, if you’re committed to becoming a manager, it’s important to be flexible. The reality is, even if you do all the work and prove yourself to your existing employer, there may not be a leadership opportunity available in your current company.

Unless your boss is looking for a manager to fill a role after another team member has left, there’s a good chance they won’t be able to find the budget to create a new position just for you. With this in mind, you may need to look elsewhere for your management job.

Work with a ServiceNow recruitment agency to track down positions relevant to your expertise and experience. Your recruitment team will be able to help you find a new job that not only offers you the manager responsibilities you want, but the company culture and benefits you need too.

Linking Humans partners with organisations from all over the world looking for talented individuals to meet their ServiceNow-related needs. Whether you’re a ServiceNow Developer, Project Manager, or Architect, or you have other specialist skills related to ServiceNow, we’ll get you into your perfect role quickly and efficiently.

If you would like to speak to us, then use the “Request call back” at the top of this page or find more ways to contact us here. Together, we can find your dream ServiceNow role.

Productivity is one of the most important ingredients in a successful ServiceNow business. However, achieving and preserving productivity isn’t always easy.

While some teams in your workforce may consistently achieve their targets and maintain high levels of motivation, others might struggle to access the same level of focus. Fortunately, productivity is something your team can cultivate and optimise over time, like many professional skills. Even as workplace dynamics shift and teams evolve, the following productivity strategies should ensure that ServiceNow employees can accomplish their goals.

Encourage Teams to Prioritise One Task at a Time

Employees in the ServiceNow landscape can often feel like they’re constantly jumping between different tasks, trying to keep on top of an ever-increasing task list.

When your to-do list seems to be expanding, it’s tempting to try and tackle multiple things at once.

Unfortunately, studies show multitasking harms productivity, making it harder to give complete attention to any given task. What’s more, multitasking could increase the risk of employees making mistakes because they’re not focusing fully on one thing at a time.

Encourage your team to organise their schedules by focusing on one task at a time. Project management tools can allow team members to check off each task they complete as they work on them. This helps to create a sense of accomplishment, and builds motivation.

Allow Teams to Design Their Schedules

While certain tasks in a ServiceNow role will have specific deadlines that need to be considered. You may find it’s helpful to provide your teams with more autonomy over how they organise their day.

Provided the most important tasks are completed on time, you can allow your employees to arrange their to-do lists in the format that makes the most sense for them.

Some ServiceNow team members will find it easier to tackle the most challenging tasks first. This “eating the frog” method takes advantage of the focus that some employees have when they first arrive at work.

Overcoming a challenge early on in the day can also create motivation to push staff through the rest of the day.

Other employees will prefer to start their day with less complex tasks and work up to the bigger challenges when they feel the most focused. In a world of diverse employees, allowing everyone to choose their strategy can lead to better outcomes.

Train Staff to Solve Problems

Autonomy and independence in the workplace can significantly improve productivity levels. When team members feel empowered to make their own decisions and solve problems independently, they spend less time waiting for approval and guidance from others.

Giving your ServiceNow employees training on how to fix common technical issues or overcome problems they might be facing with their workflows could help boost their efficiency levels.

Offering training to your team members ensures they have the knowledge, guidance, and insight required to keep working as productively as possible in any environment.

A strong set of training opportunities can also lead to huge benefits for your team. One study from the Huffington Post found companies offering comprehensive training achieved 24% higher profit margins.

Some areas to focus on with your training tactics include:

Troubleshooting common technical issues
Communicating with colleagues
Time management

Make Time for Breaks

While it’s tempting to assume more time spent on tasks means higher productivity levels, the brain can only focus on something for so long. Every so often, we all need to take breaks to refresh our minds, so make sure your team members are scheduling breaks into their day.

The Pomodoro Technique can be an excellent strategy to teach employees who need help with time management and taking breaks. The technique involves working for 25 minutes and taking a break at the end of each working period.

Companies in the ServiceNow space can also encourage their team members to segment their days into chunks. With small breaks after each segment, so they can get ready to focus on a new task.

Remember, breaks aren’t just good for productivity; they’re also crucial to ensuring the wellbeing of employees. Breaks can help reduce stress, ensure employees find opportunities to move, and take time away from screens.

Provide the Right Equipment

Employees in any industry can only do their best work when they have access to the right tools. Providing the right resources and equipment to staff members wherever they may be working from is crucial to ensuring high productivity levels.

Think about the essential systems your ServiceNow employees use every day. What kind of hardware, networking tools, and infrastructure will they need to remain productive? Are there any specialist software tools necessary to help your teams achieve their goals?

Providing the right training, so your employees know how to use all of the tools correctly should ensure your staff can leverage resources as effectively as possible.

At the same time, it’s helpful to speak to your employees regularly and ask them if there are any additional tools or resources they feel they could benefit from.

Ensure Teams Know How to Build a Productive Environment

Finally, as the workplace continues to evolve, it’s important that team members know how to create an environment suitable for productivity, wherever they are. According to Forbes, around 70% of the workforce could be working remotely by 2025. This means your team members may need to learn how to create the perfect workspace at home.

Guide your employees to minimise distractions by turning off notifications on ServiceNow apps and smartphones when they need to focus. You can also offer advice on choosing the right room to work from when operating remotely or reducing noise exposure.

For in-office employees, getting feedback on how to make the business space more conducive to productivity may also be helpful. Ask your teams whether they’d prefer a more open office environment or more private rooms for focus work.

Here at Linking Humans, we have been helping companies with delivering permanent and freelance technology experts to ServiceNow partners across the UK. We take pride in providing the best possible people to take your business forwards. If you want to find out how we can help, call us on 02381 542 542 or email us at dan.wells@linkinghumans.com.

Category: Leadership

Top tips for Moving into your first ServiceNow Management Position