Lack of confidence at work

Tinuel

Hi all,
I have been at a new position, very technical, for a little over a year now. There are several products to work with and the knowledge has to be extensive. So far, I have been doing very well, management is pleased, but thanks to the "mentor", my colleague working alongside me. He has been doing the job for 13 years, so know his stuff inside out ( we are a team of 2).

In 2 weeks time, he will move on to a new external position, and now that that I will run the show, I lost confidence and I am doubting myself.
He knows so much, all the products, and he has 13 years inhouse, so big boots to fill. Upper management have trust that I will be able to do it, but I am not so sure. A colleague even said that he could panick in my eyes, so the lack of confidence is visible.

Do you guys think I should share this with management?

tanith

Could you not confide in your colleague and maybe if you were unsure of something you could confer with him occasionally... I am sure you know your stuff its just getting your head round not having 'backup' on hand... good luck , I hope they gave you a payrise...:T

SailorSam

You'll be fine, the other guy had to learn there was a time he didn't know the job either.
If you've been there a year you must be good enough to get by, if you're asked anything you don't know, just say i'll check that out and come back to you.
AS long as you get back to people they know you're not just trying to fob them off, and will appreciate the fact that you've taken the time to find out what they wanted.

ninky_2

are they taking anyone else on or will you now be doing the job of two people? are you only worried about not knowing what to do or is it the workload also? if it is the workload then i would talk to management about how to address this. it is not reasonable for them to expect you to do the same job with less manpower. also, if you are now effectively in charge, are they giving you a payrise?

being confident in your job also involves being able to negotiate a reasonable position with management. confident employees are willing to raise issues with their bosses and do not slog on regardless.

CAPMguy

working in a company for like an year, you must be at good terms with the management, sure you can share it with the management youll be fine!

Tinuel

ninky wrote: »

are they taking anyone else on or will you now be doing the job of two people? are you only worried about not knowing what to do or is it the workload also? if it is the workload then i would talk to management about how to address this. it is not reasonable for them to expect you to do the same job with less manpower. also, if you are now effectively in charge, are they giving you a payrise?

being confident in your job also involves being able to negotiate a reasonable position with management. confident employees are willing to raise issues with their bosses and do not slog on regardless.

Hi,
The workload will increase but so will the salary. The workload isn't a concern, it's just the doubt if I will be able to be know it all on my own. It was easy to have someone next to you to ask stuff when unsure. Maybe I got in the habit of doing so (comfort zone) and now I am doubting myself.
Plus he was so highly regarded and seen in such good light, that he will be a very hard act to follow...

ninky_2

in that case to you feel confident confiding some of your concerns with your soon to be departing colleague? why don't you give yourself a trial run while you still have the next two weeks as a safety net. assume you have to make all the judgements on your own and tell your colleague you are going to do that as a confidence boost.

beyondhereliesnothin

You will probably find that if the upper management sat in your colleagues seat they would not know where to start with the job anyway, as they have never done it themselves, and if they have, they haven't done it for years - so that will work in your favour. (and I don't mean this as a dig to any managers - I have been one myself and relied on my admin staff knowledge greatly!)

They know you have only been there a short time so are not expecting the high standard that you are expecting from yourself, so breathe!! This is an opportunity for you to shine.

When someone leaves a section, it's a good time to look for ways of streamlining and improving the work - so instead of worrying about not being able to live up to your colleagues' standard, start thinking about things that will save time and increase productivity. Think about things that you do currently in the job that probably don't need to be done anymore (e.g completed spreadsheets that no-one looks at) or things that need to be bought into modernisation (paper records that could be kept electronically). Get some ideas down, go and speak to your manager about what will be expected of you and discuss the impact of your colleague leaving on your own development in the role, as you no longer have someone to refer technicalities to.
Ensure both you and management know where you stand in terms of your current knowledge to be able to do the job - that way they should be able to support you and I'm sure they will be grateful for your ideas and honesty.
Good luck!

Pound

Just because the person who did the job last had a lot more experience doesn't necessarily mean that you're expected to be up to that standard straight away. It may be that management are fully aware of your level of experience compared to his and are happy that you're good enough for the job.

Apolonation

Well done on the promotion. Once you get to a certain place in your job I'm becoming increasingly convinced it's more about confidence and attitude than any particular skill.

Have you thought about reading something like - awaken the giant within, or some book on confidence, I can reccomend Marisa Peer - Ultimate Confidence.

At the end of the day you are not going to know everything, it's just handling the situations where you need to check or ask someone else - with confidence that is key.

Good luck, and enjoy the ride.

blckbrd

Actually OP, from reading your post you probably are rubbish and can't do it. So you've ponced off your colleague's knowledge for a year and now you're scared of being found out?

Wanna slap me? Hope so! If not you definitely have confidence issues.

Colleagues are often generous and supportive of those who are seen to be interested, hard-working and capable. The spongers and loafers are tolerated at best.

Don't measure yourself against someone who won't be there, measure yourself against the job. As much as your 'mentor' was always beside you for reference, how much did you use him? Perhaps a lot less than you imagine.

Look hard at what your job involves - anything you're not feeling confident about can be genned-up on. Perhaps make yourself a personal manual - i've always found that useful.

And if you feel yourself beginning to panic, do the imagining people naked thing but try not to snort too loudly if you're on the phone...