New opportunities are always around you. Now whether you recognize them or not depends on how you look at the situation. Sometimes, these opportunities are right in front us. With others, you might just need to look a little harder. And sometimes still, these opportunities require you to take on new responsibilities or entirely new roles.
Challenges can be scary, exciting, or filled with curiosity all at once. I recently moved from the ETE Core Returns & Sales Teams to Product Support, so how to transition has been on my mind. What advice do I have for streamlining a new opportunity?
1. Know Your New Environment
Moving to a new role or a new department requires a period of time and adjustment. Whether it’s learning responsibilities or the lay of the land, know your new environment and what you can do to impact it most. Hit the ground running by finding out what is expected of you, your peers, and what you’ll accomplish together. A clearer understanding helps you impact that environment much faster and more efficiently.
2. Understand Challenges
I was given a great piece of advice from a friend who shared some insight with me and it’s worth sharing with you in this point: take a list of 5 challenges (aka opportunities) and rate them where 1 is the easiest while 5 is the hardest. Then, rate the list again – but this time, 1 has an impact but 5 has the biggest. By quantifying opportunities, you narrow your focus and understand what can impact the most in the shortest amount of time – and what will require more of your time AND effort.
3. Remain Flexible
Ideas and changes for the better are great, but be willing and able to accept feedback from your new coworkers and/or boss about what you hope to implement. By being open to the ideas of your coworkers and sharing your own, you create a collective positive atmosphere.
4. Have Set Goals
Setting goals is a great way to see how your progress is going and also is a measurable way to see how realistic that goal was in the first place. Whether these goals are just for you or your team, put them up in a place where everyone can see them on a daily basis.
The easiest or simplest opportunities aren’t usually the best or most rewarding. To make a new challenge smoother and more effective from the get-go, some basic yet strategic pieces of advice might be all you need.
photo credit: © [pathdoc] / Dollar Photo Club 

Nick Carreiro, aka the 6th Man, recently seized a new opportunity – and it has him thinking about how to make a change. How do you transition to a new role that might not have been the easy choice? Leave a comment below for Nick or email him directly.