Is it time for a promotion?

Here we are in 2017 – welcome to the new year. If your unfinished career resolutions from 2016 included asking for a promotion, I grant official permission to employ the New Year’s version of the fivesecond rule.

In this case, we’re not talking about the grace period for eating M&Ms after they hit the floor. For unmet resolutions, you need a little more time than that. I’m going to say one month into the new year is still close enough when it comes to fulfilling the previous year’s goal.

With that settled, all you need now is a plan. While the implementation might be strenuous in some cases, the basic steps for this process are fairly simple. First you need to decide for yourself what you want and why. Do you want more responsibility, or a better title, or a move to a different department? Is your goal to gain more experience, or more prestige, or more money? Or, perhaps a new role would create a better stepping stone to an even more desirable goal?

Once you’ve determined what you’d like to request, it’s time to look at things from the perspective of the organization and your boss. What impact would this change have on others? Which problems would it solve, and what new problems would it create? How can you help lessen the impact of the new problems while accelerating the benefits of promoting you?

Your last step is probably the one that you’ve been rehearsing in your head: Having the conversation. Unless your organization has a very formal procedure in place, I’m going to suggest that simple is best. As in, simply tell your boss you’re ready for more and ask what the process would be for making the move. Be sure to ask for specific tasks, measures or timelines so you can each judge your progress toward your goal.

What if a promotion just isn’t in the cards, regardless of how strategically you ask? There are several situations in which it’s nearly impossible to be officially promoted: When you’re already near the top of the organization and the person ahead of you isn’t budging; when your company is simply too small to provide upward movement; when your department is slated for layoffs, etc.

In circumstances such as these, your options may seem limited. Of course you could leave for another job elsewhere, and that may indeed be a good decision. By joining a new employer, you may be able to realize your career goals more quickly than you could by staying.

But if leaving your job doesn’t appeal to you at the moment, there are other options available for realizing at least some of the advantages a true promotion would afford. Here are three:

Ask to join a high-level committee. The classic example would be the executive team, typically comprised of an organization’s top leaders. By participating in decisions that guide the entire enterprise, you’d gain both prestige and valuable experience.

Take on a high-stakes project or department. The more visible, the better. The downside to this strategy is the possibility of failure, or at least burnout, so you’ll need to weigh this request before you make it. The upside, again, is prestige and experience that will help you bump to the next level in a new organization down the road.

Increase the number of people reporting to you. Again, more work for you and again, more prestige and experience. If you were to take on a highstakes project or highlevel committee, adding new reports would ideally free you up a bit for those new responsibilities. That said, if you’re not personally ready to manage a large team (or if your company doesn’t have the personnel to begin with), you can still strengthen your supervision skills by working more directly with vendors, subcontractors, or even interns.

As a final gambit, don’t forget to ask for an increase in pay and/or a stronger title that more clearly represents the duties you already perform. If you’re able to achieve one or both of these goals, it won’t matter as much that the boss isn’t officially promoting you. To the outside world, you’ll show every sign of moving up the ladder.

Inside the organization, you just need to square your shoulders, do your job well, and stay in communication with your manager. If you’re doing all that’s requested but still can’t swing an actual promotion, remember that you still have the option to look outside. In the end, as always, your career path is up to you and not your boss, so it doesn’t make sense to limit your vision when it’s time to move forward.