One of my favorite sayings is "The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time!" I love this saying and it's very applicable to many things in life including home projects, work projects, personal goals and so much more! As a reference manager at a new company it's a saying I need to remember over the next few weeks and months.
It's easy to get overwhelmed as a reference manager. There are always requests coming in and it can be a challenge to balance everything from requests, success stories, video testimonials, reference tracking, etc. And if you are type A passionate reference junkie like me you already have your own lists of 25+ things you want to work on too!
Here are a few tips to help new reference managers (including myself) remember this important principle in our stressful roles. First, don't panic! It can be overwhelming when you start getting reference requests. You will get emails from sales and just about everyone else in the company who needs a reference and needs it today. Honestly panicking is the worst thing you can do. You need to step back, write all the requests down, take a breath (maybe a few ones), prioritize them and get to work. The first few weeks might be rough as you are suddenly one of the most popular people in the office. Second, know what references resources you currently have. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the existing references and reference assets. Once you know what you have, then set some goals on what you'd like to have in the next 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Keep in mind while it would be nice to have a fairy godmother that could wave her magic wand and make all these assets appear, it's just not going to happen. Third, remember to plan and organize. This has saved my life numerous times. I don't know if it's my age, that I drink too much diet Pepsi or what but I just don't remember things like I used to so I track everything. I have a project tracking book, I have a matrix with about 20 tabs etc. I am not kidding when I say I track everything!
Honestly I feel very blessed at my new job because I think Shoretel has awesome products, fabulous customers and great employees. It's only week one but I think I found my dream job! Happy Referencing!
