First thing: communicate. Whatever you wrote down here, sit down and go over it with your boss. Also ask him what's worrying him. Obviously what's keeping him up at night (maybe even literally) isn't matching what you're doing.
Second, some small tips that will probably help any junior:
- It's not college anymore. We don't do assignments. You don't work for your boss, you work with your boss. You both have the some goal, albeit some difference in roles and responsibilities. Therefore treat your boss like a co-student and not the professor. That means: get frequent feedback, make sure there is a common understand of the goal that is in sight and the steps you (both) have taken to reach that goal. Essentially treat your boss like a peer, but with a different role. In a healthy organization this is appreciated.
- The next thing that is different from college is that in the working life no one cares how you got where you are. You are not getting graded. That means cut to the case. Basically there's a three step approach you need to take every day that will help you get to seniority pretty quickly if you master it:
1. Explain the current situation ("so we want to build this feature for customer X because blabla ...").
2. Explain the problem in the current situation ("... but our platform isn't ready for it yet and we want it to ship it next month ...")
3. Then the magic part: give your boss options and avoid open-ended questions. Don't ask him what to do, but rather present him with a few options on how we can proceed, and ask for his input (" ... I think we can solve this in the following 3 ways: <list them>. I think we should go for A given XYZ, what do you think?")
- The third thing you need to remember is that need to be visible. Transparency is key. That means sharing your current('s team) status, even if nothing's changed. Never go underground for longer than 2 days without anyone knowing what you're doing. You might think you're doing something amazing but it's a huge red flag you're wandering off in the wrong direction if no one's what amazing stuff you're working in and why it's important. You can easily achieve this by scheduling a short recurring meeting (maybe there is one already, then use it).
Second, some small tips that will probably help any junior:
- It's not college anymore. We don't do assignments. You don't work for your boss, you work with your boss. You both have the some goal, albeit some difference in roles and responsibilities. Therefore treat your boss like a co-student and not the professor. That means: get frequent feedback, make sure there is a common understand of the goal that is in sight and the steps you (both) have taken to reach that goal. Essentially treat your boss like a peer, but with a different role. In a healthy organization this is appreciated.
- The next thing that is different from college is that in the working life no one cares how you got where you are. You are not getting graded. That means cut to the case. Basically there's a three step approach you need to take every day that will help you get to seniority pretty quickly if you master it: 1. Explain the current situation ("so we want to build this feature for customer X because blabla ..."). 2. Explain the problem in the current situation ("... but our platform isn't ready for it yet and we want it to ship it next month ...") 3. Then the magic part: give your boss options and avoid open-ended questions. Don't ask him what to do, but rather present him with a few options on how we can proceed, and ask for his input (" ... I think we can solve this in the following 3 ways: <list them>. I think we should go for A given XYZ, what do you think?")
- The third thing you need to remember is that need to be visible. Transparency is key. That means sharing your current('s team) status, even if nothing's changed. Never go underground for longer than 2 days without anyone knowing what you're doing. You might think you're doing something amazing but it's a huge red flag you're wandering off in the wrong direction if no one's what amazing stuff you're working in and why it's important. You can easily achieve this by scheduling a short recurring meeting (maybe there is one already, then use it).