Getting your bearings in a new job can be challenging, especially if you’re working from home. These tips will help successfully launch you into your new role.
Despite the challenges of career-switching during a global health crisis, you’ve landed a new job. Congratulations! Now it’s time to focus on settling in properly.
For all the ways people adjusted to remote work during the pandemic, starting a new role now can actually be harder.
How do you get up to speed with the requirements, get to know co-workers, or make a meaningful impact when not meeting anyone in person — and may not be for some time?
In my role as a career coach, I deal with new starters every week.
There are several strategies I use to help these clients start effectively, and with a little creativity, can be applied to remote work.
1. Know what you’re looking for
With a new position, one of the most pressing concerns is to determine not only why you’ve been brought in but also ‘how things get done around here.’ During the interview process, you probably got a birds-eye view of the role’s requirements. Now you need to get the worm’s-eye view:
● What does the leadership believe the main issues are?
● What does the staff think the issues are?
● What goals should you be looking to hit in the first 30, 60, 90 days?
● Who has influence within the team, both official and unofficial?
● What roadblocks are you likely to face?
● Is there a sense of urgency you must convey?
It’s important to prepare and answer these questions at the outset. Keep a checklist handy, and you should find it easier to get answers despite the limitations of Zoom, Teams or Slack. Uncovering the answers to these questions, you will start to know ‘how things get done around here.’
2. Observe what you can
At the beginning, you’ll know little of the inner workings. That’s fine. All your puzzling and pondering are completely valid in the first weeks of a new job. Use this time wisely. Attend as many virtual meetings as possible, observe what you can and speak to as many people as you can to get any answers you need. Just because you’re not physically face-to-face shouldn’t stop you from introducing yourself — relentlessly.
Remember that this is a ‘honeymoon’ period, and that after the first few weeks, people may have less patience for your questions. Being proactive during this period you begin to uncover the priorities and competing agendas. I encourage people to explicitly use this period in an ‘observing and listening’ mode. Resist the urge to plunge in and fix problems too eagerly, “This is the way we did it at XYZ, and it worked.” At best, this is annoying. At worst, it shows you are blind to a new corporate culture.
Your first job of your job is to learn what the role actually is, assessing the different personalities and the culture. Hold back on ‘problem-solving’ mode until later.
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