How to onboard into a new job
Starting a new job? This is how to set yourself up for success.
Whether you're a manager or a senior IC, the tips in this piece will position you for success in a new job.
I was in group discussions with managers where we brainstormed on why people follow a leader. At the end of the session, it came to one answer: trust.
People follow leaders they (can) trust.
For technical folks, it may seem people follow or listen to you because of your technical skills. While there is an element of truth in that, people follow you largely because they trust you — your technical judgment or skills. Over time, you have shown them you're right a lot. With that, they've developed trust and respect that you would make the right technical call.
The same is true for leaders. People follow you because they trust in your ability to lead.
But the challenge is when you start a new job at a new company, you have little to zero trust in your trust bank. Irrespective of your years of experience, you would ideally be starting your new job with little or zero trust in your trust bank.
Yes! you have done this and that in that great company, but right now and in this new company folks don't know you. They don't know your working style. They don't know if the environment is the right one for you. They don't know what rattles you and they don't know what doesn’t.
Right now, one of the best investments you can make is to slowly build up your trust bank. This means giving people a chance to know you and get comfortable with you leading them. It's like starting all over again.
How do you build up your trust bank? It's simple! Don't do things that deplete trusts and do things that increase trust.
Avoid things that deplete trusts
In your first few weeks at a new job, avoid these:
Avoid drawing conclusions before getting a clearer picture
There are usually a moment of "What the fuck" when you start a new job. You wonder why certain things are the way they are and you just want to lash out some criticism being the fresh eyes in the room and scream "you're doing it all wrong". Most of the time, if you wait and seek context, you would get a clearer picture. Don't be in a haste to criticize or change things before you have a clearer picture.
Alex Ewerlöf captured it well in this post:
“For leaders and people with a lot of experience, it is easy to assume a link between the new problems and older solutions. It is easy to overlook a company’s uniqueness and blindly throw the baggage at the new job. To be able to contribute meaningful values to a new job, it’s crucial to listen, observe and learn first."
Before you share your great ideas, focus on listening and learning. Ask questions and seek context. Don’t allow the pressure to contribute something early overwhelm you.
Say you don't know when you don't
You just started a new job. They hired you because they believe you know. How can you say you don't know? The urge to form something vague carefully creeps in because we don't want to be found out. If you fall into that trap, it would be obvious to folks that you don't know and will deplete your trust bank. Rather than forming something vague to sound intelligent, you should:
Admit you don't know
Commit to finding out the answer
Provide a timeline when you would be able to get back with answer
Own up and deliver a correct answer.
Saying "I don't know the answer to this question right now. But I believe the answer exists out there. I'll do some research and follow up with an answer." is better than forming something on the spot.
Admitting you don’t know is a sign showing vulnerability that builds trust rather than depleting it.
As you avoid things that deplete trust, you should simultaneously invest in things that build trust.
Do the following:
Invest in intro calls
One way to build trust when starting a new job is to meet with people you're going to be working with or leading. In your first 30 days, schedule an intro call with each of your reports, your peers, manager and folks you're going to work with. The goal of that call is not to get work done but to learn about them, answer questions they might have and build trust with them.
In intro calls, I have found it useful to ask my report about what they think are going where within the team and what are not going well within the team.
While talking to reports, I also like to know what makes them unique. One thing that sets great leaders apart is the ability to discover the unique strengths of each report and capitalize on them.
Knowing your report's strengths, the triggers that activate them and how they learn will make you more effective at leading them.
Depending on who you're having the intro with, I have found it useful to ask about:
Their history in the company.
Why they chose their current career if there is anything interesting story behind it they want to share. I have seen many folks' faces lit up with joy when asked this question.
How they prefer to be worked with.
What they think the team is excellent at.
What improvements they would like to see in the next 60 days.
How I can help make their job easier or support them.
There is a chance you wouldn't have all the time to ask all the questions you have. But ensure you know the person standing in front of you better before that meeting or call. And she should feel the same as well.
Understand the business and ongoing initiatives
There is a good chance that you have read about the business online, what the product is and the problem they're trying to solve. But that's not all there is to learn. There are more things to learn right from your first day. To be able to make a few wins and create values in your 30 to 60 days, you need to prioritize learning deeply and quickly about the organization.
You want to make sure you understand the company's mission, values, business goals, users or customers, competitions, challenges (product or technical) and how the business plans to win.
When you understand your organization, it becomes easier to know how you can contribute to moving the organization forward.
A few things I recommend are:
Don’t skip the company's onboarding sessions. Digest the content and ask questions.
Understand how the business is making money. Go through the last three company updates or all-hands to get more context.
Understand recent changes in the organization and why. What are the architectural changes the organization is making?
Seek to understand the direction the company is moving.
Go through product and tech strategy. Ask people to share the strategy with you if you don’t have it.
Understand the metrics the organization is optimizing for.
What is the focus market for the organization and why?
Align on what are expected of you
Most of the time, the job descriptions that prompted you to apply in the first place are not all there are to your role. There are usually some nitty-gritties that your role entails that you would never know from the outside until you're in. The earlier you know this, the higher your chance of being successful.
In your first 30 days, get down to the nitty-gritty of what your role entails. Get familiar with what is expected of you. Get clarity on your exact role. Meet with your manager to understand role expectations. Ask what success looks like in your first 30, 60 and 90 days.
Are there important or pressing issues your manager would like you to focus on first?
Introduce yourself, your leadership style
After building some rapport through 1:1s, take time in a team meeting to share a little bit about your leadership style and preferences with everyone.
Most organizations I have worked for have a ritual of introducing a new hire joining a team either via email or on collaboration platforms like slack. Usually your manager will send a welcome email or a welcome slack message to introduce you.
I've found it useful to follow that up with a short intro about myself, my working-style, working-hours, interesting things about me and what I would focus on the few days with my team members.
As an example:
My name is XXXXX, I'm based in YYYYY. I like to do XYZZZZ. I'm inspired by the amazing work you're doing here and I feel so proud to be a part of it. I ask alot of questions and that is mostly for my benefit and to learn. In the next few days, I'm going to schedule a meeting in your calendar to get to know you better and how I can better support you…….
This helps in two ways:
It allows you to set expectations with your team that you’re going to be spending the next few weeks learning, asking questions and mapping out how you can best support them.
It allows you to pass information across that you’re going to schedule an introductory call ahead to get to know them.
It allows you to expose something (strengths, vulnerabilities or quirks) they may not have known about you.
Some managers do this through what it's called "Manager Readme". Irrespective of how you do it, the goal is the same.
Develop a plan
I used to have a manager who would always ask me “what is your plan?” I didn’t understand how powerful this question was until I became a manager myself. Developing a plan is the first step to having control.
After you have met with your teams, peers and your manager, you will begin to have a sense of what requires your immediate attention and where you can best spend your time. Make a rough plan of what you would be focussing on and share with your manager. Once you solidify a plan, follow through and execute.
If you’re looking for more inputs, I recommend the following additional resources.
The best advice for a newly hired staff software engineers
How to onboard engineers as hiring managers