How to on-board yourself when you join a new team
Many companies don’t have a formal on-boarding process. It’s rare to get 3-4 weeks to just absorb and meet your cross-functional team members.
You might have time for that at a bigger company. But at a growing company or smaller organization, there’s no such luxury. If you wait to have information handed to you on a silver platter, it won’t happen.
The reason you were brought on in the first place is because the team is stretched for bandwidth with their existing responsibilities. They probably couldn’t wait any longer to bring someone on, which is why they hired you.
You’ll be expected to contribute starting your first week. So how do you set yourself up for success?
1. Take charge of your own on-boarding process.
No one else is as invested in your success as you are. Everyone else is busy with their existing job, so embrace that you’ll need to take the reins. This is an opportunity to show you are proactive and self-directed—something every boss appreciates.
What information do you need to start contributing?
What platforms, folders, and logins do you need access to?
Which specific people do you need to keep in the loop about your decisions?
What kind of decisions does your boss want to be involved with? What do they want you to decide on your own?
What questions do you have?
What hunches do you want to validate?
2. Review information with an active stance.
Your new team might send you a ton of documents, resources, and links. As you review the docs, take an active stance. The great thing about high-performing environments is regardless of who you are, the team expects you to drive projects forward with accountability.
There’s no time to just set up meetings with cross-functional team members for the sake of it. If you do these meetings, you should go in thinking about how to make the best use of everyone’s time.
Come prepared with specific questions and an idea of what you want to get out of the meeting.
3. Gather what you need to make recommendations and suggest next steps.
So as you review, don’t just review for background info. Instead, assume you’ll be taking over those responsibilities.
Think about what you want to do. Consider the following:
What resources you’ll need
What you want to start/stop/continue
How you want to lead in the next phase
The sequence of what you want to do
What you want to prioritize given finite resources/bandwidth
4. Make note of areas of opportunity.
Write down what you agree with and disagree with, or anything that provokes a strong reaction.
A recap that describes what happened in the past isn’t useful. A recap with your analysis and forward-looking recommendations is much better.
Form a point of view about what’s happening. This fresh perspective is one of the most valuable things you bring. It’s a big reason you were brought on in the first place.
So don’t shy away from sharing what you’re noticing. You can always do a gut check and ask for context to validate your hypotheses.
5. Assume you’ll lead the meeting.
You behave differently when you’re a participant versus the meeting leader. If you’re the meeting leader, what would you need to know to get what you need?
I’ve been in situations when I was told I’d be sitting in on the meeting, but when the time came, the boss/client wanted me to lead the meeting.
You might be in situations where your new team asks you to jump into the deep end of the pool from day one. When you join a new team, it’s better to arrive more prepared. Then if you really will be listening in, you can still do that. And if you’re unexpectedly asked to lead, you can rise to the occasion easily.
6. Identify the types of decisions you’ll make.
Knowing the type of decisions you have to make soon is a great way to focus your efforts. An upcoming decision means not all information is equal.
All of a sudden, things go from being hypothetical and abstract...to tangible, concrete, real, and time-based.
You have to triage knowing you want to make a smart, well-informed decision you can stand by. Understanding the types of decisions you’re expected to make will help you organize and prioritize what you need to know during your on-boarding.