You’ve accepted the offer and are excited to figure out what
your new job is really going to be like because let’s be honest - the job
description and the actual work very rarely lineup how you imaged.
Navigating a new team can seem overwhelming and create so
much imposter syndrome anxiety. I’ve rotated four times at Amazon and learned a
lot along the way. Below are four things to never do when on-boarding with a new
team.
1.
DON’T wait
for your manager to create your launch plan. We all know the general things
that are going to be on the plan so just start doing them, even before you
officially rotate. Start scheduling 1:1’s with team members, join all the email
lists, get added to key team meetings, write your bio, start identifying the
projects you will be working on and prioritizing them.
Be the leader they hired you to
be. It doesn’t matter if you are wrong. What matters is that you are taking
massive action and already adding value by not wasting team member’s time to
onboard you.
Think about it. If you were the
manager, would you rather have an employee that takes their time, but does
everything “right” and starts delivery results in a few months or would you
rather they jump in, make a few mistakes and start delivering results in a few
weeks?
2.
DON’T try
to do all the things for all the people. A common mistake I’ve seen over
and over is new people trying to impress and be a good team player but agreeing
to do everything people ask for in the on-boarding 1:1’s. It’s fair to ask team
members how you can help, but don’t become the free resource dumping ground.
Meet with all the people, get a
list of all the requests, and then get hyper focused on what key projects you
are going to prioritize and why. Stay focused on what work will impact the
business and help the team reach their goals. There is always more work that
can be done, but using restrain and staying focused on delivering results
versus delivering work will make all the difference in the end.
3.
DON’T assume
people know how awesome you are. You were probably the go to person on your
last team for many topics, but no one on the new teams knows or cares.
It doesn’t matter if you stepped in and drove a key project to completion
when no one else would. It doesn’t matter how many docs and PR/FAQ’s you’ve
written. It doesn’t matter how you did this all without the support of a steady
manager.
Your past work got you the job. Your current work is what will get them
to know how awesome you are. So, stay focused on delivering results and adding
value. You are not entitled to their respect.
4.
DON’T feel
out the team environment before being you. This one is my pet peeve. I’ve
heard so many people complain about the team politics, or low morale, or toxic
environment. But the team culture is determined by the people on the team. DON’T
LET THE EXISTING TEAM CULTURE DICTATE HOW YOU ACT. BE the type of person you
want to work with. You are a team member now so do your part to create the
culture you want.
You can’t control how other people
on the team act, but you are in total control of how you act. I personally make
it a point to genuinely show up as ME from day one. I’m kind of a spaz and like
to have fun so I joke around with people starting on day one. I get to know
them as humans and share who I am. I show my vulnerable side and don’t hide
from my mistakes because this is the type of culture I want to create.
Don’t let the environment dictate
how you act. Act exactly how you want the environment to be. They hired YOU for a reason so show up as YOU
from day one.
If you are trying to navigate your next rotation and are
feeling overwhelmed about it, let’s jump on the phone and come up with a game
plan for you. Sign up for a call at www.lindsaybuchancoaching.com
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