Surviving The First 90 Days In A New Job

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Changes in environment, routine, culture, and colleagues are only some of the challenges that come with a new job. The first 90 days in a new job are the critical time for new employees to make an impact and to survive those challenges it is a period of learning, adjustment, and transition, no one likes being the new guy, not knowing anyone or how to navigate the basics; like how the coffee machine works or the company car parking rules.

It’s also the time to get to know your new colleagues develop your routine, and set professional goals. You should be open and adaptable to learning a lot of things during the first few months in a new job. Last but not least the first 90 days are also crucial for you as a new employee to make positive first impressions. Let’s learn how to survive the first 90 days in a new job.

Do Your Research on The Organisation and Team

Schedule some time in your first few weeks to research further the company’s culture, the structure of organisation, key players, and client base. This knowledge, gained from asking colleagues or through internet research, will prove to be quite useful in the future. Understanding the structure and corporate history of your new firm will help you embed in to the new company seamlessly and give you context as to why some things done in a certain way.

Develop Relationships with Key Players

You should be ready to sell yourself and your work to others within the company. More specifically, you need to build professional relationships with those key players. You’d need to take the initiative to prove your worth to your superiors, (who want to confirm they made the right hiring decision) colleagues and direct reports as soon as you get into your new position.

If you are leading a team, your colleagues will want to know that you are experienced and knowledgeable in your subject matter, someone that they can learn from. Being a good people manager is not a popularity contest, you must be able to develop respectful relationships with your team, who should feel able to reach out you and talk openly about work-related issues.

Established teams may want to air grievances about issues that you have no prior knowledge of listen, establish the facts, and act when you are 100% certain that the issues raised are genuine and you can effect a positive change.

Review current ways of doing things

During the first three months on the job, remind yourself to be as flexible and open-minded as possible to help you adjust and adapt to the work environment more quickly. In the first 30 days focus your efforts into reviewing current ways of doing things in your workplace, especially in your team/department.

Don’t make any rash assumptions or take knee jerk reactions. Listen, observe, analyse and reflect. Look at what is happening over a few weeks, is this the way things are handled on every occasion, are there peaks and throughs in the work load, are there set standards and are colleagues adhering to the standards. Do they measure and report on performance, if so are targets met?

Create a road map for improvement During the First 90 days in a new job

You should go into the next 60 – 90 days with a solid plan for the changes you want to implement. Follow up your observations with data evidencing why you want to make changes, discuss the areas you have identified for improvement with your manager and the stakeholders effected before you start to implement any changes.

Summarise your review of the current situation

Summarise your findings by creating a road map and setting out key mile stones and tangible improvements goals. Work with the stakeholders who will be impacted by the changes to gain buy in and commitment to the new ways of working you are suggesting.

Pilot your new ideas

Start small and build on success, this way you can test out your ideas without too much risk. Think about reinforcing current standards that may not being met and retrain staff where needed. Identify any training needs that the change and new ways of working may trigger.

Measure the impact

Measure the impact of the changes you make, share the improvements you have made to senior stakeholders in the firm, if possible quantify the improvement as a financial saving or as a decrease in time taken to perform a task.

If you firm is in the customer service sector consider if taking a net promotor score approach would further support your reasons to make changes and going forward evidence improvement that you changes effected.

Build Your Profile but Avoid Politics

While you need to prove your worth and establish good relationships with key players, your better stay out of office politics at all costs. Workplace politics are never beneficial, especially for new employees who can be quickly scapegoated. The most important thing is to not lose sight of the fact that you are still a newcomer in this position. Sometimes, new employees easily fall into difficult positions between conflicted groups as they take sides. At this point, you should focus on your tasks and be neutral as possible.

Watch, observe, make up your own mind and don’t be drawn into long standing power struggles.

Understand the Culture of The Organisation

Learning the company culture and structure is pivotal to helping you navigate better within the company. Get to know your new job and colleagues by showing a genuine interest about things like how things get done around the office, how the chain of command works, and how the company values the team and individual achievements.

By asking colleagues and senior staff, you will able to see what is expected and what actually happens on the ground. Try to gain an understanding of how the decisions are made and whether there are unwritten norms that you are required to abide by in order to thrive and survive within the new firm.

Building Trust through Leadership and Initiative

In the first 90 days in a new job it is crucial to establish a tone and set benchmarks. Individual accountability for the team’s performance is essential. Build trust by taking responsibilities and listening to your colleagues and senior stakeholder. This way, they’d be willing to share ideas and information that will help you succeed in your position.

Instead of being an agent of change, you should be a good listener first to survive the first 90 days. You can’t just go in and start doing things the way you did them at your old company, because you’re not there anymore. Don’t be too quick to pass judgment on projects or tasks you’re assigned to except you’re asked for your opinions on particular things. Be mindful that you, as an individual and a newcomer, cannot alter the established norms of your company; instead, you must adapt to them.

Having questions and not being scared to ask them is the only way to learn and adapt. Just make sure your questions are clear and concise so your colleagues and/or manager are clear about what you are looking for and can respond accordingly.

HOW CAN WE HELP?

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