The 3 deadly mistakes of onboarding to a new role
The mistakes to avoid when starting with a new company, role, or team
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First impressions matter. So when you’re starting with a new company, in a new role, or on a new team, you should bring your A-game. All of us are driven, impact-oriented people so we jump in head first and try to gather context, meet people, be helpful, and solve problems. All great things to do, right? Yes! But the way you do these things and how you approach each situation in those early months typically sets the tone for how successful you’ll be in your new environment for years to come. My onboarding journeys have varied. Some of them have been a mess because of my own missteps. It took a while to dig out of those. Some have been extremely successful because I was intentional and measured. I’ve seen how that early success has compounded over time. I’ve indexed my brain to bring you the three things to absolutely avoid during your onboarding phase:
1. Savior complex
This is probably the cardinal sin of onboarding. We've all seen it — a new person comes in, spots all the flaws, tries to throw their weight around and suggests changing things. Remember the actual message you send when you do this — that the team who has been there hasn’t been doing the right things. They need to be corrected. Even if you lightly suggest a change, be very careful about how it's phrased and the setting in which you do it.. No one is open to change, no matter how needed, when they feel like they are being attacked. That’s what this behavior does when you try to be the hero immediately. You need to earn the right to suggest changes by first building trust and a positive brand for yourself. Start with curiosity and move into being prescriptive. Not the other way around.
2. Focusing just on the work
Missteps in the past have taught me that when you focus 100% of your conversation with your peers, team, and managers on the work, you’re actually worse off than if you focus 80% on the person in front of you and 20% on the work. In your early days, your opportunity lies in the relationships you build and how you make people feel when you meet and work with them for the first time. If you come in and immediately jump in to the work, context, issues, and next steps you miss out on getting to know the person in front of you for who they are and not just what they do. This sounds obvious, but in the moment it feels counterintuitive to focus the majority of a conversation on the person and not the work because you feel pressured to prove your worth through work-related discussions. Lean into the counterintuitive. You’ll learn much more and build deep relationships. The work gets much easier after you’ve done that.
3. Not asking for real feedback
Getting feedback when you’re new is almost like asking a stranger how they’re doing. Everyone is going to say “good” no matter how troubled they might be. No one wants to give the newbie real feedback because it doesn’t feel substantive enough. Force the feedback! Find the people that you think can give you the real deal. This could (and ideally is) your manager, but it could also be a peer or someone that reports to you. You need to find the handful of people that will tell you like it is and help you avoid landmines. Organizations are organisms. They’re living, breathing things that have their own genetic makeup and are constantly changing. You need to learn the organism inside and out so that you can thrive within it. Are you using words or phrases that seem fine to you, but are actually triggering to your team? Are you coming off a bit overwhelmed and scattered in early conversations? Ask these questions and be hungry for the true answers. A tip here is to ask people a question that’s hard to get around. Something like, “What do you think is one thing I am doing that doesn’t quite fit with how the company/team operates?”
The early days of a new role are arguably the most critical. Sure, you may not be the most impactful because you’re still gathering context and learning the ropes. But, you are setting a foundation that is terribly difficult to reset if done wrong initially. Be calculated in the onboarding phase and spend the extra time to evaluate how you’re approaching each conversation and situation. You’ll be better off for it in the long run!
More notes from Reflections of a PM: