First 90 days
I’m starting a new job soon and thought I’d make this list for myself. Picked these up over the course of my career and hope it helps.
Let’s be real, first impressions matter. Here’s everything I’ve found to be important
1) Start here with the 4 week plan with your manager
2) Prepare a small introduction for yourself, add something personal and human to it.
3) Ask or implicitly try to understand the following
What are things that no one talks about but knows because they are implicit? If you form a good relationship with your peers they will let you know.
What do you need to do to succeed?
What do they need to do to succeed?
Key priorities for the company and your team; what are P0s for this quarter
What worked in the past and why?
What didn’t work in the past and why?
How the company sets goals.
What are the: must-dos, should-dos, and nice-to-dos. Example. If you are a PM in my team then you have to attend all standups and IPMs. They are non-negotiable; must-dos. If there is a tech huddle for your project then attending it is a should do. You may choose to skip it only if it is clashing with another must-do meeting. Attending tech implementation discussions is a nice-to-do.
The tech stack
Understand what motivates individuals in the team - why are they here?
4) Your reputation will be made in the first 90 days. People generally form opinions quickly. Coming to meetings late? People will remember. Put your best foot forward.
5) Take ownership; don’t wait for things to come to you. Ask questions. Eg. The best things I did was help my manager when I onboarded to make a list of all dashboards that I needed and made notes on how the onboarding could have been better. BIg win. Steal it.
6) Get your hands dirty asap.
7) Assume good intentions. People want to help, but you gotta make the first move.
8) Don’t be invisible. Find the biggest problem (that you can take off someone’s plate) and fix it. Ideally that someone should be your manager. Again, just ask; don’t wait for your manager to come to you. People love doers.
9) Define success metrics with manager. Ask what I need to do here to succeed. Read between the lines, be observant, be curious. There’s always so much to be done.
10) Set up 1-1s with not just your manager, but all key stakeholders you will be working with on a regular basis. People are generally busy, so you can have an initial intro meeting and request a monthly meeting where you can update them on your work.
11) Don’t try to change the culture from Day 1. The rituals and routines exist for a reason, understand team dynamics, comfort levels and routines. Challenging at the right time is as important as context.
12) Form a connection with key stakeholders; set up recurring 1-1s with them.
13) Get added to all Slack/Google groups. You can leave some later but join and read them initially.
14) Be positive, be approachable and be present.
Good luck!
