1. Learn the company culture and adapt to it
First impressions are very important, and you don’t want to start a job at a new place sticking out like a sore thumb. You want to be able to adapt and fit in as best as possible (while staying true to yourself, of course), as doing so will put you in a better position to make friends at the workplace- who can then help you with some of the other steps listed below.
2. Set up your ‘battle zone”
The reason this is high on my list is because you always want to strive to hit the ground running when starting a new gig. Employers like that. The less training you require, the more it will save in the company’s bottom line. And to hit the ground running, you need to setup your battle zone, i.e., the place where you’ll be conducting most of your business. If it’s an office job then you’ll want to get your office/cube setup quickly and in an organized manner that will allow you to work efficiently and effectively. Even if it’s not an office job, think of what you can do to set up your work environment such that it will maximize your efficiency. Hell, I noticed a cashier at our local Albertsons who had a wet or sticky pad next to the plastic bags that allowed her fingers to easily open the tightly-pressed bags and pack our groceries at a faster rate. She also clearly had a process of scanning/sorting the groceries while bagging such that the purchased items were grouped together when possible, allowing us customers to put groceries away more easily. Now that’s great customer service, and her work habits will definitely help her maximize her value to the company.
3. Submit your benefits package
Don’t delay in getting your benefits package turned in. The reason you’re working is probably for money, right? And not getting your benefits forms filled out and submitted in a timely manner can cost you money down the line, especially if you have to wait for the next open enrollment cycle. And if you have a 401k that matches, don’t procrastinate. Start it now, and forget about it. If someone walked up to you right now and offered you free money, would you take it? Alrighty then.
4. Learn all of your department’s processes and policies
The last thing you want is your boss handing your ass to you for not following protocol, especially if it results in your boss getting his ass handed to him by hiss boss. I’ve never had any problems with this personally, but I’ve seen it on a few occasions where others will try to be hot shots and escalate issues directly to the top without following the correct process or escalation path. This often reflects bad on your boss, promoting the notion that he or she doesn’t have things in control. If you feel the process is flawed and compromises your ability to do your job then talk to your boss about it first. If your boss isn’t willing to listen or can’t give you a good reason as to why the flawed process is the way it is, then you may want to re-think about whether or not you want to work for someone like that. Especially if it’s hampering your abilities, or affecting your performance in a negative way. If that’s the case then it may be worth highlighting the issue to upper management. If they are not willing to listen or can’t give a valid reason as to why things are the way they are, then it’s time to update that resume. Don’t let bad management corrupt you and drag your reputation through the mud.
5. Familiarize yourself with other department processes and policies
Having a solid understanding of other department processes and policies will allow for better interaction between you and them. And building a good rapport amongst your colleagues will often be noted by management, making you less expendable come layoff time. It will also help you understand the needs of the various departments, allowing you to service them in a higher quality fashion.
6. Discover your resources
Understanding what resources are available to you is another way of working more efficiently, leading to increased productivity. Is there a company intranet or knowledge base? If so, can the content help you throughout your day-to-day workflow? Is there a shared file server? Locate all the file server shares that are relevant to your job responsibilities and see if there are any tools and documents that can help you do your job before you go re-inventing the wheel.
7. Assess the tools available to your disposal
You are only as good as the tools that you use. You can’t fix a flat tire with a hammer. Make sure you’re equipped with the appropriate tools to do your job. Ideally, you should have a good idea of the main tools you’ll be working with from the job interview process. If you find the tools are lacking, make management aware of the tools that you’ll need as soon as possible and be ready to justify the costs (if any). Make sure you don’t set yourself up for failure by accepting a job or a project in which you’re not equipped with the appropriate tools to get the job done.
8. Make yourself known
Get your name out there. Market yourself within the company. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by doing the dirty work. Identify the hard, challenging, or mundane tasks that no one likes to work on, and position yourself to tackle them down. The process of doing this will not only build up your exposure within the department or company faster, but you will become the de facto go-to guy for those things by default. While this may not be ideal for you in the short term, the experience will help you identify inefficiencies in the existing processes which will open up opportunities to automate or pitch new ideas that will help streamline existing processes. You will earn the respect of your colleagues and managers once you show that you are capable and willing to tackle the tough problems head on.
Back in my Tech Support days, when I supported enterprise network switches and routers, whenever a Priority 1 “Network down” call came in everyone would damn near run and hide in order to avoid that call. You never knew if a “Network down” issue was going to last one hour or eight hours. These cases somehow found their way to me more often than not. After I noticed the trend, and after dealing with enough of these high visibility cases, I embraced the idea of being the de facto “P1 Network down” escalation point. Working on these high visibility cases often involved triaging w/ the engineering department, maximizing my exposure within that group. It also gave me the opportunity to interact with executive management on a consistent basis. Admittedly, it felt good when the VPs or CEO would come to my cube for an update on a high visibility issue because it meant that they were confident in my ability to handle these types of cases- and that let me know I was doing something right. It is also very gratifying to know that you were able to help the customer with his or her issue, especially when said customer goes out of their way to sing your praise to upper management once you’ve solved their issue!
9. Identify the workers and the slackers
The quicker you can identify the slackers, the less time you waste in your interactions with them. You also minimize your risk of being associated with them (guilt by association). Conversely, the quicker you can identify the true and bright workers, the faster you will excel by working with them. Work with great people, and you too will be great.
Have you ever went to someone for help, and instead of getting the direction you were seeking all you got was an earful of how the guy met two hot chicks at a bar last night and came close to banging one of them- or some other random story that has nothing to do with your issue at hand? When I first started in my career I was young and naive and alaways tried to be nice to everyone by listening and engaging in all the water cooler talk. I soon observed who the smart engineers were and noticed that they never engaged in this “water cooler” custom, so I followed suit. I learned to limit my interactions with the slackers, while being as polite and diplomatic as I could, and this immediately lead to increased productivity. I then made a conscious effort to interact w/ the brighter engineers as much as possible, and this lead to a more rapid technical growth development.
10. Automate
Once you have a good idea of your workflow, identify any areas that can be automated and automate them. Automate anything and everything that you can think of. Automation can range from the simplest of tasks, like organizing your online/browser bookmarks for common online tools, or templates, or configuring email rules and filters to the more complex tasks like writing scripts or programs or macros to perform any repetetive or mundane parts of your workflow. Automation not only makes your workflow less prone to human error, but it also allows you to free up time, and with that free time you can focus your efforts on new and more challenging tasks. Or you can use the spare time to keep yourself fresh and up to date on new technologies that you can possibly use to improve your workflow.
Surely not all of these tips will apply to every job verbatim, but many of these principles can be applied to most jobs- tech or otherwise. What are your top 10 things to do when starting a new job?
