I’ve started 5 new jobs in the last 6 years, thanks to moves and layoffs. It’s been painful. But it’s also helped me refine my approach when starting a new job, so here’s what I’ve learned.
- When I first start, everything is wonderful. No new employer wants to hear a newbie complain about anything.
- You’re on Word 2008? GREAT!
- You use Excel to author your documents? COOL!
- Your CMS tool requires 90 clicks to fully delete a file (I’m not joking, I counted)? FANTASTIC. I keep my real opinions to myself.
- But to deal with that, I take copious notes using whatever tool the environment has (Oh, you can only use Notepad? AWESOME!). These notes change quite a bit as I learn more about the company.
- For the first few months, I’m asking as many questions as possible. If I find a sympathetic ear, I may ask questions about one of the issues bugging me (so… any idea why we started writing documents in Excel?). I always learn good stuff.
- Then, after 3-6 months (depending on the culture), I take those notes and create a list of actionable recommendations, with as much detail as possible. This includes software recommendations, process improvements, and other ideas.
- Finally, I identify the easiest win, and I work up the nerve to talk to my boss about it. What happens next will tell me if I can even continue in this process. If I can…
- I tell my boss, hey, I’ve been taking notes over the last few months and have some ideas about how we could be more productive. What’s the best way to share those with you? Deck? Email? Meeting?
And then we’re off to the races.
This process has worked really well for me in the last 4 jobs I’ve had. My current job was interesting because my boss wanted my ideas after 3 WEEKS, which accelerated things quite a bit!
Sometimes, you’re going to have a boss who just doesn’t want to hear it. Or hears you out, but doesn’t provide what you need to implement your ideas. And that sucks.
But most of the time, if you develop your ideas cautiously and intentionally, I think you’ll be well received.