Starting A New Job -- What You Need To Know To Succeed

 Lisa Quast Contributor

culled from:http://www.forbes.com
In a recent article, 6 Things New Hires Should Do in the First 30 Days, author Jennifer King provides recommendations on what new hires can do to set themselves up for success. For example, King warns, “You only get one chance to make a first impression. So, before you start introducing yourself to everyone, figure out what you’re going to say when you meet them.” Other suggestions include…

• Understand your role and how you will be evaluated
• Learn the business
• Interview your boss
• Be ambitious, but have restraint
• Be proactive about your onboarding

Jennifer writes for Software Advice, and I especially enjoyed reading this article because the first 30 days on a job are stressful for just about everyone. While some companies provide highly structured and well thought out onboarding processes, other companies handle this fairly loosely with new employees realizing they will need to fend for themselves.
To Be Successful – STUDY
I have found the key to being successful when starting a new job is to remember the acronym, “STUDY”:

• S = Survey your surroundings.
• T = Take the time to analyze and learn the most important things; this includes the company’s and your department’s strategic plan, goals and objectives, structure, processes, current projects, and your role and key responsibilities.
• U = Understand the people situation: Who are the key resources? Who’s doing what? Why are they doing them? Be sure to introduce yourself to each person in the department individually to make a personal connection.
• D = Do not make hasty decisions. Being new means you will not yet understand the current situation, facts, or internal politics – this is not a good time to make hasty decisions.
• Y = Yes you can! No matter how overwhelmed you feel in your new position – feel like you’re drinking from a fire hose? – just take a deep breath, remain calm, stay focused, and prioritize, prioritize, prioritize.

Overcome 3 Common Mistakes
The three most common mistakes I see newly hired employees making are: (1) not creating a game plan for their first 90 days on the job, (2) not sitting down with their new boss to determine how they can best work together, and (3) not taking the time to understand the company and department’s strategic plan.
To avoid these mistakes:

• Create a 30/60/90 day game plan. This is a document (usually in Excel or Word) that you break into 30-day time increments to capture what you plan to accomplish. Your 30/60/90 game plan should include the key tasks, projects, and initiatives you need to complete, prioritized over your first 90 days on the job. Meet with your manager to ensure he/she shares the same performance expectations and relevant timelines/deadlines.
• Ask your boss, “How can we best work together?” Establish a positive working relationship by learning your manager’s leadership style and preferred method of working and communicating – and then flex yourself to work with their style.
• Ask for key information about the company. Sit down with your manager and have them explain: The company and department’s strategic plans along with strategic goals/objectives, the department’s organization chart and the roles/responsibilities of each person, and the key department projects.

Get Organized

Getting started is all about getting organized. Taking the time to carefully think through and plan out your first 30, 60, and 90 days on the job will help you decrease the stress normally felt when starting a new position. It will also help you earn respect and credibility faster, and, ensure you become as efficient and effective as possible in the shortest amount of time. You can do it!