Get Ramped Up with Your New Team

Get Ramped Up with Your New Team 🏎️

One of the biggest challenges in starting a new job is understanding the team culture. In a remote setting, it can be even harder as you’re missing the in-person social cues.

While many people focus on ramping up their productivity, understanding how the team operates best and what people value is just as important, especially if you're a team lead.

Merissa Silk, Head of Product at fundingport, suggests using shadowing - where you’ll first take time to pause, listen and observe your teammates as if you were their shadow. Let’s give it a go.

💁 Attend all meetings in the first 2-6 weeks

You may be tempted to jump into the work with guns blazing! However, by simply sitting in as many meetings as possible, you’ll increase your chances of understanding the interpersonal dynamics of your colleagues.

Pack your calendar so you can observe as much as possible. Find out when upcoming demos and sprints are planned, and sit in on those meetings to really get a feel for the dynamics.

To get buy-in from your leadership and the departments you’ll shadow, you can say: “It's important for me to get to know each of you, and understand the team’s values and norms. With this in mind, I’d like to sit in on these meetings for the next month so I can gain a better understanding of how everyone works.”

👋 Shadow individuals

Shadowing a colleague may look different in our new virtual world, but there are still ways to get a deeper sense of what they do, how they work, and how they make decisions. For example, you might ask a colleague:

“Hey! Can I set up an hour with you to chat? I would love to learn more about your workflow, processes, and projects.”

Share what you're doing with as many people as possible to get a broad range. You may get a few nos, but shadowing even a handful of people will give you a better sense of the culture!

👀 Ask yourself these questions while observing

• What roles do people play? Both explicit like department head, and implicit like coach, cheerleader or skeptic. • What do people care about? What gets them passionate or into conflict? • What rules are in place? How do people typically communicate? Who makes decisions? How is feedback shared? What meetings take place? • Which values are shared and not? Speed vs. quality, or customers vs. internal team members.

Ramped up 🏁

When you join a new team or project, or simply want to immerse yourself more, shadowing will help clarify your role, spot opportunities for yourself, and come across as proactive to your leadership. It can also help you identify key business needs so you can have more impact in the long-term.

Now what are you waiting for? Opportunities to learn are just a message away!