A product manager, a UI designer, and a software developer walk into a bar.
What are some ways to build relationships at a new company?
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Robot Overlord Joke of the Day
A product manager, a UI designer, and a software developer walk into a bar.
The product manager says, "I'll have a beer, but first, let me check with the customer to see if that's what they want."
The UI designer says, "I'll have a martini, but first, let me redesign the menu to make it more visually appealing."
The software developer says, "I'll just have water; I'm trying to debug my liver."
Remote onboarding with a new team is tricky…but not impossible.
I have changed companies a few times over the last five years - multiple times since going fully remote in March 2020. The hardest part about starting at a new company is the onboarding process. No matter how great the people are at your new company, if you are a product manager, there’s a great chance getting up to speed will be an uphill battle.
Understanding who does what, delivery cadences, and where there are opportunities to add value will take a bit of time, but here are a few ideas to help jump-start your onboarding process on day one.
1. Schedule brief 1:1 conversations with your team.
After your initial introduction to your new team, you should identify who on the team seems to be the most willing to help and/or will be working on projects alongside you. Ask them if they will be okay with you scheduling time to discuss their role and book the time. Many team members are willing to help the new person as long as you’re not asking for hand-holding through everything.
In your conversation, ask as many questions as possible about what they’re working on, where they recommend focusing your time, and ask if you can help them out in any way. You’ll create a new relationship with them which you can foster further as you get up to speed on the company and the work.
2. Raise your hand in team meetings.
You may not be an expert in everything about your company. Still, your goal as a new employee is to be likable, establish yourself over time as a trustworthy and go-to person in your field, and that you have the desire to help others and the company grow.
If you can contribute to a team meeting, I encourage you to raise your hand and give it a go. They hired you for a reason, and most great hiring teams bring you on because they believe you will be a cultural fit. Take the time in front of the team to establish what you are about and start your new personal brand within the company on a positive note.
3. Give positive feedback to your team.
As you are getting up to speed on what your team is working on, a great way to further build on new relationships is to give positive feedback to your team. Don’t be critical of their work or come in hot with a million suggestions. Find work items or features you genuinely appreciate, share your sentiments with the people involved, and move on to the next. If you’re learning from their approach, let them know. Down the road, these same relationships will be ones that can help you directly, so start building them as soon as you can.
Video of the Day
“So the first thing you need to do if you want to increase your likeability is that you have to realize that nobody really cares about what you say more than they care about how you make them feel.” (4:14 into this video)
Even if you’re great at growing relationships at new companies, this Better Ideas video is a solid refresher and ties into the theme above. This is a big focus for me in 2023, and this channel is great for similar content.
Podcast of the Day
Like many product folks, I love to read/listen to a lot of what Lenny Rachitsky posts. This interview was fascinating - precisely when Shishir hit on the findings about how performing teams. Here’s the pod description:
Shishir Mehrotra is the co-founder and CEO of Coda, and formerly head of product and engineering at YouTube. In this episode, he shares his insights on growth strategy, how he evaluates talent, a peek at his upcoming book The Rituals of Great Teams, why reference checks are the most important step in the interview process, and so much more.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic above. Click the follow button to leave a comment. Let’s go!
Sincerely,
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Great suggestions for joining a new team! Thank you for the joke and the summary of Lenny's podcast.
Loved the joke! There is so much to take in from this post and the video is also very revealing 👏🏻