Starting a new job and being thrown in the deep end
Discussion
Hi Phers
I recently joined a new team at work, the role is an area I have some previous experience in e.g. building dashboards for the teams. The role is also one grade higher compared to my previous role and the team seems decent, boss has very high standards as well.
I'm realising the pace in this team is not something I have experience with, I'm included in alot of teams groups and emails and not all of it is relevant to the roles, I find it difficult to follow everything thats taking place, we have 5 sub teams within the team and although it is only the visuals of the reports Im working on increasingly I'm discovering an understanding of all the different projects in the team is a must.
I'm trying to come up with a method to get to grips with everything thats going on - my boss and me can both go into the same meeting and somehow even with me taking notes they seem to recall way more details than i can, really impressive but no idea how they're doing it :-)
I just wondered has anyone made a similar change in their career and what did you do to manage the constant changes and get up to speed? any advice would be really appreciated
I recently joined a new team at work, the role is an area I have some previous experience in e.g. building dashboards for the teams. The role is also one grade higher compared to my previous role and the team seems decent, boss has very high standards as well.
I'm realising the pace in this team is not something I have experience with, I'm included in alot of teams groups and emails and not all of it is relevant to the roles, I find it difficult to follow everything thats taking place, we have 5 sub teams within the team and although it is only the visuals of the reports Im working on increasingly I'm discovering an understanding of all the different projects in the team is a must.
I'm trying to come up with a method to get to grips with everything thats going on - my boss and me can both go into the same meeting and somehow even with me taking notes they seem to recall way more details than i can, really impressive but no idea how they're doing it :-)
I just wondered has anyone made a similar change in their career and what did you do to manage the constant changes and get up to speed? any advice would be really appreciated
Congratulations on your new role.
Starting a new job can be pretty daunting so quite normal to feel overwhelmed.
Little tip from me if you don’t already use it is to utilize “onenote”. It helps me keep track of everything going on, being able to jot down notes from meetings. Have a weekly to do list etc. And anything project related. It’s much easier to go back to something that will be useful.
Starting a new job can be pretty daunting so quite normal to feel overwhelmed.
Little tip from me if you don’t already use it is to utilize “onenote”. It helps me keep track of everything going on, being able to jot down notes from meetings. Have a weekly to do list etc. And anything project related. It’s much easier to go back to something that will be useful.
Congrats on role and sorry to hear you’re struggling a bit.
There is a lot to take in when new, so it will be harder for you to capture as much as those who aren’t learning as much as you are, I’d not beat yourself up over that.
My gut feel is you have a chat with your manager and say something like, “I want to ensure I’m adding value from the get-go here. I’m finding the competing requirements I’m having to pick up and work with are spreading me a bit thin, can we see if we can tighten the scope of what you need me to deliver this month so I can ensure I’m able to execute on the most important activity you need doing? “
Something like that to help you get your feet under the desk and have something to be proud of/ concrete to point to in a defined period of time.
Good luck’
There is a lot to take in when new, so it will be harder for you to capture as much as those who aren’t learning as much as you are, I’d not beat yourself up over that.
My gut feel is you have a chat with your manager and say something like, “I want to ensure I’m adding value from the get-go here. I’m finding the competing requirements I’m having to pick up and work with are spreading me a bit thin, can we see if we can tighten the scope of what you need me to deliver this month so I can ensure I’m able to execute on the most important activity you need doing? “
Something like that to help you get your feet under the desk and have something to be proud of/ concrete to point to in a defined period of time.
Good luck’
stuthe
said:
said: Congrats on role and sorry to hear you’re struggling a bit.
There is a lot to take in when new, so it will be harder for you to capture as much as those who aren’t learning as much as you are, I’d not beat yourself up over that.
My gut feel is you have a chat with your manager and say something like, “I want to ensure I’m adding value from the get-go here. I’m finding the competing requirements I’m having to pick up and work with are spreading me a bit thin, can we see if we can tighten the scope of what you need me to deliver this month so I can ensure I’m able to execute on the most important activity you need doing? “
Something like that to help you get your feet under the desk and have something to be proud of/ concrete to point to in a defined period of time.
Good luck’
^^ good advice. Prioritisation (minimal viable product, etc) could be key,.There is a lot to take in when new, so it will be harder for you to capture as much as those who aren’t learning as much as you are, I’d not beat yourself up over that.
My gut feel is you have a chat with your manager and say something like, “I want to ensure I’m adding value from the get-go here. I’m finding the competing requirements I’m having to pick up and work with are spreading me a bit thin, can we see if we can tighten the scope of what you need me to deliver this month so I can ensure I’m able to execute on the most important activity you need doing? “
Something like that to help you get your feet under the desk and have something to be proud of/ concrete to point to in a defined period of time.
Good luck’
Also consider asking if they would mind the teams call being recorded so that you can capture requirements and reference to save going back to people.
sc0tt said:
Congratulations on your new role.
Starting a new job can be pretty daunting so quite normal to feel overwhelmed.
Little tip from me if you don’t already use it is to utilize “onenote”. It helps me keep track of everything going on, being able to jot down notes from meetings. Have a weekly to do list etc. And anything project related. It’s much easier to go back to something that will be useful.
Thanks I think this is really helpful kicking off the week with a weekly to do list in retrospect sounds like an obvious place to startStarting a new job can be pretty daunting so quite normal to feel overwhelmed.
Little tip from me if you don’t already use it is to utilize “onenote”. It helps me keep track of everything going on, being able to jot down notes from meetings. Have a weekly to do list etc. And anything project related. It’s much easier to go back to something that will be useful.
stuthe said:
said: Congrats on role and sorry to hear you’re struggling a bit.
There is a lot to take in when new, so it will be harder for you to capture as much as those who aren’t learning as much as you are, I’d not beat yourself up over that.
My gut feel is you have a chat with your manager and say something like, “I want to ensure I’m adding value from the get-go here. I’m finding the competing requirements I’m having to pick up and work with are spreading me a bit thin, can we see if we can tighten the scope of what you need me to deliver this month so I can ensure I’m able to execute on the most important activity you need doing? “
Something like that to help you get your feet under the desk and have something to be proud of/ concrete to point to in a defined period of time.
Good luck’
There is a lot to take in when new, so it will be harder for you to capture as much as those who aren’t learning as much as you are, I’d not beat yourself up over that.
My gut feel is you have a chat with your manager and say something like, “I want to ensure I’m adding value from the get-go here. I’m finding the competing requirements I’m having to pick up and work with are spreading me a bit thin, can we see if we can tighten the scope of what you need me to deliver this month so I can ensure I’m able to execute on the most important activity you need doing? “
Something like that to help you get your feet under the desk and have something to be proud of/ concrete to point to in a defined period of time.
Good luck’
- this : can we see if we can tighten the scope of what you need me to deliver this month so I can ensure I’m able to execute on the most important activity
ChrisNic said:
How long have you been in role?
Having just made a significant move in the same organisation it took me about 2 months to feel comfortable & a couple more before I felt like I was making an impact.
For a little while now - Its been 2.5 months, sort of wished I had started to rethink my approach before to be honestHaving just made a significant move in the same organisation it took me about 2 months to feel comfortable & a couple more before I felt like I was making an impact.
i had the same in this new role
people talking in what seemed like another language. invited to loads of meetings with no background
a few months after this there was a catchup with HR and they asked what was good / what isn't
i mentioned the lack of training from day 1, no idea who was a manager or an apprentice, acronyms thrown left and right.
if your like me you want to try and do well and not keep asking questions every 5 minutes but sometimes you have to
people talking in what seemed like another language. invited to loads of meetings with no background
a few months after this there was a catchup with HR and they asked what was good / what isn't
i mentioned the lack of training from day 1, no idea who was a manager or an apprentice, acronyms thrown left and right.
if your like me you want to try and do well and not keep asking questions every 5 minutes but sometimes you have to
Probably a bit late to the party here - hope you've put the good advice given to use, how did you get on?
From my perspective (20 years in IT Service Management) dashboards, like reporting, are like painting a road bridge.
People will want constant tweaks, and they are never finished.
This comes when people don't actually understand what they want (and to be clear, what they want, and what they need are not the same thing).
Make sure you're clear in the requirements capture (build a template, what do they need to achieve, why do they need to achieve it, what dates might they be working to, what is the target audience etc). Importantly, work out *who* (which one person) says 'good enough' and agree that criteria up front if you can. Else you're going to go mad.
You might be willing to cobble something together that's rough and ready to give a read out of some metrics in an afternoon if its for internal use... but if customers are using it you may want a bit more focus on presentation.
Hope its going well.
From my perspective (20 years in IT Service Management) dashboards, like reporting, are like painting a road bridge.
People will want constant tweaks, and they are never finished.
This comes when people don't actually understand what they want (and to be clear, what they want, and what they need are not the same thing).
Make sure you're clear in the requirements capture (build a template, what do they need to achieve, why do they need to achieve it, what dates might they be working to, what is the target audience etc). Importantly, work out *who* (which one person) says 'good enough' and agree that criteria up front if you can. Else you're going to go mad.
You might be willing to cobble something together that's rough and ready to give a read out of some metrics in an afternoon if its for internal use... but if customers are using it you may want a bit more focus on presentation.
Hope its going well.
And they expect the dashboard to solve all their problems for them and want it to be rebuilt in a different way when they realise it doesn't and can't. Then do the same three months later with the new one.
Possibly the only thing I've done that I don't miss is making basic dashboards because it's always like groundhog day.
Possibly the only thing I've done that I don't miss is making basic dashboards because it's always like groundhog day.
vaud said:
On the other hand it can be infinite work.
You can just offer to build v2.2.1 with a new data view.
And then v2.2.2 with some new charts
etc
I see your point, however:You can just offer to build v2.2.1 with a new data view.
And then v2.2.2 with some new charts
etc
“Productivity is high” vs “offering genuine value that can be measured.”
I know which side most people want to be.
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