Your First 90 days: 3 Top Tips to Help you Transition into your New Role

I was recently talking to a colleague who had transitioned into a new role, had been in post for just 2 months and was concerned that she could not pinpoint anything tangible that she had created apart from pages and pages of meeting notes.

I of course assured her that given the short amount of time she had been there she was doing absolutely fine, but this conversation prompted me to dust off the book The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins.

In this book, Michael Watkins talks about the challenges of life and job transitions and provides frameworks to help you effectively navigate these.

The book is jammed full of helpful tips, is a great read, and I would urge you to take a look. For this blog post , I thought I would share 3 takeaways for those of you transitioning into a new job role to get you started and hopefully provide some assurance that you are doing the right thing.

Don’t stick to what you know. Your learning to date may have got you where you are today but now obtaining new knowledge will be vital to your ongoing success. Coming in with the answer before you fully understand the issue will not only alienate your colleagues but you will be creating an uphill struggle for yourself when people continue to reject your ideas if they feel that they haven’t been heard.

Read, listen, ask questions, observe and take notes.

Do not try to put your stamp on things too early. Now is not the time to let everyone know how fantastic you are by acting on everyone's ideas and requests for change. Sure, quick wins will help you to settle those nerves and provide some confidence but start small to begin with.

Do not neglect horizontal or even relationships further down the hierarchy. It’s not just your new boss you need to build rapport with. You will need to enlist the help of many to enable you to be successful and achieve your objectives in the long run.

Check out The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins. I would love to know what you think.