Today is Friday, and my first week at a new job is almost over.
When I googled “first week at work”, I got numerous posts entitled “how to
survive your first week at a new job”. Wow! – I thought, my experience was
completely opposite, and here is why.
I joined company that builds software products using Agile framework - I knew that from the beginning. What I came to know is that they take pride in bringing Agile culture in and leaving it with the client when they move on - they refer to this as "high impact". And it shows. On my first day when I came to work, I was not sure where I
sit… until I saw multicolored balloons and a welcome card signed by my new
colleagues. Each of them wrote words of encouragement and wished me a lot of
success in a new job. I felt very welcome.
Actually, I felt welcome much earlier starting with the day of my job interview where everyone was super friendly and sincerely interested in my career aspirations and professional strengths. This does not mean that the interview questions were simple and straightforward; they were very insightful, but it was a conversation where I was able to share my thoughts and skills and learn about the company and the people. Once I got home from the interview, I already felt that I have become part of a great team. There was ongoing communication until the day I showed up in the office and in addition, I had a chance to join everyone for a meetup on Node.js, so it already felt like home.
Actually, I felt welcome much earlier starting with the day of my job interview where everyone was super friendly and sincerely interested in my career aspirations and professional strengths. This does not mean that the interview questions were simple and straightforward; they were very insightful, but it was a conversation where I was able to share my thoughts and skills and learn about the company and the people. Once I got home from the interview, I already felt that I have become part of a great team. There was ongoing communication until the day I showed up in the office and in addition, I had a chance to join everyone for a meetup on Node.js, so it already felt like home.
Today is my fifth day at a new job, and I already feel like
part of the InRhythm family. How was it possible in five short days? First, it
does not feel like five days. Everything happens fast here. I am in Operations,
and our role is to support the teams working on client sites. We need to move
fast, make decisions, and respond to the needs of our teams and the clients. We
need to be nimble and efficient. We care about the people, the products they
develop, and the clients they support. The team is like a family. What happens
in a good family if someone needs help and support? The same happens here. Everyone
is a leader taking ownership. At the same time, if there is a need, we swarm
and get things done fast. One of the company’s values is that we hire and work
with only the best, and this is true. Everyone is remarkable individually, and
yet we are much stronger as a team.
The other interesting feature is how open minded everyone
is. We use Agile to run the business, and when I suggested to try some new
ideas, everyone supported this. Coming from the corporate environment, I am
used to resistance to change and I was ready to face it. But I did not need to!
Everyone was supportive and willing to try, and super encouraging. One my
colleagues told me how much she appreciated the small changes that we
introduced this week, and she said that while they were small, she felt they
were helpful. Other colleague sent me a message that his standup experience has
improved to encourage me, and immediately made further helpful suggestions.
Everyone was receptive and willing to share their excitement and feedback. Transparency is valued highly here.
I can add that there is ongoing communication in the company
where anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, simply support each other,
and celebrate successes. Persistent chat and multiple other channels are used
to exchange opinions and align on any complex issue. And – most importantly –
everyone has a great sense of humor, so there is a lot of fun and jokes.
I learned a lot during my first week here. Most important is
the ability to always work on the highest priority item and to be strategic about
ow I invest my time. When I joined, I got a notepad where I can list three
highest priority items I plan to accomplish each day. If an item does not fit
within the three designated cells, do not do it. The way I prioritize my work
is by working on high impact items, and never getting distracted with anything
else. Working hard on a non-important items is worse than doing no job at all.
This is a great approach which I was excited to embrace. It resonated with me,
since professional success for me was always about bringing value - to the
organization, to its customers, to my colleagues.
I can go on and on, but I think it’s time to pause, because
it’s hard to describe the atmosphere of innovation, openness, and the friendly positive
attitude everyone in the office brings in. I want to wish everyone who is reading
this post to have a chance to experience such a supportive, open minded, and
value driven culture in your professional life. No more ”how to survive the
first week”, it’s my “best first professional week ever”! This is the impact of
a true Agile culture and open minded transparent office environment where the
team is swarming to achieve a common goal. I truly believe you do not need to
be a startup to build a culture that embraces Agile values.
No comments:
Post a Comment