Your First 2 Weeks
Get my stakeholder interview template, below
OK, Product person, here’s the scenario:
You’re starting a new job.
You’ve got a new project to kick off.
Or your main stakeholder has changed.
How do you start things off on the right foot?
Those first two weeks are critical. It’s a time when relatively little is expected from you in terms of output, but everything is on the line in terms of making an impression. Pretty soon, people are going to want to know what your plan is, and how you’re going to get things done. How are you going to figure out what to tell them?
The answer is simple - so simple that we often miss it. We do this the same way that we figure out what we’re going to do for our customers - we go through a discovery process.
The only difference is that, for this one, you are the product. And if that’s the case, you need to talk to your customers: your stakeholders, your peers, your team, and anyone else that’s critical to getting your job done.
Scratch that. There’s plenty of time to talk to these people. The first thing you need to do is to actually listen to them. We don’t practice this enough.
Julia Whitney has a great overview of how to accomplish this, using her CREDiT model, which works across the entirety of a relationship. I refer back to this anytime something feels off, to make sure that I haven’t missed something; it usually does the trick.
Getting started with it the right way was the key. And for that, I’ve developed a Stakeholder Interview template. It allows me to create semi-formal, structured conversations with key players and to suss out any issues that are going to get in my way:
Do people have the same expectations for what I’m working on?
Do they have clear success criteria? And is it consistent?
Are their motivations and bonus measures aligned?
What are their short term priorities?
What’s the best way to work with them?
And what else should I know that I haven’t asked them?
It turns the introductory conversation around. Instead of telling people about you - someone who’s just shown up, who doesn’t know anything about them or the company yet - it allows them to talk. And they’ll tell you some amazing things.
Some of the stuff that I’ve learned:
That my hiring manager’s expectations for the role are not the same as those of key stakeholders
Where tension and problems are likely to be, because of mis-alignment in perspective and incentives
Who doesn’t like - or respect - whom
What I can do in my first weeks or months that will be of real value, and establish me as someone valuable
The template is constantly evolving, as the people I use it on often give me an even better question to use, and it changes for every project based on context. The best way to use this is to copy it, then rewrite it for yourself.
Other things to do:
Talk to - or rather, listen to! - existing customers
The same with prospective customers
Spend time with the Support team, especially on calls
Look at the activities on the Dragon Age Induction Board 2 - Onboarding Boogaloo, from @sarah_at_talentwitch
Share a Manager Readme/introductory video
Follow the advice of the lovely Tweeters who gave advice here
Get the Stakeholder Interview Template
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