Enter The Noob

Recently two new full time employees and a part-time intern joined our team. That's sort of huge because prior to this our team was a three person team. So essentially our team just doubled in size. Knowing that all these new people were starting was terrifying to me.

I don't like that in-between time after a candidate has accepted a job offer but before they've actually started because I'm always racked with anxiety. I find myself asking what will he/she be like? Will we get along? How will this affect my job duties? How will the team dynamics change? etc. All of these questions cause dread to build and build as I run through worst case scenarios in my head, so that when the new person starts I'm less than thrilled for him/her to actually be there and I think it shows. As a result, I'm going out of my way to be much friendlier and more welcoming. How? Here are some simple tips to help you out:

1. Go To Lunch
   Taking new people to lunch is very welcoming because it gives you the chance to break bread with them and get to know them personally! It's a gesture they'll really appreciate and never forget.
2. Ask Questions (And Actually Listen to the Answers!!)
   It's great to ask questions about people to engage them and make them feel like you care, but you're likely going to be spending a lot of time with these new coworkers so it's important to make them a priority. Think about it, you're going to be spending 40 hours with these people a week- you're practically in a serious relationship with them. Listen like you would on a first date!
3. Explain The Law of The Land
   Any workplace has politics and unspoken etiquette. Don't let the new people learn these the hard way. Obviously you don't need explain things that are common sense but if there are some quirky things about your office make sure to warn your new coworkers. For example, at our office there are a ton of matching mugs. A new person might think that those are for general use, when in reality each employee was issued a matching mug. Take someone else's mug and you could be in big trouble. Some mugs people have labeled with their names, and other mugs people have just memorized incredibly subtle differences so that they'll know which ones is thiers.
4. Be An Includer
   Explain inside jokes to new coworkers and make sure that you invite them to team events and meetings. Because they just started, new coworkers likely will not have weekly team meetings or special outings programmed on their calendars. Invite them ahead of time so that it doesn't look like you forgot about them when you're all running off something without them.
5. Set Them Up to Succeed
   Give new employees whatever training documents or helpful resources you have. If they are going to be sharing in completing tasks or projects with you make sure that they have all of the elements that they need in order to contribute. This also applies to knowledge! Give new employees the verbal explanations and support that they need to get the job done. 

 The sooner you can assimilate new employees into your workplace the better off your team will be. Going out of your way to get things off on the right foot initially will make the process smoother and more pleasurable for all parties involved; and... you might end up really liking them!

Put Down The Megaphone

Today at work I overheard a coworker of mine going on a rant about how much it infuriates him that his fiance makes more money than he does. He went on to say that as a teacher her job really isn't hard since just has to "hang with kids for a few hours" and she really doesn't deserve to be stressed. He declared that once he was making enough to support them he was "going to squash that."

A personal note before I continue... I think he should go be a teacher if he thinks it's so easy. I know a lot of teachers and it is NOT easy, not if you're doing it right. Okay, that being said, it was completely inappropriate to say this at work. This coworker's reputation is now completely ruined in the eyes of several females that sit right near him. His diatribe was the talk of the office this afternoon.

It would be one thing if this coworker was in a break room or perhaps at the smokers' station outside or in the hall with another person having this conversation and someone happened overhear him, but he stood up at his cube and declared this publically. So before climbing on your soap box and announcing personal details about yourself or personal opinions/beliefs consider who's within ear shot. If you don't know where someone stands on a particular topic, air on the side of cautiousness. It's okay to dish about your life and your outlook on life, just lower your voice if you're not 100% sure that the people around you will be understanding.

What's the most offensive thing you have ever heard in the workplace?

First Impressions And Second Chances

As the saying goes, "You only get one chance to make a first impression." A first impression is important because it sets the foundation for your relationship with your coworkers, managers, directors, and more. If you start off on the wrong foot when meeting someone, that doesn't necessarily mean that you'll never get in good with the person in question, if just means that doing so will take a considerable amount of work.

Truthfully, until about five months ago I really didn't believe that this was true. Then, a new member of our team started. I had such high hopes for her first day. I just assumed that she'd come in and we'd click. After her first day I was really upset, she didn't seem to have taken to me like people usually do right off the bat when they meet me. I explained my disappointment to my husband, and he made me reiterate what she had asked in our 1x1 that first day and how I answered. In astonishment he exclaimed, "It sounds like you made a terrible first impression!" I wasn't too concerned because I figured, well, there's always tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that... But my husband knew better, he explained to me that he didn't get started off right at a job he had had previously, and that it took months of working his butt off to prove that he was indeed a knowledgeable, hardworking, trustworthy employee. I just sunk!

As is usually the cae, he was right! I have been working ever since to get in good with her. Here are some tips so that you don't find yourself in the same dilemma:

• Dress appropriately
• Focus on the positives of your job, not the negatives (right away at least)
• Don't take criticism of the processes as criticism of you
• Never assume that the reason you have always done something a particular way is because it's actually the best way to do it
• Be open to change
• Know your strengths and how they benefit the team
• Have some stock ideas ready to discuss that would improve your job/the company

Who else has had to recover after making a bad impression? How long did it take? How did you do it?

Honor Thine Meeting

Outlook is kind of sacred. If you create an Outlook meeting intend on sticking to it. For a while I was working closely with a guy who had terrible Outlook etiquette. He would double book meetings and then blow off one of them at the last minute. He would schedule meetings and then disappear when it was time for the meeting, show up 30-90 minutes later and pretend that there was no meeting ever scheduled. He would schedule meetings, ask to postpone them, and then go play video games in one of our break rooms or hang out and chat with people near me. In short, he drove me crazy!

As a result, I now try to be especially cognizant of the fact that other people plan their days around meetings when I schedule them, and I also try to respect other people's meetings- being punctual, being prepared, and understanding the agenda ahead of time. These actions establish mutual respect and appreciation.

The fact of the matter is that when you have one or more meetings in a day, you prioritize your workload, shuffle around to-do tasks, plan lunch, etc. based on that meeting or those meetings. That's why when someone ignores the commitment that you have made to that meeting it feels so rude.

What meeting scheduling annoyances and pet peeves do you have? Share your bad experiences!

When In Rome...

I never had any idea how diverse different regions of the US could be in terms of employment environments. After we moved to Austin I worked in customer care for a short time, and my first week there I was shocked to find out that the company had a happy hour every other Friday in the office during work hours. It was apparently totally normal to have an alcoholic beverage at your desk before leaving on a Friday. People would bring in beer to share, and on special occasions we would sometimes make mixed drinks or frozen beverages. This blew my mind!

At Bentley I had attended on-campus seminars that taught you how to dress for success, eat politely at fancy business dinners, and conduct yourself in an office with professionalism. All of that seemed to go out the window when my first week on the job I found myself sipping a pink mixed drink of some sort out of a solo cup at my small cluttered desk. In fact, when it had been offered to me at first I thought it was a joke. But it wasn't- this was part of the company culture. It felt really wrong to be drinking at work. I suddenly was stricken with fear and conspiracy theories- maybe this was an elaborate plot to fire me (give me a drink and convince me that it's normal to drink at work and then fire me for doing so), or maybe I was on Candid Camera!

The happy hour was carefully planned- no employee could have more than one drink, and it had to be at least an hour before that employee left for the day. It was responsibly handled and it served the company in the same way that any other employee perk does- make the employees happy and they will provide a better experience for your customers.

In the following weeks I came to understand that this happy hour tradition was totally normal. For two weeks we would all work really hard dealing with belligerent/confused/unhappy customers and then we would get a happy hour as a reward. It was actually more strange at the company NOT to partake of the happy hour than it was to do so. Moral of the story: When in Rome do as the Romans do!