How to quickly adapt and avoid mistakes if you are a new employee at a distance

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Feel free to ask questions and don't rush to send memes to work chats.

The first day at the workplace is always a little nervous. Especially when new colleagues - 20 unknown nicknames in corporate chats.

To keep things running smoothly, check out this beginner's guide. By the way, it can be used as a guide for newly hired employees.

What should be done

1. Learn everything about the organization of the working day

What time do you need to connect? Do I need to be in touch always? Is there a lunch break? Are there any planning meetings or meetings during the day? Is it okay to write to colleagues outside of working hours and can we expect them to send letters in the evenings?

These are the questions you should ask your manager or HR specialist on your first day of work. So you will save yourself from embarrassment. A video call from your boss while you're still in bed is one potential nuisance. The other is a missed email with important changes to the project.

2. Introduce yourself

You will be interacting with colleagues on a daily basis, so it is a good idea to tell them about yourself. A couple of sentences are enough, you can mention your previous experience and your hobbies. To help colleagues remember you, indicate your real name and surname in the messenger profile description and set one photo in all working services in an acceptable quality. It is better if your face is clearly visible there. And of course, you should refrain from taking too personal photos: a picture from a wild party will not work.

3. Understand how to keep in touch

Surely you will be added to all work chats and corporate mail will be set up for you. Ask your colleagues how it is more convenient for them to receive updates from you. Someone basically uses only emails for work, leaving messengers for personal communication. And someone will write to you through all channels.

4. Understand the structure of the company

A clear understanding of who is responsible for what will greatly save you time: with a specific question, you can contact the right person. Ask a colleague in your spare time to tell you about the responsibilities of those employees with whom you will most often come across.

5. Capture the tone of communication

Jokes and memes or restrained messages without smiles - each team has its own communication style. To catch it and stick to it, it is usually enough to look at the correspondence in work chats over the past few days.

6. Listen carefully

During general discussions, absorb like a sponge: you can learn a lot about corporate ethics, about the division of responsibilities and how the company deals with problems. Write down all the insights so that you can use them later in your work.

7. Ask questions

This is generally the golden rule for any employee. If you do not understand the TOR, something seems illogical, or you do not know who to contact with a problem, ask. Do not be afraid to provoke irritation, not to know something. This is fine. Keeping quiet in chats and meetings and then making a bunch of mistakes is bad.

8. Re-read your messages

Make sure your thought is clearly structured, questions are clear, and sentences are clear. Spend a little more time composing the letter so that later you can save it for yourself and the responder. Also, give up the habit of writing one word per message.

it

very

annoys.

The fewer notifications your colleagues receive from you, the better. This also applies to the habit of writing "Hello", "Are you busy?", Or "Can you help?" and shut up in anticipation of an answer, without explaining what the matter is. Respect other people's time.

9. Ask for feedback

At a remote location, the manager often forgets to give feedback, because the new employee does not catch the eye, but is lost in the general flow of correspondence. So remind yourself at the end of your first work week. Ask if you are doing well and what needs to be improved in your work. Just do not be intrusive and do not jerk your boss every day, otherwise you will look inexperienced and insecure.

What not to do

1. Disappear without a trace

Don't be the kind of employee who "disappeared from the radar" and does not answer calls for hours. Even if you got carried away with your work and spent this time with benefit, colleagues will think that you were messing around or sleeping altogether. If you want to dive headlong into the project or get away - warn me. Find out if the company has a standard response time for messages and adhere to those guidelines.

2. Call colleagues without warning

The phrase "Can I call you?" is a new social norm. There is nothing worse than being a colleague who interrupted your lunch, playing with your child, or driving with a call. If the situation is not urgent, notify about the call. If we are talking about video communication, then it is generally worthwhile to agree on the time of the call in advance, because this is literally an invasion of a person's personal space.

3. Deal with everything alone

Even though you are alone at home in front of your computer, you do not have to solve all the problems yourself. Colleagues are as interested in the outcome as you are, so don't be afraid to ask for help or advice.

4. Turn communication into a booth

A sense of humor is a great quality, and it can help build relationships in a new team. But if you overdo it, you can turn into a jester who annoys everyone. In addition, in written communication, it is often difficult to convey the meaning of a joke and intonation. Even a harmless phrase can offend someone. Be careful with stickers and memes at first. And some companies don't even use emojis (we don't know how they survive, but that's a fact).

5. Subscribe to colleagues on social networks

At least wait a little with this. Get to know your colleagues and their communication style first. Perhaps they will see interest in their Instagram as an invasion of privacy.

Distance is a lot of freedom, but at the same time it is a big responsibility. An employee who knows how to organize his time and effectively copes with tasks from home will be appreciated in the company.