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Meeting everyone on a new team

annashipman.co.uk

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Re: Meeting everyone on a new team

#61

Post by wcerfgba »

NateThePirate wrote: post #19

With remote working becoming so prevalent the thought has crossed my mind about what it might be like to start a new job without having much contact with most people who work there. Seems like it would be harder to become friends with coworkers, or easy feel isolated in your work (particularly outside of software development).

My company is fully remote. I schedule a 30 minute 1:1 social call with a random colleague once a week. I find this is a good balance for me personally -- it ensures I get enough social contact (in addition to my other meetings and 1:1s with my managers) but it's not a huge chunk of my work week taken up.

On the calls we talk about random stuff like our hobbies, what's going on in our lives, what we did this week. Occasionally we talk a bit about work but we usually try to keep it as socially focused as possible.

I've found that it contrasts well with the typical situation of being in an office. In office I find there is continuous social interaction, but it can be more shallow (banter, quick chat, etc), whereas a 1:1 format like this allows you to develop a deeper connection with each person and have more nuanced discussions.

Re: Meeting everyone on a new team

#62

Post by jeffrallen »

orf wrote: post #43
ShroudedNight wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As this currently reads, this evokes intense feelings of vitriol at the mere hypothetical of a peer attempting to coerce me to engage in a pathologically transactional relationship I would want zero part of. In the most satisfying job roles, I would expect to endure hardship for the sake of others' success, and this would immediately put me on notice that such endurance would likely be wasteful and painful in its lac…

Yeah, I’m just imagining receiving this demanding message out of the blue on a typical busy day from a new joiner in a different team. Most of these questions seem more suited for your direct colleagues or team lead.

I think I might have replied politely, but also kept a mental note, "careful: possible insane colleague".

Those mental notes are helpful.

Re: Meeting everyone on a new team

#63

Post by dv35z »

silveroriole wrote: post #44
dv35z wrote: post #11

Perfect timing. I just joined a company this past week as a software engineer. Day one, I knew 5 people, only topically. By the end of week 1, I have introductions/1:1s scheduled for 30+ top-notch people at the organization. Here's the method I used to do this: I created a really comprehensive intro email about myself (work stuff, personal stuff, passions, etc). I wrote this in Google Docs, so it would be easy to pas…

You joined as an engineer, not a manager. Why are you asking people how you can help with their challenges when it’s very unlikely you have the power to do so? I’d find this entire email process very bizarre, demanding and power-seeking (you want me to tell you who the bigshots are so you can meet them and what you should do to get promoted, and you’re pretending it’s for my benefit? Who are you trying to kid?). I’d…

Thanks for responding, and for the feedback. I really appreciate it (hard to get a 3rd person perspective sometimes!) Some of what you have said is hard to hear because (from my viewpoint), the emails/intros are in good faith. For example, you say "big shots" / "power seeking" - certainly, in any organization, there are just some incredibly talented & experienced people, who are always down with providing useful knowledge, if folks just asked... wouldn't you want to connect to those people as soon as you can? Wouldn't you want to accelerate or own learning, or support someone else who wants to do that?

I've always loved having "context" about/around my job, and like getting to know co-workers outside of my team bubble.

Is there a better way I could have phrased some of the questions, the structure, or even the approach (to achieve the same objective of meeting the smart/helpful people & learning a lot).

Again, thanks again for sharing the critical feedback...

Re: Meeting everyone on a new team

#64

Post by dv35z »

photonios wrote: post #49
dv35z wrote: post #11

Perfect timing. I just joined a company this past week as a software engineer. Day one, I knew 5 people, only topically. By the end of week 1, I have introductions/1:1s scheduled for 30+ top-notch people at the organization. Here's the method I used to do this: I created a really comprehensive intro email about myself (work stuff, personal stuff, passions, etc). I wrote this in Google Docs, so it would be easy to pas…

Maybe I am too European for this, but I'd be very wary if I received such emails. I'd shrug and throw it in the bin. You come across as a try hard that is more concerned with "chit chatting" than performing actual work. My 2 cents for starting a new job: shut up and work. Contribute, show what you can do. Teams are often overworked. Start closing tickets, making small improvements. Don't step on anyone's toes. Observ…

Thanks - good to know this perspective! My goal was to front-load as much information as I could to the first 1-2 weeks of works so that I could quickly GET to work (and working on the right things), and get as much culture/context about the organization I have joined. In the past, when I've joined an organization, there is a burst of "meet a few people" exchanges (where you build out a small network of people who can help you learn, get unblocked), but quickly diving into work... when I'd actually hoped to get some whiteboard sessions, code reviews, "explain how this system really works" conversations in before diving in. Again, thanks for sharing your feedback.

Re: Meeting everyone on a new team

#65

Post by ajb »

l0b0 wrote: post #24

As a software developer, being introduced only to the managers and not the team as part of the interviewing process is one of the biggest red flags (except during social distancing times, of course). Picking up the vibe is an excellent way to know whether I'll be able to contribute as much as possible. It doesn't have to be time consuming at all; simply joining a standup should be plenty. For example, are the tech le…

Don't know why this is being downvoted, its right on. I need to know I'm working for, but I also need to know who I'm working with.

Probably can't actually peg all potential problem team members, but getting a chance to do so is valuable and shows good will on the part of the employer.

I guess some people are upset at the characterisation of "social justice warriors" as a negative. Don't really want to get into the politics part - but that's kind of the point. There is a place for politics at work, when it can alleviate genuine suffering, but advertising which in-group you belong to isn't it. That goes for both sides of the political divide.

Re: Meeting everyone on a new team

#66

Post by dv35z »

Jach wrote: post #52
photonios wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I am too European for this, but I'd be very wary if I received such emails. I'd shrug and throw it in the bin. You come across as a try hard that is more concerned with "chit chatting" than performing actual work. My 2 cents for starting a new job: shut up and work. Contribute, show what you can do. Teams are often overworked. Start closing tickets, making small improvements. Don't step on anyone's toes. Observ…

For me it's a matter of introversion, it all sounds so tiresome and I would most likely ignore the email. At most I'd selectively answer a few things in email but decline any actual meeting. I'd probably bucket the sender as a promotion-seeking hustler I don't really want to work with, though all the best to them in achieving their more social oriented goals. I share your opinion on a job being there to do actual wor…

Thanks for responding. For what it's worth, I did get a few people who did reply inline to the email, which I appreciated too. Honestly, the reason I even sent the "questions" ahead of time was so that the intro/1:1 would be a valuable use of time for both people (as we could prepare ahead of time). As I am re-reading the questions I sent, which part felt "social oriented goals"? Because that is definitely NOT what I am looking for. The goal is something like, "You've started a company before. You know it's tough getting started, as there is a flurry of information, activities, projects, etc. Help me out here, by giving some the context & direction you wish YOU had been given when starting here" (or something to that effect).

Would you have phrased something differently (assuming you'd send the email at all...)? Thanks again for the feedback. (It's tough to be on the receiving end of it). Learning a lot on this thread!

Re: Meeting everyone on a new team

#68

Post by varispeed »

jan_g wrote: post #40

> This is confidential. If you say something about someone else I’m not going to go and tell them. Warning to all of you in non-managerial position: be very wary of confidentiality proclamations. It happened to me that my manager ran immediately to the CEO, when I said I'm going to start looking for a new job in 3-6 months time. I told him that I specifically don't want this information to leak, but yeah, everybody k…

Workplace these days is a minefield. If you have to talk to someone, only talk about what needs to be talked about and nothing more. Preferably also try to record every interaction or at least run a diary - location, time, who, few bullet points describing the encounter plus some additional facts - what was in the room? was there anyone else? how they looked like? in what manner the person talked to you? and so on. You will thank yourself later if it turns out you were working with a snake.

Re: Meeting everyone on a new team

#69

Post by varispeed »

jan_g wrote: post #50
websap wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very true. For me saying this conversation is confidential has a negative connotation. It raises some flags like: 1. Are we going to talk about something which we can't broadly address? 2. How do I trust someone new on the team to actually keep things confidential, what have they done to earn my trust? 3. I'm going to be more guarded about what I say, because now I'm thinking this person will probably want to miscons…

It's stupid in hindsight, but I just wanted to give him a chance to better prepare for me leaving, like start looking for new developer(s) or shift plans, etc.

Isn't what notice period in the contract is for? If you find something nicer, you give a notice and they can prepare your replacement. Why this additional weird dance?
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