The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter

by Michael D. Watkins

Business orientation checklist

get access to publicly available information about financials, products,...

Identify additional sources of information, such as websites ...

identify and introduce you to the key people you should connect with early on.

meet with some stakeholders before the formal start.

schedule early meetings with key ...

Be careful to focus on lateral relationships (peers, others) and not only vertical on...

Understand and engage in business planning and performance management.

schedule a conversation with your boss about expectations in your first week.

Have explicit conversations about working styles with bosses...

working styles with bosses and direct reports as e...

ask questions about the organization’s culture.

Schedule conversations with your new boss and HR to discuss work culture, and check back with them regularly.

Identify people inside the organization who could serve as cu...

After thirty days, conduct an informal 360-degree check-in with your boss and peers to gauge h...

Establish a Clear Breakpoint

it is essential to discipline yourself to make the transition mentally. Pick a specific time, such as a weekend, and use it to imagine yourself making the shift. Consciously think of letting go of the old job and embracing the new one. Think hard about the differences between the two, and consider how you must now think and act differently. Take the time to celebrate your move, even informally, with family and friends. Use the time to touch base with your informal advisers and counselors and to ask for advice. The bottom line: do whatever it takes to get into the transition state of mind.

Assess Your Vulnerabilities

One way to pinpoint your vulnerabilities is to assess your problem preferences—the kinds of problems toward which you naturally gravitate.

assess your problem preferences—the kinds of problems toward which you naturally gravitate.

As a result, you’ve perfected those skills and feel most competent when you solve problems in those areas, and that reinforces the cycle.

assessing your intrinsic interest in solving problems

Keep in mind that you’re being asked about your intrinsic interests and not your skills or experience.

Technical problems encompass strategies, markets, technologies, and processes. Political problems concern power and politics in the organization. Cultural problems involve values, norms, and guiding assumptions.

Three basic tools are self-discipline, team building, and advice and counsel.

You need to discipline yourself to devote time to critical activities that you do not enjoy and that may not come naturally.

actively search out people in your organization whose skills are ...

Watch Out for Your Strengths

Your weaknesses can make you vulnerable, but so can your strengths.

“To a person with a hammer, everything look...

Relearn How to Learn

denial and defensiveness are a sure recipe for disaster.

Relearning how to learn can be stressful.

Rework Your Network

there is a premium on cultivating good technical advisers—experts

As you move to higher levels, however, it becomes increasingly important to get good political counsel and personal advice. Political counselors help you understand the politics of the organization, an understanding that is especially important when you plan to implement change. Personal advisers help you keep perspective and equilibrium in times of stress.

Political counselors help you understand the politics of the organization, an understanding that is especially important when you plan to implement change.

step back and recognize where you need to build your networks to compensate for blind spots and gaps in your own expertise or experience.

Watch Out for People Who Want to Hold You Back

you must negotiate clear expectations,

about what you will do to close things out.

issues or projects that will be dealt with and to...

what is not going to...

Take notes, and circulate them back to the boss so that everyone is on the same page. Then hold your boss, and yourself, to the agreement. Be realistic about what you can accomplish. There is always more you could do, so keep in mind that time to ...

If you don’t establish limits early, you will live to regret it.

if you conclude that the people in question are never going to accept your new role and the resulting situation, then you must find a way to move them out of your organization as quickly as possible.

Get Som...

creating a 90-day transition plan.

If you have been hired from the outside, ask for help in identifying and connecting with key stakeholders or finding a cultural interpreter.

PREPARE YOURSELF—CHECKLIST If you have been promoted, what are the implications for your need to balance breadth and depth, delegate, influence, communicate, and exhibit leadership presence? If you are joining a new organization, how will you orient yourself to the business, identify and connect with key stakeholders, clarify expectations, and adapt to the new culture? What is the right balance between adapting to the new situation and trying to alter it? What has made you successful so far in your career? Can you succeed in your new position by relying solely on those strengths? If not, what are the critical skills you need to develop? Are there aspects of your new job that are critical to success but that you prefer not to focus on? Why? How will you compensate for your potential blind spots? How can you ensure that you make the mental leap into the new position? From whom might you seek advice and counsel on this? What other activities might help you do this?