American Association for Physician Leadership

Got a New Job? Take Control of Your Onboarding

Harvard Business Review

September 6, 2018


Summary:

If you want to excel in a new job, you can’t rely on your company’s onboarding process to prepare you. Ask these questions to take control.





Ask these questions and prepare yourself to cultivate important connections, understand your role, and identify and deliver on early wins.

If you want to excel in a new job, you can’t rely on your company’s onboarding process to prepare you. You need to take control of your integration.

Spending time early on to figure out who the key influencers are in relation to your role, and getting to know them face-to-face, can pay big dividends down the road.

RELATED: Didn't Get the Job? Here's How to Win When You Lose

As you identify these people, here are some questions to ask them:

  1. What are your most critical business issues over the next one to two years?

  2. How can our departments partner to achieve that plan?

  3. What has previously worked well between our departments that we should continue?

  4. What should we do differently to be more effective?

  5. How can we communicate to ensure optimal collaboration?

  6. What politics should I understand as my unit tries to accomplish these goals?

  7. Who else do you think I should talk with? Can you connect me to them?

RELATED: No Stigma in Changing Jobs, But Ask the Right Questions First

Also, during your first month in a company, take time to ask your boss these questions:

  1. How do you prefer to give and receive feedback and be kept informed?

  2. What are your most important goals for the year, and how do they fit into the company’s strategic objectives?

  3. What are the two to three most critical accomplishments I need to achieve within a year, and how will they be measured?

  4. What should I accomplish in the next six months?

  5. In what specific ways can I help you succeed?

Copyright 2018 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate.

Harvard Business Review

Harvard Business Publishing (HBP) was founded in 1994 as a not-for-profit, wholly-owned subsidiary of Harvard University, reporting into Harvard Business School . Our mission is to improve the practice of management in a changing world. This mission influences how we approach what we do here and what we believe is important.

With approximately 450 employees, primarily based in Boston, with offices in New York City, India, and the United Kingdom, Harvard Business Publishing serves as a bridge between academia and enterprises around the globe through its publications and multiple platforms for content delivery, and its reach into three markets: academic, corporate, and individual managers. Harvard Business Publishing has a conventional governance structure comprising a Board of Directors , an internal Executive Committee , and Business Unit Directors.



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The American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL) changed its name from the American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) in 2014. We may have changed our name, but we are the same organization that has been serving physician leaders since 1975.

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