When you are coming to a new company/team, you want to learn about it.

Usually, you wish to do it quickly because there is (always) pressure to start a be ‘productive.’

There are many cases when the opposite is better for the long term.

You want to take your time and learn more about the WHY without giving your biases a place to run. However, reality forces us to push and try to make things faster/better.

Here is a plan that worked for me in the past.

Talk with everyone on the team/project/cross-function team and ask for 30 minutes with them.

In many cases, we are talking about 40-50 people, so it will take you a couple of weeks to accomplish it. But it’s worth it.

In that meeting, you aren’t talking.

You are asking about

• Their role in the company/team
• What do they like the most about their job?
• What they don’t like
• The biggest problem they are solving right now
• One thing they wish they could change
• One thing they are proud of
• And anything else they want to share

The simple plan

• Twenty-five minutes: ask them to tell you everything they think you should know.
  
  Take notes.
  
  Always stop them from asking about things you don’t understand.
  
  If they covered ‘everything’ in ~10 minutes, you could ask them about ‘things they would want to know if they were in your shoes.

• Next 3 minutes: ask about the most significant challenges the team has right now.

• Final 2 minutes: ask who else you should talk to. Focus on 3-5 names.

At the end of this process, you should have a much better understanding of how your company works, what they are facing, and what they need help with.

Good luck, and be strong.