In this Episode of Safeti School, we take a look at some tactics to help when you are starting a new job or project challenge that you are confronted with.
It’s often a very daunting time, especially if you have been forced to move jobs or are doing something completely new. In any case, career change is always hard, and it makes sense to mentally prepare.
Our tips will help you navigate the process more easily!
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Related Episodes: Secret Sauce for HSE Jobs, Improving Internal Communications
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Give yourself time – be strategic about which battles you fight.
If you are starting a new job, you’ll need at least a at least a 3 to 6 month window, if not longer, to grasp how the business really operates under different circumstances.
Use this early opportunity wisely and be cautious about getting dragged into too many dogfights over issues that are deeply embedded – these may waste your precious time.
Despite what people in the organisation might think, you don’t have all of the answers.
Providing you make that clear from Day 1, you will create enough breathing space to get up to speed with how things work within the business. Time will also allow you to build specific human and organisational context around the questions being asked.
Ask questions – ask, ask, ask – listen closely to what’s happening on the ground & build a picture of the current state of play – adopt a learners mindset.
Don’t try to be the expert, you probably don’t know the business as well as you might like to think, so avoid jumping to conclusions. There’s usually good reason why people do things the way they do – you just have to figure out what those reasons are.
Give your opinion with confidence – it’s important to establish your authority on relevant subjects but it’s equally important to embrace vulnerability when you don’t have any answers (yet) amongst the workforce.
Although it may be counterintuitive, being honest about what we know and what we don’t know won’t only avoid you looking silly, but your transparency will help you build trust amongst peers.
Don’t hesitate to remove anything that does not add value, before you consider adding more on – if you are new to a business, you are a fresh set of eyes that can see things differently to those who are in auto pilot.
With the caveat that, of course, if something is HSE-critical, understand the full implications of taking it away before you take any action
Make sure to strongly communicate that the project and/or strategy needs long-term commitment, with short term action.
Rome wasn’t built in a day.
So whether it’s a cultural shift or an efficiency drive that you are leading, it helps to draft up a high-level, low detail overview of how you see the project or strategy developing over for example, a 5 year period, with a realistic outline on what you think can be achieved – remember, it’s much better to under-promise and over-deliver, than it is to over-promise and under-deliver.
Use the knowledge/data that is already there (there will be lots!!) – when you are trying to answer technical or business-specific questions, stop trying to re-write the book, the answers are usually there at your fingertips!
Engage with those already entrenched in the business, it’s likely that they will already know the answer to your questions, or at least know someone who does.
Don’t give any one person’s opinion too much weight – if you are doing the research, gathering the data – once you integrate that with your existing knowledge, you will probably be in prime position to make judgement calls.
Just be conscious to think of the full picture and not be influenced too much by one person – even your boss
Lastly, trust yourself – you have been employed or given responsibility for the project because people believe you can do it.
Repay that trust by believing in your own ability to make your new role a success. Keep in mind the tips we have shared in this post and good luck!
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