Landing in a new job brings a mix of emotions. Excitement, worry and a certain level of stress.
Do you find yourself lost in what you are supposed to do?
Do you struggle finding the right person to answer your questions?
What if on top of that your onboarding is fully virtual and the only living creatures around you are your family members and your dog, since you are working from your living room?
Luckily you can ask questions to ease into your new role.
But how to ask for help if the sole act of asking questions triggers a certain level of anxiety in you? If you worry about ‘bothering’ people or looking incompetent (having thoughts like: “I should be able to know this!”), then settling into a new role becomes much harder.
I want to share a few tips with you that can make approaching people and asking for help much easier. These techniques worked wonders for me and my clients:
Tip #1 - Think of a bigger picture
What do I mean? Let me explain.
When you feel nervous about asking someone for help, the chances are that you are in your head and worry about ‘bothering’ them. You make it about YOU. But what if it’s not? What if it’s about your job getting done well? Your customers getting what they need, or anything else that fits your new jobs’ responsibilities?
When you approach asking questions as 'being on a mission' of fulfilling your role, you can approach it with a more relaxed energy.
Tip #2 - Imagine they were not there that day
This tip is an accelerator of settling into a new role and a confidence boost.
Let me ask you a question: How would you solve your ‘problem’ if your colleagues were not available? Asking yourself this will open up new ways of becoming more resourceful when looking for answers. Searching in old documents, teams’ groups, onboarding guides or past conversations? In addition, doing this kind of ‘pre-work’ when looking for answers serves another purpose - it helps you get into your job much faster.
When you then come to your colleagues, you are no longer asking - ‘What’ questions, but reassuring questions and you are more on top of things: "I found this XYZ information - is this the right way to proceed?"
"A resourceful person will always make opportunity fits her or his needs." – Napoleon Hill
Tip #3 - Partner with your colleagues
You most likely have one or a couple of 'go-to' people. If all your questions go to them, then you might feel guilty for ‘taking’ too much of their time.
Most likely they are ok with you asking questions, but if you feel otherwise, be curious and find out if they find it too much. If they say 'yes', ask them what format works best for them? Is it you collecting your questions throughout the day and meeting them once a day or do they prefer you coming by whenever you have something or anything else?
We all have different preferences and being curious about theirs’ will help you establish mutually functional relationships.
Tip #4 - Take notes!
This one is so important! When you do ask questions and your colleagues take time to answer them, make sure you take notes. Write down the key points you can come back to next time you have that same question.
Coming back and asking the same question again is not only embarrassing for you, but when done often, it can become irritating for the other party.
Quick TIP: If you work with Microsoft, I highly recommend OneNote where you can create different folders for various topics to stay organised.
Conclusion
Asking questions in a new job is very natural and even expected. Implementing the techniques mentioned above will help you become more 'strategic' about it and create effective relationships along the way.
Extra TIP: If you struggle to communicate with some of your colleagues and the interactions just aren't smooth, having a deeper understanding of your preferred communication style may be of huge help.
Insights Discovery Model provides a very clear description of your own profile and explains all other colour preferences for you to start actively using it to your advantage and build effective working relationships. Click here to check my 'Effective Connector' programme.
Success in your new role! Share below which tips resonated with you. I would love to know what else works wonders for YOU.