First 90 Days
What I did in my first month as a Senior Technical Lead (Solution Architect) at a new company
1. Know the environment ⛰
Understand the industry and its landscape
- Where do we play?
- Who do we compete with?
- Who do we partner with?
- How do we win?
Know the company
- What’s the company’s vision?
- What does the company value?
- What are the shared principles?
- What is the company’s strategy?
2. Know the team 👨👩👧👦
Know the team (outside)
- Where does the team sit in the company?
- How does the team contribute to the strategy?
- How does the team operate?
Know the team (inside)
- What is the team structure?
- How does the team collaborate?
- What is the shared value within the team?
Most importantly, know the current way of working and the reasons behind it. Experience it, observe it, and respect it. That doesn’t mean I can’t challenge the status quo. I need to experience it before attempting to improve upon it.
3. Know the role 😍
The role
- What’s the responsibility of my role?
- What are my manager’s expectations for my role?
- What are my peers’ and the team’s expectations for my role?
Myself
- What’s my goal in my new role?
- How does it match the expectations of the role?
- Get aligned with my manager.
4. Shut up and listen 😶 👂
Switch to listening mode, talk to people, read documentation, read code, and ask questions.
5. Share observation 🌀
I share my observations, previous experiences and thoughts with the team. I am not shy about providing constructive feedback, and I try to always be positive.
6. Contribute 🙌
I don’t focus on contribution in my first 30 days.
Input over output
My contributions in the first 30 days have been mostly in documenting, dashboarding, knowledge sharing on generic technical topics, and reinforcing the culture that has been agreed upon conceptually but is not yet awesome in execution.
It’s been a great journey learning new things. Apparently, I made the right decision in accepting the offer and moving out of my comfort zone.
