Session Title: Setting Yourself Up For Success in a New Organization

 

Session Number: 430

 

Room: Acapulco

 

Day and Timeslot: Monday - 3:00pm to 4:00pm

 

Formats: Discussion

 

Listen to a Preview PodCast

 

 

Session Description: Transitioning to a new role in a new organization is fun. As a learning aficionado, having the opportunity to analyze a new business model, culture, leadership team and target audience is exciting. It is also challenging and stressful. The allure of being the newest internal guru fades fast. Projects and expectations mount quickly. So what should you do in the first three months to ensure you're set up for success?

 

• Learn the "dos" before doing the "don'ts"
• Know when to be an expert and when to be naive
• Find your allies before finding your adversaries

 

Led by: Coley O'Brien - Wendy's International

 

 

Coley O'Brien is the National Director of Operations Training for Wendy's International. He has held training positions at Sears, Thomson NETg and Arthur Andersen. He has a Masters in Instructional Systems Technology from the University of Indiana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Notes from Session:

The list below are ideas surfaced by the participants as to things they felt were challenges when moving into a new organization as a learning leader:

 

• Learning the target audience
• Taking on more direct reports
• Fostering change without insulting your new team (i.e., telling them the current "stuff" isn't good and needs improved"
• Being promoted to a supervisor of former peers
• Managing a team that has more experience in the organization than you
• Understanding corporate politics
• Dealing with the "personal hysteria" of the transition, including insecurity about the decision and self questioning
• Quickly establishing value
• Knowing how to effectively react/respond when being blindsided (i.e., I didn't see that coming . . . now what do I do?)

 

We spent time talking about a best practice of creating a "100 Day Plan" to outline key activities in the first 100 days. A template for this plan is attached below. Much of it contains placeholders, but I've left some items that are generic and might be relevant regardless of your role/industry.

 

100_Day_Plan_tmpB.ppt

 

Some other best practices and ideas surfaced included:

• Conducting an "assimilation" exercise with your team; HR conducts an interview with your new team (without you present) and asks them to list questions they would want to know about you (professional and personal); the list is then provided to you and you meet with the team to address the questions; great way to surface potential issues, eliminate incorrect assumptions, break the ice, etc.
• Play the "dumb card" as a new person as long as you can; the timeframe will vary by role and industry
• Demonstrate emphathy; make a big deal of the work that is currently being done and has been done in the past . . . but it must be genuine
• Go out of your way to not only identifiy, but meet with, potential adversaries (better to do this early on then wait)
• Use your experience to help improve the orientation/onboarding process for others
• 2 books were referenced as potential resources -- "Made to Stick" and "The First 90 Days"

 

 

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