Onboard Yourself 3: Embrace Feedback
Check in with and help your colleagues.
It’s hard to overstate this, but feedback is a superpower at work. It’s collaborative by nature because you’re engaging with other people. Because you’re engaging with other people, you have a chance to strengthen your connection with them and build trust. Then, with diverse perspectives going into the work, it’ll improve the quality of what you can deliver.
Asking for feedback can often feel daunting, but the more you incorporate it into your process, the more natural it’ll feel. In my experience, people are happy to go out of their way to help you if they know you want it. Just ask.
Feedback is helpful at all stages of this plan, but this is the first key moment. Once you feel comfortable with your reflections in step two, share the observations and pain points you’ve written with your stakeholders. They show some tangible work you’ve already produced and how you’re engaging with the area.
This is a chance to make the most of some of the connections you made in the first step. Ask them what resonates with them or if something seems off.
You’re new, so people are generally happy to forgive you for being wrong.
It’s much better to realize you’re wrong about something early than after you’ve spent the effort making a plan to address a problem that doesn’t exist.
As well as asking about the observations and pain points, you can use this as a chance to get feedback on your working style. Check that the way you’re going about this work meets their expectations. Again, you’re new, so you still have time to course-correct if they don’t respond well.
Give feedback
As well as asking for feedback, you can start giving feedback. You’ve done quite a lot with the company by this point, including:
- The hiring interviews and working with HR.
- Onboarding sessions and documentation.
- Setting up your writing and development environments.
Look at your notes from these and help those around you too. We’ve just talked about how helpful getting feedback can be, so help others with your experiences.
Next steps
This is part of a series of posts explaining an approach to onboarding yourself in a new role. After embracing feedback, the next step is to Find quick wins. If you want an overview, see Onboard Yourself.
Michael Belton is a Technical Writer at Carted, a software company seeking to empower the future of eCommerce. He’s interested in helping people through content, explaining complex things simply, and making good food. Find him on his Twitter, @mykale37.
