First month in new job

Jordan Silverman

I am excited to be starting a new job at a company in a few weeks. I will be overseeing the post sales team and inheriting about 8 people.

This is across customer service, onboarding, training, and CSMs.

What do you think I should make sure to accomplish in the first week? First month?

Learning will of course be a major focus - would love other peoples insights!

Michelle Wideman

Hi @Jordan Silverman,

Congrats on the new role!  I'm a big people first leader, so I'd encourage you to schedule 1:1s with everyone on the team to learn about them as a human, but also have them give you feedback on what's working/not working.  I'm a big fan of stop, start, continue.  What should we start doing, what should we keep doing, what should we stop doing.  I'd definitely have a clear definition from leadership on what your goals and objectives are so you understand where you should focus first and ensure your team is on board, which should provide insights into what customers meetings to prioritize.  Given the cross functional nature of Success, I'd encourage you to schedule 1:1s with your peers to build those relationships, understand their views of your team, and strategy for working together going forward.  So many things...so exciting!

Jill Mancuso

@Jordan Silverman Congrats on the new gig! Agreed with @Michelle Wideman above and on first week, would prioritize getting to know the team first, their current feedback on what is/isn't working, and identify their individual strengths to establish your do-ers. I'd then ensure you understand (or craft) a charter for each department/function you'll be heading up. Do those teams understand what their goals are and how they impact the organization? This groundwork will be key to your success in making real change/impact on post sales at your company.

I'd then start to dig into your customer list within the first month and, if the company hasn't already, bucket out those customers in a way that makes sense (revenue, segment, geo, etc.) and identify your high priority customers.

Hope this helps!

Yuya at Commune

Hi Jordan, congrats on the new challenge!
As a CEO, I'd be impressed if a new leader joining the company gives me their 30/90 days plan within 2 weeks after joining.
The plan includes
- What's going well and we keep on doing
- What're risks that we keep in mind but not the biggest take for the next 30/90 days
- What're some things to be fixed asap (and this is the focus for the next 30/90 days)
To create this, you need to not only talk with your team members but also dive into the customer lists, CRM, metrics, etc.

It's super important to produce a quick win to be trusted by the board and to avoid being micromanaged.
Hope this helps!

kmulhalljr

Congrats Jordan. By no means an expert but was in a somewhat similar boat but with a staff of 4. I'd first start by connecting with the team individually (week 1) using some form of standardized intake to better understand who they are as people (traits, habits, hobbies) then how they view the company and their role...along with what they need or want from you. Second week I'd be going through SOPs and documentation to streamline as much of the day to day as possible. I'd then work on developing 30-60-90 day scorecards to map both your progress, the individuals on the team as well as the group as a whole. Not sure if this is something you'd be comfortable with, but I do a 'reverse' 1: many, where I collect feedback openly from the entire team. The good, the bad and anything in between. This way they know that group criticism is not only okay but a healthy part of growth.