Onboarding Gives You Special Powers: Make Sure To Use Them

Most people view onboarding as a position of weakness: They don't know anything while the team knows everything, and now they need to bridge that gap. While that's somewhat true, onboarding is not a position of weakness, and thinking this will only make your onboarding slower and less effective.

Here are the core points from the video:

• Nobody wants to be mean to the newbie - This means that you have extra slack to ask questions and request help more aggressively than the average team member. However, this "aura" doesn't last forever - Make sure to really use it while you have it! The first month in particular is when the team will be extra accommodating of you.
• You will never have fresh eyes again - Being new gives you a perspective that tenured members of your team simply can't have. Use this to share new ideas and suggestions to the team: Tactically, you are very well equipped to improve the onboarding process. Don't only view onboarding as a state where you need to be dependent on others and consume help - Feel empowered to bring about positive change as well.

Related resources:

• "How do you overcome the fear of asking stupid questions / bothering people when you need help?"
• "What does it mean to not require handholding anymore?"
• "I'm afraid of asking questions when I don't know how to start a new ticket - How to get over the fear?"