In a week (10th June) I will be speaking at Agile in a Bag, London, UK. I will talk about how we as scrum masters, team members and managers can help a new starter settle into a new team. It is a scary time for anyone joining a new team and probably a new job, it is everyone’s responsibility to help them become productive and comfortable as quickly and smoothly as possible.
The talk covers 5 key areas. A detailed blog post covering each of these will be posted after the talk.
Startup Stock Photos
Hiring
In order for a new starter to smoothly settle into your team, their culture must be similar to that of the team. So assuming your team and company have a healthy culture you want to maintain, then you must ensure you communicate that culture to the outside world. I believe the two key areas are PR and the interview.
Hired
Once you have found the perfect person then there are a number of steps you can take before their first day. Each of these will go some way to reducing the nervousness and uncertainty the new starter will be feeling. This can range from preparing an induction process through to simply ensuring they have the equipment they need.
Agile
If your team practices agile software development, then it is likely that you will have some agreed processes in place. When someone new joins you can use these to your advantage to get the team prepared. You can also use it as an opportunity to improve your processes.
Support
Throughout all of these steps a strong level of support is essential. This needs to be a deliberate act to ensure that even the little issues are addressed. Making them feel valued and supported in the first few months will have lasting effects.
Relationships
The 4 previous areas all help a new starter build strong relationships within and outside their team. Most of this will happen in a work environment and not necessarily build strong personal relationships. Taking the team out of their comfort zone can nurture these personal relationships early on.
If you would like to hear me talk about tips covering these key areas then ticket are still available, and you can find more detail about all the other great content on the Agile in a Bag website. If you cannot make it then look forward to a post on each of these subjects next week.
Frank Code 