Joining a New Organization Remotely? Here are the top 5 Tips to Succeed

If you read this blog, you deserve our heartfelt congratulations for being among the lucky bunch of professionals who could prove their talent during the virtual recruitment process!

While you successfully cracked the code of taking online interviews, the journey ahead may be difficult in the current times. That’s because no one has prepared you to commence your new role in the new organization from home!

So, whether it’s your first job or another career move, you may face hurdles right from getting across your employer’s onboarding process to knowing your manager and team, even the work assigned. It's not easy to prove yourself to be a valuable resource and a team player while working in a remote setup. Getting to know the organization, your colleagues, and even understanding office politics is more difficult without the experience of being able to connect with others in person. But, no need to get nervous.

We come bearing good news. This blog brings you all the tried and tested tips and techniques to help you overcome the possible challenges you may face in your transition period of working remotely for an organization.

Tip #1: Get Familiar with the Work Culture

Every organization is unique and has its own culture of working, collaborating, and giving space to co-workers. It’s easier to pick up subtle aspects of the workplace jargon used by engaging in face-to-face interactions with colleagues, hearing conversations, and discussing what other teams are working on.

The same is almost impossible to experience in an organization working remotely as the unspoken norms become hard to understand and follow. It can lead to a feeling of being left out of alienation.

The best way to overcome this is to invest in knowing your manager, team members with whom you will be working closely every day, and other employees with whom you may need to collaborate often.

Make sure to ask them the best way to communicate with them. Find out if they have a preferred mode of communication – an email, WhatsApp message, phone, or video conference, time of day, or even frequency of getting in touch. Mention your preferences too for mutual convenience. If you are a manager, the same applies to you for having conversations with your reporting teammates.

Tip #2: Create your Presence

Though your manager will formally announce that you are joining the team, don’t think it is enough to work remotely for an organization. Pre-pandemic days, it was natural for everyone in the office to notice a new face and self-introduce the new team member. Even members of other teams used to drop by to greet, offer help to get things done & help get comfortable in the new environment.

In the virtual world, your presence has to be created. Once you have been introduced through the official channel, proactively approach your team members individually, requesting them to schedule a 10–15-minute brief video call. It helps everyone connect at a one-o-one level and share their role, experience, and tips for a new joiner like you.

You can suggest taking tea/coffee breaks together for this type of discussion so that the normal work routine is not hampered. Don’t limit your conversations to work assignments strictly. Listen more and show your keenness in learning from them.

Break the ice and discover common areas of interest, hobbies, family health, and anything which brings smiles to your face. Your efforts at catching up with your teammates will make both parties at ease, and, in no time, you will feel part of the family at work.

Tip #3: Set Expectations with your Manager

Once your orientation and set of mandatory training are complete, it’s time to get your work goals defined. A good way to kickstart a healthy work relationship with your manager is to have an open discussion of your expectations.

Make sure you schedule an online meeting, video is better than audio, and ask big-picture questions. Request them to share what they expect you to accomplish in the first quarter and give a projection for a year to understand the job easily. What are their priorities, and how does that translate into your priorities?

Tip #4: Identify your Knights and Mentors within the Organization

Many organizations foster the culture of grooming young talent with mentors and handhold recruits with a buddy system. However, a lot has changed in the new normal. Believe it or not, it’s a struggle for many organizations to remotely manage a business as usual with the same set of programs common in the office.

No need to get disheartened! If the organization does not have a buddy to help, you navigate the complexities of the work environment and decode the unsaid protocols. Using Tip no. 1 & 2 to your advantage, you probably can figure out the team member who is most experienced within the system and know how things get done.

This is your Knight, your buddy, who can guide you to the processes and inter-departmental dynamics, such as filing for expense claims and getting equipment, such as company-sponsored furniture to facilitate work from home. Mentors are more influential personalities and well allied inside the organization. They can help you learn and become productive faster.

Tip #5: Don’t Shy Away to Request for Help when Needed

We never realized the value of the sweet little gestures showered by our colleagues in the office. Teammates could sense our tension without us uttering a word by looking at our face, body language, and even the tone of our voice. It is perhaps the biggest drawback for a new joiner working in the organization remotely.

There is no shame in accepting that we can’t achieve everything independently. So, if you get confused, feel stuck, or cannot get an assignment right, don’t let fear of rejection or fear of inconveniencing others overpower you. It’s not only sensible to ask a trusted colleague for help when you need it, but also smart.

Here are basic techniques to work with and then approach your trusted colleague for help. Question yourself –

Have I exhausted all options to find the answer before asking for help?
Have I identified the right person to ask for help?
Is my laundry list of questions to ask ready?

Remember that when you ask for help on behalf of the business, you are solution-focused and at a quieter place with no disturbing noises in your ambiance. claerityai‘s AI-based intelligent software is leading innovation in removing background noises from virtual recruitments. With claerityai noise-cancelling software, you can now have a hassle-free onboarding session in your new organization.

The onboarding team can, without additional disturbances, take you through the new team, culture, and all other important information necessary to start your new job. Here’s to noise-free smooth transitions into new teams and new organizations.

Final words

While it’s not easy to get settled fast in a virtual work environment, the key is to remain flexible, have an open mind, stay positive, and don’t hesitate to ask for help when needed. Most importantly, be patient, especially with yourself, if things are taking time to work for you with your new team members or new manager.

Remember, the organization has hired you for a reason & they are fully aware of how tedious it is to onboard and make a newcomer feel at home in virtual recruitment! Kudos once again for beginning your journey of working with your choice of organization remotely.

Search This Blog

claerityai