I’m starting a new role tomorrow…

[mellongoose]

After being out of work (redundancy) for 4 months. I’m really excited and beyond relieved!

What are your top tips for being and staying organised from day one?

For context , I will be full time, office based with a car commute. I have a primary aged child.

I really want to make this a success 🤞

Congratulations and good luck for tomorrow. I recently recruited someone with similar circumstances and she's been a breath of fresh air. I hope all goes well for you.

Me too op!

I've only been out of work over Christmas though.

Full time position, 3 primary aged dc and 3 teens

I've got nice new stationary ready to go

We can do this!

Have you a partner? If so make him the default parent for your first month so you can fully focus.

Take a little notepad with you so you can jot down any important information.

Best of luck!

Most important is to get everything ready the night before, like school, uniform, your clothes, lunch, etc. And make sure you wake your little on 10 minutes before you actually need to, to build in delay time!

Congratulations! I hope you manage a decent night's sleep. As PPs say, ideally, your OH will step up and manage the DC more/fully if they don't already.

I imagine that tomorrow and for the rest of the week and possbily next week, you'll need to get up a bit earlier until you're all accustomed to the new timings, plus you'll want to arrive earlier at work as you settle in.

Have you thought through the morning routine? Planned your outfit? Is your child independent (can dress self/make lunch/organise school supplies)? Will you drop DC or will they walk?

Good luck !

Pick your clothes out tonight. Iron if you need to . Check for stains , loose buttons undone stitches etc.

plan to have more time than you think you need. Weather conditions could slow you down. Child could throw a spanner in the works last minute. What’s child care? Is that an extra journey or is someone coming in to cover that? Basically plan for the unexpected. Better to be early than late.

Above all, congratulations. Wish you every success 😃

DH is sorting DC for this week but his work is sporadic and often away so I will need to factor in DC.

Outfit sorted, as well as lunch. Commute easy.

What about being organised at work? Do people make lists, carve out time in diary? What else?

Thanks so much for the good wishes and good luck to others also starting tomorrow!!

Congratulations
Take loads of notes if you are doing something you are unfamiliar with.
Have spare toiletries, tights if you wear them, toothpaste etc in your bag.
Take a USB stick with personal docs on etc- like cv
Take your Passport HR might require to see it

I am personally a fan of things to do today list- but I am old
Do not let your email inbox get swamped- people will send you loads of stuff as part of your induction - organise folders and sort it.
Ask about any mandatory training HR. IT. Ethic and try to get it done before you start being busy

Ask questions, be friendly, take chocolates like celebrations etc in to say hello if you are part of a team
Take time to assess your new workplace before you offer to lead stuff

How exciting! Have a fabulous first week!

My tip is super dull, but take this time to read all the policies and procedures. You never get the time afterwards until it’s too late. From this, you should also guess I’m HR

Not sure of your role, but I reckon your timetable at work will develop itself. If you're continuing in the same industry, presumably you know what Jan is usually like? Bring your fave waterbottle or a distinctive lidded mug (H&S new standard so you don't scald your colleagues).

Presumably your line manager will direct you and/or put you on a project so you'll go to the meetings/meet the team to get up to speed on that where you can take lots of notes - so bring a notebook... or macbook or however you like to take notes.

Many places have a 'back to work' meeting or two in early January where someone senior outlines the targets for the foreseeable and highlights areas to brace for or improve. You may also be scheduled for induction or specific training sessions on the first few days. As per @Vitriolinsanity , do read all the rules and regs and watch all the training videos - you'll never have time again. By close of play, you'll surely have a mile-long list for what to do (and bring) on Tues.

Good idea from @Breadcat24 to take some treats even though many people will be starting Jan in 'austerity' mode after the excesses of Dec. You could do that on Tues or Weds when everyone's realised how tough Jan is 😂

Learn how to use AI to aid your role.

<Hard hat on> Loads if people will come on to reply to me saying "AI is rubbish!" but, IRL, anyone who can use AI well will be getting ahead. AI is going nowhere.

I use Microsoft planner for my to do list - each thing is on a card and I can move them between the 'buckets' (today, this week, this month and future months) as things need doing. The card enable you to do mini checklists and add notes and attachments as you need to.

I also have a comms planner where I add things that I need to talk to someone about (each person has a card and I note down anything I need to speak to them about so I can raise it all at our next opportunity to catch up). Useful for things that aren't urgent enough to warrant an email or teams message but need a quick conversation the next time we speak.

When i first started my current role i had another planner for connections - each person has a card and i would make a note of their role, who they manage, responsibilities and anything useful to know - such as Emily, HR business partner, looks after 3 directorates, manages Jack and Lucy, dog called Denzil.

I also add focus time to my diary. Outlook can automate this but I find if I add it myself I can use it as a time block for things, so I might add an hour for 'focus time for board paper' or 'focus time for performance stats' etc.

I use a notebook with page numbers so if I have a lot of actions or notes from a meeting I can refer to the page number. I have tried being paper free but there's something about writing things down that seems to lodge them in my brain.

At the end of each day I plan the next day including my top 2 or 3 things to do. Last thing on Friday I scan through the next few weeks adding focus time and prep slots for meetings (I have a LOT of meetings as my role is very peopley).

Make sure you start a sunshine folder so that when you get good feedback - or even a 'thanks this is great' email - you can file it away to refer to on days when it feels like nothing is going right and you need a bit of a boost.

And good luck for tomorrow!

Read the company policies first though - lots of companies ban the use of generative AI.

They'll get over that.

Me too OP! I've just worked my 3 months notice for a small, 12-employee firm that has been shrinking, and I'm going to a US-headquartered global firm in a senior director role and I. AM. BRICKING IT.

Good luck to everyone starting tomorrow!

Would a lacklustre male be bricking it? No. Go in there and do it!!!

Great tips

This is brilliant advice. Thank you.

You’ll be fab. They hired you because they wanted you !

Just wanted to pop on and say good luck to you. I think you’ve got lots of good advice already but really wishing you well.

Good luck. I changed jobs about a year ago and watched a video I can’t find now but it said a few things that stuck with me
-people are more forgiving of answering questions of a newbie so ask away don’t be afraid as you might not get the chance again,
—prepare in your head how you intro yourself to sound like a good colleague but shine a light on your skills

• try and go on a listening tour find out people below, above you etc in different departments worth meeting to understand your role and the business, just for a coffee chat etc- really useful

In my experience people will talk about others in the organisation as if you already know them. Things like “you’ll need to liaise with Linda on that” etc. ask today, who is Linda, and write It down.

Depending on how your day works, block out half an hour for admin every day, put it in your diary like a meeting. Use that time to quickly reply to emails or do those small jobs that tend to slip your mind. I have a “incidentals” list that I write in the meeting space for each day. It means small jobs aren’t sitting in my head.

Good luck!