1 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:09,520 Speaker 1: Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office, 2 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:12,719 Speaker 1: the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the 3 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: new world of work, where location and hours are more 4 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:20,400 Speaker 1: flexible than in the past. Today's tip is about how 5 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:22,759 Speaker 1: to make a new person on your team feel welcome, 6 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,680 Speaker 1: even if you're all working from home. In this era 7 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 1: of social distancing, whole organizations went virtual quite quickly. This 8 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:35,559 Speaker 1: was disorienting for everyone, but imagine how disorienting it was 9 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:38,519 Speaker 1: for people who started new jobs in late February or 10 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:41,839 Speaker 1: early March. A few places do on boarding well in 11 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: normal times. These COVID era new hires had to figure 12 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:49,960 Speaker 1: out workflows and office cultures from afar your trouble shooting 13 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: on your new laptop. Before you even know who does 14 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: tech support. You might not know if everyone was meeting 15 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: without you. Hopefully, as we near the two month mark, 16 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: people have figured it out. But as the economy slowly 17 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: opens back up, organizations will start hiring again as more 18 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 1: offices make use of virtual teams. In the future, plenty 19 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: of folks will have to figure out how to make 20 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: new hires feel welcome when you can't necessarily take them 21 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: out to lunch on day one. Fortunately, there are a 22 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: few simple ways to do that. Aaron Stewart is the 23 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: co founder of the recruitment platform job dot com. Even 24 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:28,199 Speaker 1: before social distancing, job dot com had experimented with virtual work. 25 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,200 Speaker 1: Stewart recently shared some practical suggestions with me for what 26 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:36,279 Speaker 1: you should do on a new employe's first day. First, 27 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:39,679 Speaker 1: he says, have a virtual meet and greet. Everyone who 28 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 1: works closely with the new person should get on and 29 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: introduce themselves. They should say what they do, a bit 30 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 1: of background to help establish any common interests, and maybe 31 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: what they can help with. Depending on your culture, this 32 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 1: meet and greek could be more goofy or more formal, 33 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 1: but it definitely needs to happen so your new hire 34 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: can start learning people's names and faces. Second, Stuart says, 35 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: as part of this gathering, the new hire should be 36 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: added to any invites for calls or meetings they'll need 37 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:09,640 Speaker 1: to be part of in the next week. Forcing people 38 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 1: to think about this keeps them from forgetting to add 39 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 1: the new person for a meeting coming up on Friday. Sadly, 40 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: humans aren't always the best at remembering people who aren't 41 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:21,919 Speaker 1: right in front of them, which is the case when 42 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: we're all working from home. This mass inviting keeps a 43 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: team from getting to Friday, getting on the call, and 44 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: then thinking, hey, we forgot about Beth. Finally, if you're 45 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,079 Speaker 1: the manager, you need to call the new person. Maybe 46 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: call her more than once. You can check in to 47 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: see how she's doing, But the main purpose of these 48 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:43,639 Speaker 1: calls is that you want her to reach out if 49 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:46,639 Speaker 1: she's got questions about anything. That's a lot better than 50 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: her sitting there suffering in silence. But a new hire 51 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 1: might not know the culture and whether it's okay to 52 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: just call show her it is okay by doing it. 53 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:00,800 Speaker 1: Of course, you should definitely includ the new hire in 54 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: any social occasions. You can break the ice by introducing 55 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: something cool about her that people might like to know. 56 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: But the first three steps are key for getting her 57 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:14,079 Speaker 1: folded into the workflow, which is your top priority. If 58 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: you have ways for making new virtual hires feel welcome, 59 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear about them. You can write me 60 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: at Laura at Laura Vanderkam dot com. In the meantime, 61 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 1: this is Laura, thanks for listening, and here's the succeeding 62 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:34,400 Speaker 1: in the New Corner Office. The New Corner Office is 63 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts, visit 64 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 65 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: get your favorite shows.