STARTING A NEW JOB DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC. LOUIS WALTERS OFFERS HIS TIPS FOR ANYONE ELSE TAKING ON A NEW ROLE DURING THESE ‘UNPRECEDENTED CIRCUMSTANCES’
My first day at Tin Man was a weird one, and I think that’s putting it lightly. Having been excited to start as an account executive for over a month, I was looking forward to meeting the team, seeing the office and getting to know my new clients.
However, whilst it was memorable for me, it was bizarrely also extremely memorable for everyone else in the country as it was the day the country went into its first ever national lockdown.
It started much as you might expect - but ended with goodbyes with the caveat “not sure when we will next see each other again face to face”. Whilst day one was spent getting set up on my new laptop and getting to know my way around the server, it was also spent ensuring I had everything I needed to work at home ‘indefinitely’ (how much stationary would I need?) and being told that the work I would be doing for my new clients could be subject to significant change.
What normally might be a welcome pint after work was instead sitting with colleagues I’d only known a few hours listening to Boris broadcast to the nation about these incomparable protocols.
The chat to your parents about how your first day went, usually met with a “it’s hard to tell”, was, genuinely, hard to tell. At least I didn’t have to worry about getting lost on the commute I suppose.
The days following are usually focused around settling into your new office space. For me, it was spent working out where to place my temporary desk in the flat I’d been living in for 6 months. What was especially weird though, is inviting brand new colleagues (some of whom you don’t know their names) into your home – and them being able to see what your living room looks like, what your garden looks like (remember when it was nice outside?!) and even what you look like when you can’t be bothered to make the effort of putting on a nice outfit to go down the corridor.
My main worry, apart from their honest thoughts on the lockdown beard I was growing, was bedding in, building proper working relationships and feeling like a proper team member, a cog in the remote working machine so to speak. This is hard enough as it is when you’re physically together but you’d be surprised just how difficult this is when you’re communicating by video conference with differing broadband speeds and multiple technical hiccups. Things you used to take for granted, like chatting about what you got up to last night/are doing this evening, trips to Pret (note: other establishments are available) with co-workers, or simply just seeing who fancies who or the pointless conversations overheard across desks suddenly felt really important to everyday work life.
I would recommend to anyone starting a new job in a new office during these strange times (more of which I’m sure may come) to just put your hand up as much as possible and show what you’re about. You really have to go the extra mile to put yourself out there.
Offering to join the agency social team, making time to attend brainstorms and even suggesting a good lockdown playlist went a long way for me. No longer was I ‘hairy new man’, I was ‘hairy man with playlist’, and trust me, whilst that doesn’t seem much, it starts building those personal building blocks that you would normally get from the mundane office chatter.
The team were also great, and I’m not just saying that because this is on their website. Meeting my line manager for a distanced lockdown coffee (as she lived up the road from me) or people just dropping in to ask about me or have five-minute chats about football really helped. I always feel your job is only as enjoyable as the people you do it with, and these folks were class.
Now that I can look back at what has been nothing short of the strangest professional year ever, here are some of my tips to thriving and surviving amidst the madness:
1. Inductions – Whilst I was fortunate to meet pretty much everyone in person on my first day, it was still nowhere near as much as you normally would over the course of a full first week. I’m sure team members will ask you questions and be welcoming but remember to do the same, show them what kind of person you are and even establish some common ground. An online work pal is a work pal nonetheless.
2. Teams Talk – People that likely won’t have seen you in person yet but you’ll be seeing a lot of will be clients, and obviously it’s really important to show professionalism off the bat. Putting on an ironed top/shirt for your client call (trousers optional) and having a nice or at least non-messy background (definitely no unmade beds or washing up stacked in the sink!) gives off a great impression. Why not throw in a desk plant for good measure.
3. Strong Connection – Whilst a professional background is important, colleagues not being able to see or hear you due to a dodgy wifi connection defeats the hard work you’ve put in. Whilst the odd connectivity issue can’t be avoided, repeated “I can’t do x” because of it will end up impacting your work and what colleagues ask of you. A good router is route 1 to remote work happiness.
4. Take a Break – I’m not the first person saying this and won’t be the last but taking breaks and not just working through really adds up. Personally I put in little ‘rewards’ to keep me going, in the summer that was spending some time in the garden, now it’s watching an episode of the series I’m binging during lunch or having a decent meal on the horizon. WFH burnout is actually a ‘thing’ and in order to give your best, you need to be able to treat yourself and your time with the same respect you’d expect of others.
5. Manage Expectations – I am definitely guilty of this, my first few weeks I wanted to show my eagerness and put my hand up for everything, even if it meant working more hours than I should have or potentially turning things over a bit later than planned. I would recommend prioritising the key things you have been tasked to do, then if you find yourself with some free time, let your team know and you can get stuck in.
6. Keep It Lively – Some days you really are just a bit pressed for time or have a lot going on, but definitely keep the positivity. Try to keep as engaged as possible on calls with teams and clients and show you are a good worker that’s happy to get involved. If it does feel a bit overwhelming, your team should know this is a weird time for you and be on hand to chat/work things out if you need them to.
In a nutshell, I guess my advice would be the little nice things add up and the big scary things aren’t as big or scary as the goldfish bowl of home working makes it. If I can do it, I’m sure you can too.