Things To Do When Joining A New Engineering Team

Introduction

Every software engineering team is different.

From the number of people to the types of roles to the software domain, the variations are infinite. What’s the same is that most of the time when you onboard as a new member, you will follow a set of actions to set yourself up for success in the new team.

The following is what I do and also what I recommend to new team members who join a team for a first time or seasoned folks going through a familiar transition.

High level objectives

1. Give a good first impression.
2. Talk to people and don’t be afraid to ask basic questions.
3. Understand the team from a people and business perspective.
4. Identify your role and area of impact.

Give a good first impression

If I am asked to recall new team members who gave a good first impression, I think of those who were enthusiastic and curious to learn. Those are the defining characteristics of new hires. While one can also demonstrate technical prowess, such as contributing to code changes on the first week, that’s typically not the focus of the new team member (unless the team is very short on time and needs deliveries). How to exemplify those characteristics are explained in the next few bullet points.

Talk to people in 1:1 settings

This might sound obvious, but part of joining the team is about meeting people and getting a sense of the personalities that make up the team. It is worthwhile to schedule a time to set with each existing team member and ask them general questions. I used to think that this might be a waste of time for other people, but more often than not, this gives them the opportunity to ask you questions that they might not feel comfortable sharing in a team setting.

I like to ask people the questions:

1. Where were you before this role?
2. What are you working on right now?

The first question can go anywhere and be as personal as you want, depending on your comfort.

The second question is important to getting a sense of the ongoing workstreams in the team, and identifying subject matter experts on the team. In case your first assignment is related to this person’s domain, you now know who to reach out to for help.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions

When you are new to a team, everyone understands that you have no context about most things happening.

You have “the right” to ask questions as general as, “Sorry, can you give me the background context for this project?“.

It’s a valid question. Sometimes, you may not want to ask during a standup meeting, as it can feel like it’s interrupting a team’s usual routine. That’s ok, just make sure to find the time after the meeting ends or when they are reachable to ask about what they were saying. Most of the time, people are happy to share things to get you onto the same page.

When people share their knowledge with you, make sure to take notes and be a good listener.

Understand this team from a people and business perpective.

When you finish talking to people, you should have a general sense of what this team is doing. You should also have a mental model of who is working on what, and how they could intersect with your project.

With a mental model of how these projects relate to each other, you should be able to understand what business objectives this team is trying to reach. Armed with this knowledge, you should be able to talk to your manager and see where you could fit in.

Identify your role and area of impact

If you have a 1:1 with your manager, you can understand (if not already figured out), what you will be working on. Most of the time, the manager already knows, since they had to have requested the business need for a job opening in the first place. If your manager is not sure, you can discuss areas where you can contribute to.

Knowledge sharing sessions

One of the methods I have seen to get a new group of new hires up to speed on the latest projects is through knowledge sharing sessions. It is effective and scalable for the presenter to spread their knowledge through a video recording or documentation that enables new hires to understand the background context or domain knowledge needed to do work.

Avoid stale documentation, help update new onboarding resources

One pitfall to avoid is reading too much documentation on your own, without verifying if the information is still up-to-date. Every time you receive a link or document, you should ask someone on the team if they still think it is up to date. If not, you can help them update it. Doing so will help the next new hire who has to go through the same path.

Conclusion

Joining a new team is exciting and you will surely learn a lot in the beginning. If you did not absorb anything in this article, just remember: enjoy the learning process and be curious about why things are the way they are. That perspective alone will carry you far into being successful on the new team.