I look forward to working with you.
Your first day on the job will be a surreal one. You'll meet plenty of smiling faces who look forward to working with you. The question is: how do they look forward to working with you?
Before the day is over, make sure to schedule a time to sit down with your supervisor and kick off your work responsibilities on the right foot.
Confirm your work hours.
You've gone from talking about the job to being on the job. However, your first day is simply that...your first day. It's the most informal, unique workday you'll ever have. You may have arrived later in the day or are encouraged to leave earlier than usual.
Have another chat about your regular work hours, so that you and everyone else know when to expect you at work and won't look for you when you're not around. Managing your time wisely and showing up when expected all go toward a glowing performance review.
Start a task list.
Get an understanding of what you'll work on and the specific tasks that you're assigned to complete. Your supervisor may use lofty statements to explain what your work is about, so it's your responsibility to break them down to clear work tasks. Actively listen and take notes. After your supervisor explains the work, review the details you captured. For example, your supervisor may say, "We'll need you to coordinate our brown bag lunch hour that takes place once a month". Your notes should include:
Schedule lunch hour event (date, time, location)
Get a presenter (is this my job?)
Send an invitation to staff (Which staff people? All?)
Set up room
Use your notes to get clarity about tasks you own versus tasks other team members will complete. In addition, begin setting objectives to track through as you work, e.g. the number of people invited, the number of people in attendance, the ways the event impacted attendees, etc.
Find out whom you'll work with directly.
Not every co-worker is a fellow team member. And the person sitting next to you may not be working on the same project. Ask your supervisor for a list of people with whom you'll need to connect with to get the work done. Once you have the list, either make sure to purposefully connect to these individuals when they're introduced to you or go out of your way to introduce yourself and let them know you're excited to work with them.
Understand what's expected of you.
Expectations include more than just completing work right and on time. Your supervisor and fellow team members are observing how you operate. They'll form their own opinions about how well you learn the job, communicate with others, and pick up on unspoken work behaviors. They want to see if you'll fit in and/or bring value to the job.
Ask your supervisor what it will take to be successful in your work environment. Jot down the answer as one of our goals to accomplish. Make sure to get several answers to this question from others in your workspace, so that you can understand what qualities are important to have within your specific work environment.
These are simply a few talking points to include in your kickoff chat with your supervisor in your new role. Add more points that you want to cover to feel comfortable and confident that you're starting the job on the right foot.