A 30-60-90-Day Plan to Position Yourself for Success at a New Job
You just transitioned to a new job, it’s a great opportunity and you want to ensure you start off on the right foot. With every new job comes a bit of stress and nerves as you find your way of doing things. Staying on top of everything you need to learn and accomplish can be overwhelming. Not visibly seeing your accomplishments or how far you have come can be disheartening at times.
We suggest using the four stages of learning (explained below) in conjunction with a tracking system to monitor the different stages of your new role and the progress you’ve made along the way. It’s easy to forget a few steps here and there and even easier to miss the many achievements and headway you will make within the first 3 – 6 months of a new job. By tracking these things together, you will see what needs a bit more work and where you can celebrate some wins.
In this article, we reference Abraham Maslow’s 4 stages of learning.
- Unconscious incompetence – We don’t know that we don’t know.
- Conscious incompetence – We know that we don’t know.
- Conscious competence – We work at what we don’t know.
- Unconscious competence – We don’t have to think about knowing it.
The Four Stages of Learning
The Breakdown
Your First 30 Days on the New Job: Educate
The first 30 days in your new position are all about getting acquainted with your team, learning about the company and understanding the core responsibilities of your role. In the four stages of learning, this is stage 1: unconsciously incompetent, meaning you are probably feeling nervous and thinking; “I don’t even know what I don’t know.” Don’t worry, you are on track.
Leaning into 60 Days of the New Gig: Contribute
By 60 days on the job, the goal should be to start contributing. Start speaking up in meetings, performing tasks with less guidance or oversight, and begin adding value. This stage is like stage two of the four stages of learning where you are consciously incompetent; this stage will be overwhelming because now you know what you don’t know.
By 90 Days: Start to Initiate
By 90 days you want to start taking the initiative where you can. Be proactive and identify projects or areas of improvement that you can tackle or volunteer to help with.
A great way to monitor your progress is with a spreadsheet to track your advancements and accomplishments (while CRUSHING imposter syndrome). At this point in your new role, you will be reaching stages three and four of the four stages of learning: stage three, consciously competent: “I know it, but it isn’t 2nd nature yet.” And stage four, unconsciously competent, “It is routine now; it is 2nd nature and comes easy.”
These stages come at different times for everyone, establish baselines that work for you and your role. Understand expectations, have patience and you will succeed. We found Break Your Budget, millennial money tips blog! Has great resources to help get your career started off successfully.
We have provided a template modeled after Break Your Budget.
Downloadable Excel Sheet: TRG New Role Progress Tracker
Use these tools to set yourself up for overall success and future promotions. Remember, if you have any questions about your job, make sure you ask for help. Your mentor or supervisor would like you to succeed and will typically be happy to help with any questions. Good luck with your new endeavor.
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