Learn “Ground Rules” at work

It has been already three weeks at your new job- you have already attended orientation, meet and greet sessions and attended meetings with breakfast with your department. After two weeks of easy-going tasks- you are now thrown into all kind of projects and expectation level have gone up- its too much pressure on you to make sure everything you mentioned in your interview was true and it was worth hiring you.

You may think you have hit the nail on the target- by stocking up all the admiration from your employees about your skills, sincerity and intentions to excel in your department. Well, you are missing something- sometimes we all- what about “fitting in the group”

You may think- fitting into the group- well that was already achieved, when my co-workers praised me for my work and results achieved from first project- Well- its not going to give you cut that easy ladies and gentlemen. If you are like me, who is super passionate about your work and have full intention to stay longer than follow below steps and see the results… I am sure you will be surprised ( I learned them with trail and error methods) 

1)   Surrounding environment

Your current environment around your cubicle should give you transparent picture about your co-workers

a)    Are they socially active? b) Hang out after work hours- catch up on a drink c) more funny interactions and less gossiping 4) sharing lunch recipes and so on.. if you come across any of the above examples means the group is pretty flexible, willing to understand if you are late in your assignment and wont make fuss about little things

2)   Behaviors norms

a)    Dressing styles of employee- some office have very formal attire and most of the employees are quite uptight while some office have laid back attitude when it comes to attire- the seniors managers care about outputs on project instead of the dress codes

b)   You can also determine from your peers work space- colorful, pictures, positive quotes and souvenirs than that means they are more relaxed and letting you in their personal space- perfect way to strike a conversation if you find family pictures.

c)    Staff meetings- are your meeting straight-forward and strict or do you get chance to strike personal conversations before and after meetings- your manager is open to your feedback.

3)   Read newsletters

Make sure always to grab a copy of your departments or organization’s newsletter- its very important to stay updated with current movements at work place to demonstrate sincere and hard working attitude to excel around your peers

4)   No complaining

Always remember to highlight this point- never complain about your previous work place or manager- it can make you visible by giving you negative publicity in the group. (You definitely don’t want to be in that situation at all cost)

5)   Never get comfortable- dont leave any lose ends

Some people have habit of getting comfortable around peers after first two months of job- always remember to keep a tab on how much personal information you share related to family members, salaries etc and so on…

You will be highly visible in your first one year of work- make sure to create a friendly yet sincere hard working impression.

Remain positive, calm and approachable at all times