Building long-lasting, meaningful relationships with your new colleagues is an exciting part of any new job.
But in the Covid age, many employees who have started their new role within the last six months have never physically met their colleagues. This has created a large amount of disconnect within financial teams.
There are several barriers to overcome when starting a new job remotely, and with remote working set to be in place for some time, it will be something that new job seekers will have to get used to in the coming months and possibly years.
Even with the superior technology we have available that allows us to communicate instantaneously, this is still no substitute for real, interpersonal interactions.
But, it’s not impossible to build great relationships with your new colleagues; there are some tips and strategies which will help you.
Here are the best ways to build rapport with your new workmates – remotely.
Clarification is Essential
Starting a new role can be stressful at the best of times; when this happens remotely, it can add to the pressure.
In your new finance role, you will want to get things ‘right’, and of course, there are always those little sticking points with any new roles that you need to iron out – which is not always easy when you’re working on your own at home.
My top tip here is to make your line manager your best friend, at least in the first few days and weeks.
Find out how they prefer to be contacted, either via email, messenger or on the phone – it can be frustrating trying to contact someone via email who likes to be contacted by telephone or vice versa. Don’t be afraid to contact them when you’ve got a question, or you aren’t sure about something.
If you find in your new role that you have to ask a lot of questions, but you can get on with your tasks without needing to know the answer immediately, you can save up these points and raising them once a day, or in the morning or the afternoon.
Getting to Know Your Team
Depending on the size of your team, there is a chance that you won’t be introduced to everyone when you start; it might be a gradual process.
If this is the case, it can be awkward trying to work with someone via email when you haven’t been formally introduced.
If you find yourself working with someone who you haven’t had a video call with yet, it would be a good idea to organise a virtual meeting with them to break the virtual ice.
Virtual coffee meetings are on the rise – even a short 10-minute chat with your new colleagues can help you to understand them better and will make you feel more at ease in your new role.
Remote Culture
When you start a new job, integrating into the culture is a key component of your overall experience of your new role with your new company.
After all, your alignment with the company culture will have been one of the reasons you were offered the job in the first place.
All good employers should have a robust onboarding procedure, and this will hopefully be in place for you, even if you are starting your new job remotely.
Training, having your role clarified, and being introduced to your team and management should all be included in your onboarding process.
But is it possible to understand and integrate into the company culture when you are working entirely remotely?
It’s more challenging, yes, but it’s not impossible.
The following are my top tips to integrate into your new role, remotely –
- Be prepared for a different type of onboarding. If it’s your first time being onboarded remotely, it will be different from anything you will have experienced previously. It might feel daunting or challenging at first, but it will get easier as the days and weeks go on.
- Learn how your team communicates. Your new colleagues will all have different communication styles – getting to grips with this can be one of the most challenging parts of a new role. Once you start to learn who answers their emails quickly, who is always online for instant messenger replies and who you need to call to get an answer from, you will feel much more ‘part of the team’.
- Reminding people who you are. Being a new member of the team under normal circumstances can involve a lot of reminding people who you are and what your role is – and this can increase when everything is happening remotely. Expect to introduce yourself more than usual, and don’t take it to heart if people don’t remember you the first time – remote communication and relationship building takes a little longer.
- Start with a neutral tone and build from there. It would be unrealistic to expect that you’re going to develop instantaneous relationships with your new colleagues, but in time, these relationships will form. Keep track of which of your new colleagues you find working with easiest, and who you have things in common with – these will become your closest work relationships.
If you are currently looking for a new finance role and wondering about remote onboarding, we can talk you through the process.
We have a range of finance roles available in the North West; get in touch with us today by calling 01282 930930 or send us an email here to discuss your next finance career move.
Thanks
Rachel
About Rebus Financial Recruitment
Rebus Financial Recruitment provides a specialist and focused recruitment service to its customers, which historically range from a wide variety of organisations including SME’s to large PLCs.
We strive to offer both the client and candidate a seamless recruitment experience. Using our expertise, we get to the heart of employer and employee needs; and, in doing so, we match the two perfectly. To find out more, get in contact with one of our team today, or you can call us on 01282 930930.
