Onboarding into a new position or organization doesn’t have to be a difficult process. In most circumstances, it is anticipated that the company, HR, or team would lead the onboarding process, with the new team member playing a more passive role in getting up to speed. The fact that the company is in charge of the onboarding process can make it difficult at times. As an employee who has gone through onboarding processes a number of times, I’ve learned that taking an active role in onboarding is the most effective method to smoothly transition into a new organization or team.

In this post, I’ll show you how to take an active role in your onboarding experience by asking for and giving yourself feedback on a regular basis, asking questions to better understand your role, and gradually challenging yourself with tougher tasks.

Remember feedback

As much as possible, ask your teammates for feedback about your performance. You may be doing something improperly or wrong on a team and be completely unaware of it. Even if it’s a little issue, some colleagues tell you the truth unless you ask them directly, as they don’t want to appear rude or inappropriate. It is your obligation to get this information and prevent a snowballing of little issues into larger difficulties for your team. You can miss these issues if you’re merely watching the company’s onboarding process from the sidelines.

Be curious

Ask as many questions as you need to in order to fully comprehend what you’re working on when learning anything new with a team member or coordinator. Even if you think you’re being obnoxious, your duty is to make sure you’re doing everything right so you can get up to speed as quickly as possible. Usually, if I see a possibility that I may miss something in the work process, I don’t hesitate to chat with the manager, coordinator, or team member to clarify it. If you start to feel like you’re being annoying, remember that taking the time to learn something now will save your team time in future and show you as a person interested in your company’s success.

Take on a hard task

Where possible, request more difficult tasks, especially in the early stages. Completing increasingly difficult tasks is a terrific way to impress your team while also giving you a sense of achievement and confidence. Furthermore, working this way will help you to grow quickly in your role. This happened to me when I challenged myself to take part in a front-end project when I needed to learn the Javascript React library to complete it. I made it and impressed not only the team, but myself. However, be sure not to bite off more than you can chew. It’s important to be proactive and take initiative in your learning, but taking on task that is impossible for you to complete can cause more problems for your team.

Lead onboarding

Let’s imagine you are in a situation where you aren’t receiving enough work. You can wait until the coordinator or manager gives you a task, but a much better solution would be for you to call out to your colleagues and ask for work. When you aren’t receiving work, it doesn’t assist you and your team. If everyone on your team is busy and you’re not receiving work projects, keep in mind that you’re also in charge of your onboarding. Try selecting some projects that appear manageable for your current stage and letting your team colleagues know what you’re up to.

Be active

Onboarding is a fantastic opportunity to take an active role in your career. Don’t take it for granted that you’ll be given everything you need to effectively join your team. Nobody understands your unique requirements and needs better than you, and if you take the initiative, you can incorporate this knowledge into your onboarding process.