The value of new joiners
31 Mar 2022It’s been about six months since our group of new joiners joined the team.
I want to take a moment and highlight why new joiners are so valuable on a team.
They are the best.
Fresh perspective
The biggest benefit I’ve noticed over the last six month is the fresh perspective on old problems.
There’s new vigour to explore solutions to problems which had to be de-scoped or de-prioritised over the last two years.
I think after a while we get inured to the tiny broken bits and bobs in a system and it takes a fresh pair of eyes (and energies) to fix them.
Another benefit is that each person brings a different area of expertise, curiosity, and problem-solving history. I love hearing “I fixed X yesterday, I had the same problem on my old team and I knew what to do” or “I really enjoy database optimisation and would love to untangle the problem”. Music to my ears!
The combination of fresh energy and diverse expertise/curiosity is a powerful tool for analysis, problem-solving, and implementation which ultimately improves the service.
Check assumptions
A connected benefit to the fresh perspective is the way new joiners check assumptions…constantly.
One of my favourite questions is “why do we do it that way?”
It forces me to articulate a rational or context, and I often realise the reasons for an approach are stale and it’s time to rethink the solution.
Different priorities
This can be a more challenging benefit but still really valuable.
Not everyone has the same priorities when it comes to various team tasks, stuff like toil, story work, or even technical vision.
It’s really useful to have new joiners question priorities and offer alternatives because it pushes the team. It often means we find more effective solutions or realise we need to rethink our approach.
One of the reasons I enjoy rotating leadership roles is it brings new voices and perspectives into prioritisation sessions.
Sometimes this feels difficult, especially when there are differences, but as long as we’re able to work through those differences it can be tremendously useful.
Ultimately a decision is made collaboratively by the tech lead, product and delivery managers, and UCD. Using the “disagree and commit” approach is a useful when we face the consensus trap as a team.
Making space for this
The critical part is making space for all of these benefits.
This means hearing people out, providing context, accepting push-back, allowing people to safely fail or suggest a different approach.
Sometimes this isn’t always possible. There are deadlines or commitments we must adhere to.
But if we can, we should treat these new perspectives with the respect and value they deserve.