#WorkplaceRelations #CoworkerBonding #NewJob #OfficeCulture
Hey there! 👋 So, I’m gearing up to start a new job as the lone wolf in the IT department of a small office. And let me tell you, I’m a tad nervous about winning over my new coworkers. I mean, I’m not exactly the life of the party, but I do know my way around a good handshake and smile. 😉
I was thinking of bringing in some treats on my first day to break the ice, but I want to make a real impression. Any ideas for something a bit more unique or special that won’t break the bank? My budget is around $50 max.
I was contemplating a few options myself, and here’s what I’ve come up with:
– Personalized thank you cards for each coworker
– A communal snack basket filled with treats for everyone to share
– Hosting a virtual trivia game or team-building activity to kick things off
What do you think? Any other suggestions that might help me win over my new colleagues? I’d love to hear your thoughts! 💭🍩 #TeamBuilding #OfficeEtiquette
While the donuts or bagels are a good idea. Wait until the first friday after you start. Bringing them on the first day may be slightly awkward. I have been in IT for over 25years. What I can say is to be on-time, listen to the concerns of your user base and be quick to follow up on tasks you are assigned or agree to do. Being prompt to meetings and over communicating your status on projects and oustanding tasks will win you more then a box of donuts. Best of Luck!
Read “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. Very popular book on how to make connections in your personal and professional lives
The fact that you use the word, “winsome”, in the correct context should be enough to win some over. Vocabulary like that would certainly win me over!
Be helpful, be friendly to everyone, and work hard. Buying things is not the answer especially as a new person.
You don’t need to suck up and buy shit. Do your job well. Be attentive, helpful, and courteous.
Don’t schedule meetings at 4 pm on Friday.
You can give them all money
bring in goodies. I also kept a candy bowl at my desk, sour anything was a huge hit, chocolate.
Instead of you buying things, advocate to spend company money where it will have the most positive impact for your coworkers. If you are the IT person, you need to make sure you’re helping to create a productive space that meets their needs, not one that works around your capabilities.
Donuts on a Friday sound nice, but I was always more impressed by the people who identified a problem, listened to ideas on how to solve it, and then got the business to actually follow through on fixing things.
Don’t bring anything. Just be prepared to assist when people have a variety of problems, from a mouse/monitor not working, password resets to specific software glitches that may not be fully in your wheelhouse.
Be attentive for any comments someone might make, if there’s anything about the last person (‘Hope your better than the last person’ or ‘Oh James’ replacement. He was great’) or ‘Oh great, so you can help me create pie charts in Excel now’ (immediately take a udemy course on Excel)
The best life hack I ever heard was to ask people to talk about themselves. People love to talk about themselves, and it will endear you to them.
Good luck!
Be competent. Doing your job well goes a lot further than donuts ever will.
Just be aware that if you start something be prepared to do it all the time.
Unless you bring a gift with the specific statement of “thank you I’m happy to be here it’s been a great first week” – they will start thinking that “oh it’s Friday, where are the donuts”.
Also behaviorally, don’t be someone you’re not. Be the person you were in the interview, and if someone catches you being especially introverted just let them know you’re having a deep thought kind of day.
And don’t be afraid to say “hey – I’m new, I don’t know the best ways to explain things to people around here, can you give me some tips?”
Don’t be a suckup to get people to like U. Ure good enuf as is. Sooner or later like minded ppl are gonna surround u
Go out of your way to introduce yourself!
I always struggle to take an interest in anyone who I don’t think I can trust to be good at their work. So everything after that is a distant second.
If you wanna build rapport, you could try and find out what has been bugging people IT-wise. Don’t commit to anything right away but suss out the opportunities to help people outside what’s formally on your plate.
Listen you are not there to be everyone’s friend.
Just be yourself. No one likes fake people and buying bagels is a nice gesture but it won’t win over friends.
Go in there and do the best possible job you can do, that is what people will remember you for.
You could just bake for people occasionally. But you don’t have to go the extra mile and be bubbly and charismatic. That strikes me as people pleasing and that a good recipe to being taken advantage of or being given “extra duties” without the corresponding pay.
Just do your work well. Be on time, not waste other people times, send it in an email. In small offices watch out for Karen’s or gossipers. Avoid them like the plague. If they gossip about others they are definitely talking about you.
I only do it on special occasions or milestones. Probation, work anniversary etc.
For IT, if you can be attentive and explain things plainly when help is needed, I found that to be very helpful. I used to work in IT and people appreciated that I could use plain English and not talk down to people.
I would stay away from the donuts for now. You may come off as trying too hard, especially if you’re not the “bubbly” type as you mentioned. You’d be surprised how effective it can be to just be respectful. Acknowledge people when they’re around, remember their names and the conversations you have. Follow up on stuff they tell you. If they’re going fishing, ask them how their trip went. How their kid did at (add activity here). It has worked wonders for me. Just last week I went back to help at the old branch where I started and I couldn’t get any work done because everyone wanted to talk to me. Mind you I’m totally introverted, yet I was able to make an impression. After you build some rapport, just bake some cookies maybe.
> I know how to smile, shake hands, and I have attained a rudimentary level of skill at small talk.
IMO, that’s all you need. You just have to appear approachable and generally friendly/open. No one wants to approach Grouch.
Ask them about themselves- listen, remember & be interested in them
I think people will really like you if you’re decent and not a POS. So many IT guys are very short, rude, and get mad at end users due to lack of patience and social skills.
Be very assertive though, do not let people take advantage of you. But also don’t give people condescending answers and attitude because you’re under water.
Vapes and lotto tickets, .. smh, donuts? How old are you, like 99?