Ways in
Now that the new academic year is just around the corner, I’ve spent a lot of time this week thinking about Being New. Beyond such high-profile press examples as the intimidation factor of concert hall for the uninitiated, being a newbie is a common feature of our daily lives – in everything from joining a new company to deciphering the cooking instructions on the back of a packet we’ve never bought before.
I’ve had several firsts this week. First staff meeting at a new job; first visit to a university for a conference; first trip to a (very good) burger chain. And I’ve been surprised at how bad we can be at helping with, and thinking about, ways in for the new person. So as someone who works for a range of organisations, engages with new things all the time, and likes burgers, here are some thoughts – and suggestions, blindingly obvious as most of them seem, for helping those of us who are new.
Don’t assume we know who you are. On your first day at a new place, when a manager you’ve never seen before stands up to speak, it’s extremely perplexing when they don’t say who they are, or what their job is, and then make comments like “If you need to know more about this, just ask David.” Even if you’re running a major organisation – heck, especially if you’re running a major organisation – take the time to introduce yourself and work on the basis that none of us know David from Adam. The people who already know won’t notice, and those of us who need the prompt will feel much less at sea for it. It’s why name badges, at burger bars and academic conferences, save us all a whole lot of hassle.
Don’t assume we know what you do or how this all works. Seriously though, the burger bar was brilliant. Because they ask you, first up, if you’ve ever been there before, and then if you haven’t, they explain how the ordering and food collection process works. It’s not exactly rocket science, but it stops you standing around feeling clueless as well as hungry. Whereas, along with being completely unhelpfully informed that you can just ask David, speaking in strings of abbreviations is not good. Higher Education and Further Education involve different acronyms, for instance. So do schools. So do concert halls or ensemble funding bodies. For those of us who move between all of these worlds, there is nothing more tiring than having to sit through speeches in which the most fun you can have is making up unlikely translations of the acronyms being bandied about (Anti-gravity Octopus Cake was the best I managed in my last such meeting). So take the time – say the whole words, just once. Help us out.
Think about our journey as if you’re making it for the first time too. I mean this quite literally. Where’s the front door? Is there an obvious sign that I’ve arrived, a reception desk I can go to? The university I visited this week had a beautifully landscaped accommodation park where you had to walk fifteen minutes past the place you would be staying to find the check-in desk. No directions were provided in the confirmation email they’d sent me. There is a reason that department stores have massive, ceiling height “Pay here” signs, and why we all get furious when the supermarket aisle notices don’t appear to include the things we actually want, like tea and eggs. How will I find where I’m going? And is it presented as a physically imposing space or an open, friendly one? Contrary to the accommodation, the conference space itself had a clearly-marked welcome desk, friendly helpers, signposting and schedules, maps and badges. What a difference these small things make.
Last but not least, and this applies particularly to multi-level organisations, remember that there is more than one set of people to care about. For example: if you are managing a company – any kind of company – that involves a management level, a face-to-face with the customer level, and then the customers themselves, don’t forget that those in the middle need support too. The mission of the company might be to help the customer get the most out of the product, whether that product is excellent chips (did I mention that the chips, as well as the burger, was excellent?) or piano lessons. But you still need to keep the people who make the chips, and deliver the piano lessons, happy and supported too. And that might mean employing exactly the same tactics to the deliverers as to the customers, things like accessible enquiry lines, clear timetables and instructions, taking the time to stop and say hello in the corridor if someone looks lost. Of ensuring that everyone, in other words, feels valued.
I told you they were obvious things. They can mostly be summed up as “have empathy”. But life is busy, and jobs put people under pressure, and it’s easy to forget the little things that make us all feel less isolated, more supported and welcomed. A bit of extra time, and a bit of extra thought, and we’ll all be able to find our way in to that place, that product, event, course, job that you’re offering, with a good feeling about it all. Instead of turning, intimidated and unimpressed, to look for the way out.
