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By Jennifer Zaslow

DBM, a human capital management firm, identifies several action steps, described below, for executives to be successful entering new roles. These action steps expand upon concepts introduced in Michael Watkins' book, The First 90 Days, and enable executives to access information and build relationships in order to assimilate most effectively into their new organizations.

Actions Before Starting the New Job - i.e., Start Before You Start

1. Read everything you can about the company, its leadership, industry and competitors. Learn how various third party constituencies view the organization and the business.
2. Find external observers, such as industry analysts, customers or suppliers who can give you an outside perspective on the company, its strengths, and challenges. As much as possible, try to form a 360-degree view of the organization, not just what the company has told you. Fundamentally, it is all about understanding the context into which you are entering.
3. Talk with the new boss to clarify expectations and start building a relationship before the start date. This step often gets skipped, only to find that the boss is out of the country for your first four weeks on the job, for instance. Gain an understanding of your boss' expectations and priorities for your first 30, 60 and 90 days on the job before the start date.
4. Write down first impressions about the company's culture and challenges. Keeping a journal can be an excellent way to record your thoughts, jot down questions, and to prepare for initial meetings with key internal stakeholders.
5. If you have done your homework, you will have hypotheses to test and a related set of questions to ask. You will gain valuable insight and at the same time establish strong credibility by taking this thoughtful and prepared approach.

Post-Start Actions

1. If you have taken all of the above actions, you will arrive with what author Michael Watkins calls "a prepared mind."
2. Look for ways to continually accelerate your learning, particularly through one-on-one conversations with your key stakeholders (boss, direct reports, peers, key influencers). Ask open-ended questions designed to yield helpful advice and insight, e.g. "What is the best thing I can do, and what is the worst thing I can do?" This is also a great way to identify some of the early wins.
3. Diagnose the organization and its culture. DBM recommends taking the perspective of an anthropologist, for example, by observing colleagues where they socialize to see how they converse and interact. Pay particular attention to how decisions are made, how problems are solved, and what behaviors and outcomes are valued, and which are not.
4. Assess the key people and relationships with constituents outside of your team. These are the individuals who can impact and influence your success. Understand what is important to them.
5. Establish dialogue with the boss. There is no single relationship more important than the one between you and your boss. Establishing clear expectations, initiating regular communication, and requesting feedback are critical steps to jump-starting a positive relationship. Learn how your manager's performance is measured, what keeps them up at night, their communication style, and what they expect from you.
6. Start to determine team "keepers." Take a look at the team you've inherited in light of where the organization is trying to go. This is not necessarily about hire/fire decisions, but about which people have the skills needed and which are doing jobs that are not as critical to the success of the business.
7. Assess your own vulnerabilities. Knowing your weaknesses can allow you to develop a plan for addressing them and/or leverage your strengths in new ways.
8. Find the best sources of knowledge. As Michael Watkins suggests, seek out the company "historian," the person who may have had a long tenure, "seen it all," and brings a broad view from working across multiple divisions of the organization.
9. As all the literature states, start to look for early wins. As mentioned earlier, ask stakeholders to provide clarity on the best things you could do and the worst things you could do.

Throughout the process of coming onboard with a company, a coach can play a key role by providing accountability and support as an executive works through these action items. The next issue of Career Tips & Tactics will explore how employers are leveraging professional coaches to onboard executives more effectively.

Jennifer Zaslow is the editor of Career Tips & Tactics.

Fourth year of pay raises under 4%. Companies budgeted pay increases of less than 4% in 2006, the fourth consecutive year, and are expected to remain at that level in 2007, according to a recent survey by the Conference Board. Average salary increases in 2006 were 3.5% for most employee groups in most industries. However, for 2007, executives are expected to fare better than the overall average, with an estimated salary increase of 3.8%. The Conference Board expects the rate of inflation, estimated at 3.1% for 2006 and 3.3% for 2007, to remain below the planned salary budget increases.

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