Before starting

• Read whatever you can find about the organization’s strategy, structure, performance, and people.
• Look for external assessments of the performance of the organization.
  • Specifically, search for people who are knowledgeable and fairly unbiased.
  • If you are a manager at a lower level, talk to people who deal with your new group as suppliers or customers.
• Find external observers who know the organization well, including former employees, recent retirees, and people who have transacted business with the organization.
  • Ask them open-ended questions about the organization’s history, politics, and culture.
  • Talk to your predecessor if possible.
• Talk to your new boss.
• As you begin to learn about the organization, write down your first impressions and, eventually, some hypotheses.
• Compile an initial set of questions to guide your structured inquiry once you have started.

Soon after starting

• Review detailed operating plans, performance data, and personnel data.
• Meet one-on-one with your direct reports and ask them the questions you have compiled.
• Assess how things are going at key interfaces from the inside. You will hear how salespeople, purchasing agents, customer service representatives, and others perceive the organization’s dealings with external constituencies.
• Test strategic alignment from the top down.
  • Ask people at the top what the company’s vision and strategy are. Then, see how far down those beliefs penetrate.
• Test awareness of challenges and opportunities from the bottom up.

Culture