How to adapt to a new department and team. How to adapt to a new team? Rules of conduct

So, your job search has finally succeeded. You successfully passed, met your immediate boss, as well as the director of the company. Interesting, promising work that meets all your needs awaits you.

However, such a significant event in the life of each of us is overshadowed by the realization that we will very soon have to go through a very difficult and thorny path of getting to know a new team, which involves the emergence of various stressful situations, misunderstandings and conflicts.

The following question arises: what mandatory steps need to be taken in order to quickly adapt to a new team, as well as establish yourself as a responsible, purposeful and reliable person?

Having crossed the threshold of a new company, you are faced with the so-called aggressive environment of someone else's social system, which regularly tests your strength and emotional and psychological resilience.

First of all, you need to familiarize yourself with the basic rules of communication in a team. Thanks to this, you will achieve mutual understanding and achieve respect for you as an individual with enough high level development of communicative competence.

Focus on the underlying causes of your problems, analyze and study them. As for all kinds of provocations on the part of your newly minted colleagues, you are advised to ignore and avoid them in every possible way.

Here are some practical tips to help you quickly adapt to a new company.

1. Set yourself in a positive mood and stay in a good mood. By adhering to this rule, you have a real chance to improve your current position in the new team. Make every effort to prove yourself.

Under any circumstances, you must show others that you are ready to make contact with them. Not everyone manages to find a common language with new people on the very first day of work, since newcomers are most often perceived biasedly, showing a certain suspicion and wariness towards them.

As practice shows, over time, relations between “newcomers” and “old-timers” improve. Therefore, do not make hasty conclusions and do not make rash decisions. Take a closer look at the team, which, in turn, studies you.

2. Wait. React absolutely calmly to the behavior of your colleagues, even if it seems provocative and disrespectful to you. Perhaps you have simply never encountered such a style of communication, the emotional atmosphere in the team and the conditions of the work environment.

If all your difficulties and problems are associated exclusively with unreasonable aggression on the part of employees, then there is no reason to worry - after some time they will disappear as a result of mutual adaptation.

3. Try to find the real reasons for your problems. We should not forget that a wait-and-see attitude does not imply a lack of search for various options for solving existing problems.

Your main task is to understand what or who is the cause of the conflict. Perhaps the problem lies not only in the standard “lice check” of a new employee, but also in your complexes or fears.

4. Take time to analyze in detail your individual psychological problems. If you change jobs very often and constantly encounter emotional barriers in communicating with a new team, then you should definitely think about the likelihood that you are the source of communication contradictions. Your sudden solution will not be the most optimal solution to this problem. Take effective action to identify and correct your own shortcomings.

5. Try to find an informal leader. The frivolous behavior of a newcomer or his rash statements and careless comments may seem impermissibly impudent to the informal leader of the work team, resulting in a conflict situation.

Of course, it is quite difficult to establish contact with an informal leader, but if he is the source of problems and disagreements, then at least you will have an understanding of what needs to be done and in what direction to move.

6. Respect the company's established values. There is also a high probability that in thisyou won't have the opportunity to open up. And the point here is not that you lack experience or that you do not have the qualities and talents necessary for this job.

The decision is yours: try to change yourself or change the system. It is almost impossible to break the working atmosphere in a team that has been formed over the years. And is there a need for a “revolution” and a “revolt on the ship”? Is this why you were hired?

7. Determine for yourself the time frame for adaptation to the new team. You must set a time frame for yourself to join the team. Otherwise, you will constantly go in circles.

For most people optimal time It takes three months to decide whether they stay with a particular company or leave it. If during this time you realize that in this team you will not be able to do your work efficiently and productively, then you can safely write a letter of resignation.

Do not waste your time, strength and energy where you will constantly be on the verge of a nervous breakdown and will not be able to fully open up, express yourself, and realize your potential.

Let's understand the basics of the disgrace that happens in the office during the period when new inhabitants appear in it.

The behavior of office employees towards new arrivals is simultaneously influenced by several factors:

• resistance of the collective as a social system to a new element that has upset the existing balance;
• the jealousy of ordinary workers, concerned about the security of belonging to the team and believing that the benefits of belonging must be earned;
• preemptive suppression of newcomers by careerists in order to protect their positions from the expected assassination attempt.

1. Resistance of systems to new elements

Nothing can be done, but work collectives, like all groups of people gathered together for one cause, are social systems. That is, systems consisting of people. A system is a thing that is formed from a certain number of things that become its parts, elements. Until this moment, people usually understand what's what - it's not difficult. However, further - more difficult. As soon as a person becomes an element of the system, something unusual happens to him - the person seems to dissolve in the system, ceases to be his former self, acts not according to his own will, but according to the will of the system, for example, labor regulations, dress code, rules of conduct. People’s actions are not only not free, but coordinated with the actions of other people in the team, and this means that in such a social system there is a balance of balanced relationships between all members of the team.

And then a new person appears in the team. Of course, the balance is immediately upset. This is an important event for systems. The system immediately launches a special mechanism to restore balance. We should remind you of another systemic feature - synergy. This is when the strength of a system is greater than the sum of the forces of its elements. So, all this force is directed towards the one who upset the balance. The logic of the system is simple - if you remove a new element that has just appeared, the balance will be restored. The system survives by rejecting the newcomer. He feels it and suffers. To remain rejected, expelled, alone... The ancient gene cries out that this is dangerous for a human animal. The person experiences fear. Real intense fear.

In fact, the system does everything to prevent newcomers from being particularly active, fussing, doing something, because this upsets the balance more and more. From this observation is born first adaptation strategy new to the team. Came to new job on the first day - lie low, freeze, hide, sit in a corner and be silent, do nothing, pretend that you are enthusiastically reading some important instructions. Newbies usually do the exact opposite of this. wise advice: Rolling up their sleeves, they get to work, chat and joke, talk about themselves and ask their fellow workers. You have to pay for this with discomfort and fear of the growing resistance reaction of the system.

For systems, equilibrium is not just a familiar state. Imagine the balance of a tightrope walker on a rope with a balancing pole in his hands. For him, balance is a matter of life and death. And then bam, and the weight of a new member of the team hung on one end of the pole. So it won’t take long to fall into the abyss. An important question for a new person asked by the system is whether the new person will be dangerous to the life and health of the team. If you do nothing, then no danger is detected. If you are active, and even more so, tell various fables about yourself, brag about your exploits, brag about your achievements, then among this stream of words the system will definitely reveal the features of danger.

It’s another matter if the newcomer makes it clear – through words and behavior – that he poses no danger. This second adaptation strategy- do not communicate anything about yourself that could be regarded as a danger, and communicate something that directly or indirectly speaks about the safety of the newcomer. There are only two main dangers for systems: the destruction of elements and the breaking of connections between them. If one of the older employees quarrels over a new one, that’s bad. If one of the old ones quits because of a new one, that’s also bad.

Each newcomer and each new girl are noticeable, different from the old ones, and attract attention by this difference. Based on this observation, a third adaptation strategy- a newcomer can disguise himself as an old one, becoming as indistinguishable as possible from the old-timers. In this case, there are two subcases: to disguise yourself as an average employee of the team and to disguise yourself as an employee who has to be replaced at his post (when such an employee quits or moves to another position, dedicating this one to a new one). Dress like everyone else or like your predecessor, talk like everyone else or your predecessor does, do exactly what everyone else or your predecessor does - in the workplace, in the dining room, on smoke breaks, in everything. Usually, new people, contrary to common sense, do everything their own way, dress in their own way and say something of their own. The reason for such unreasonable behavior is ordinary pride - how can I, so independent, adapt to everyone and copy someone?

So, just three simple strategies, and the successful adaptation of a newcomer to the team lies on a silver platter:

• behave inactively and unnoticed, keep quiet and keep a low profile;
• do not do anything or say anything that could be regarded as dangerous for the team;
• disguise yourself as an average worker or your predecessor, do the same as everyone else, and do nothing on your own and at your own discretion.

With some effort of will, these three strategies work wonders - the adaptation of a new person to the team goes like clockwork.

2. Jealousy of ordinary workers

This reason for the unfriendly behavior of the old-timers of the team towards the new ones reveals, neither more nor less, the animal nature of man. All collective animals are constructed in exactly the same way - from bees to wolves. The ancient gene for flocking has already been mentioned. Nature, as always, is wise. Surviving together is much easier, and each member of the group has a much higher chance of survival. This is a need. The same need as the need for food. This need is called a “basic social need” and manifests itself in the desire to enter the group and remain in it. What makes old-timers jealous?

Firstly, old-timers remember how the collective resisted their appearance, and at what high cost of suffering they themselves gained membership. They remember their suffering and want to see the same or even greater suffering performed by the new guy. And as luck would have it, he smiles cheerfully, which means we need to add more suffering to the new guy.

Secondly, belonging to a collective is also worth a lot in terms of the benefits received from membership. You'll see - they won't even invite you to drink tea and won't share the news. Expensive cannot be cheap. What is expensive must remain expensive, and the old-timers will maintain the high cost of acceptance into the team, adding costly suffering to the new ones in the form of aggression, inhospitability, taunts and teases, setups and trips. After all, the benefits will have to be shared with another new member of the team. Another reason for jealousy.

Thirdly, This perspective is also not without interest. Each member of the team can be assessed by the system from the point of view of the admissibility of staying in it, according to only two parameters - non-dangerousness for the system and usefulness for it. Even if a newcomer is completely harmless, he cannot be as useful as possible from the first minutes of his appearance in the system. “We work hard here for the common good, and you? What useful things can you do for our friendly family?” The newcomer is not simply assigned the lowest status of permissible membership in the system. Even the old-timers are jealous of their low status - they are afraid that their status of belonging will suffer, decrease, decrease due to simple arithmetic: the more children in the family, the less the mother loves each one.

The jealousy of the old-timers of the team towards the new ones is a given that people do not realize, which means they will not be able to cope with it. Unlike the old-timers, newcomers are acutely aware of their plight - the position of a poor relative, and therefore can alleviate the pressure of jealous people with simple strategies and technically simple tactics.

• If the old-timers are thirsty for seeing the suffering of a new person, quench their thirst - depict suffering, sadness in your eyes, sigh heavily or cry like an actor. You will see how jealous anger gives way to pity and sympathy. It turns out that these callous people are not devoid of humanity.

• If the old-timers do not want to share common benefits with the newcomer, do not claim these benefits, but on the contrary, refuse even the smallest things: if they invite you to drink tea, drink without sugar and do not touch the bagels. Don't take up a lot of space by walking around the office and waving your arms - visually shrink in size.

• If the old-timers do not see social usefulness in the newcomer, become an “errand boy”, please, carry out small tasks and even volunteer to provide minor assistance - wash the dishes after tea, brush away crumbs from bagels that have not been eaten, take out the trash of candy wrappers.

Well, like an ace of trumps that beats any card, the best remedy for speedy adaptation - “sign up”, “cover a clearing”, “join the team”, that is, pay for your inclusion in the team with food and drink. However, it is better to talk about this magical phenomenon of adaptation separately and in detail.

3. Preemptive suppression by careerists

Careerists are a special breed of office dwellers. If you hear fiery speeches of winners confidently moving towards success, then it is them, or rather, careerists are hiding behind these speeches. Careerists are merely vestigial examples of a relatively young primate dominance gene. And, indeed, careerists are only concerned with occupying an increasingly higher status position in the office hierarchy. Purely animal program. At the same time, the still weak personality of the careerist is trying to somehow participate in the action of the gene. In short, it turns out to be both respectable and funny at the same time. It seems that careerists are driven by good intentions of general benefit for their fellow tribesmen, but... Status and only status!

And when a new person appears in the office, and everyone is concerned whether he is dangerous for the large family, careerists are concerned about themselves, their status position. For careerists, the appearance of a new person becomes a personal threat. What if the newcomer begins to grow and overtake the careerist? That is why the task of every careerist is to suppress and keep in a depressed state any newcomer. Notice! Not just suppress, as ordinary workers do, concerned about the gene of belonging, but do not let go of the grip on the throat, do not allow the new one to grow. Dominance gene.

Performed by the author, tired of academic lectures, the proposed example has already set my teeth on edge, but still. Did you know that all green plants exude poison from their leaves in order to poison any competitor - both from other plant species and fellow tribesmen too. Moreover! The upper leaves poison their own lower leaves with the poison they exude. These are phytoncides. Horror! But nature does nothing in vain. It’s also not without reason that careerists are supported by social systems, despite all the abominations that they do while climbing the ladder. career ladder.

The newcomer, already weakened by the suppression of the system in the person of ordinary workers, definitely does not have enough strength to compete with the careerists who are experienced in such battles, like seasoned street hooligans. Therefore, confrontation with death is similar. Let us propose a couple of strategies for this case as well.

• As soon as a careerist approaches a new person to test him, and this is done by asking about his career at his previous place of work, he needs to make a statement: “I’m a simple person, I’m not interested in a career, I don’t pretend to anything. Work, salary and until retirement!

• If you really have to show helpfulness and obsequiousness in building relationships with jealous employees, then you should choose one of the careerists as Don Quixote, becoming his squire. You just have to say something like: “Let me become your faithful assistant in your important matters for the benefit of your native company!”

• As a last resort, you can make an undetectable bluff by hinting at a relationship or acquaintance with a very high-ranking careerist in the office, in the industry, in the government, etc. “Does the name Medvedev mean anything to you? I want to achieve everything in this life myself, but...”

Regardless of the newcomer’s plans to become a simple worker or a careerist - the best strategy for him would be: first adapt with the least losses and as quickly as possible, and only then hit the road. People generally don't recognize the importance of adaptation. However, when they approach the edge of a coastal wave on the beach, they first test it with their leg, then they go in up to their knees, then... “In general, it will be up to your waist,” and only then they rush into the abyss of the waves. Otherwise, shock and danger of a heart attack, and at least no pleasure from sea swimming.

Armed with knowledge and techniques, beginners definitely have competitive advantage before the unarmed. It's always like this. That’s why you should study, no matter how unusual the knowledge offered may look. So the research project “The Office and Its Inhabitants” pursues the same goal - to teach people, to make them more capable of life and work. So, newcomers, adapt to the office correctly!

In our rapidly changing world, the times when any of us, having mastered a profession in our youth and got a job, could work at the same enterprise all our lives until retirement, have long since sunk into oblivion. Now everything is changing: in-demand specialties, technologies, organization of the work process, and in this regard, no one is immune from the fact that at some point he will not have to change his place of work. At the same time, any person, even those highly qualified in their field, before entering a new workplace there is a certain state of fear and uncertainty. How will I work with the new team? How to master a new job as quickly and efficiently as possible? Such questions do not leave your mind and create a stressful load.

Here are some tips to help you quickly and effectively adapt to a new team:

1. Try to make friends or just build good relationships with someone in the team. It is advisable for this person to do work similar to yours. A new friend will help you quickly get up to speed on the work you need to do, and will also introduce you to certain unwritten rules that exist in any, even small, team.
2. Listen and watch. At a new place of work, at first it makes sense to talk less and listen more.
3. Do not hesitate to ask questions if anything in the task assigned to you is not clear.
4. Stick to a specific dress code. Remember the famous Russian proverb? They greet you by their clothes... Do not wear clothes to work that may cause an ambiguous or negative reaction from your colleagues.
5. Watch your speech. Before you become friends with your colleagues, address them by their first and patronymic names.
6. Don't be lazy. Try to complete all assigned work efficiently and strictly within the established deadlines.
7. At first, “keep your head down.” Don't try to show yourself as the best of all. At the same time, when it is necessary for work, show yourself as a person who has very well developed attention, memory and thinking - cognitive functions, which, by the way, can be done effectively.
8. Come to work at least 15 minutes early and leave a little later than expected. Your punctuality will be appreciated. If you are late, your colleagues will form an opinion of you as an irresponsible person who cannot be particularly trusted.
9. Try to show your manager that you are interested in the work you are doing.
10. Try to quickly remember the names of all the employees with whom you have contact at work, because the sound of your own name is the most pleasant sound for everyone.
11. Learn to say no. Often they try to assign a new job to a newcomer that is unusual for him or her, or simply part of the work that was previously performed by other employees.
12. From the very beginning of working in a new team, establish good working relationships with other team members, show yourself as a positive, open and friendly person who is easy to communicate with.
13. Attend corporate events. It is much easier to build relationships in an informal setting.
14. Don't discuss your colleagues with anyone at work. Gossip will not add to your authority, especially since in reality it will be difficult for you to objectively evaluate people you don’t know well.
15. Do not criticize your manager or old employees, even if it is obvious to you that they are wrong. This criticism will not bring you any benefit, because you have not yet developed authority in the organization and, most likely, no one will pay attention to your comments.