Work & projects
New job, first 90 days planned in calm steps
Settle into a new role with a paced plan from day one to day 90. Learn the people, the tools and the work before you try to change anything.
What’s inside
First 90 days· 11 items
Get set up
On the first day
- Accounts and passwords working
- Calendar connected
- Who to ask about what, written down
Learn how your manager likes to work
2 days after the first day
- How often you'll meet
- Preferred way to share updates
- What a good first month looks like to them
Map the people
5 days after the first day
Add the people you work with most to People, with a line on what each one does.
Write down the jargon
7 days after the first day
Keep a running Doc of acronyms and names. Everyone else forgot they were confusing.
Have five one-to-one coffees
14 days after the first day
Ship one small thing
21 days after the first day
Something visible and low-risk. It builds trust faster than a big plan.
30-day check-in with your manager
30 days after the first day
- What went well
- What you'd like more of
- Priorities for the next month confirmed
Pick one area to own
45 days after the first day
60-day note to yourself
60 days after the first day
What surprised you, what drains you, what you'd change.
Propose one improvement
75 days after the first day
90-day review
90 days after the first day
- Goals for the next quarter agreed
- Habits and routines that work for this job kept
- The template's leftovers deleted
Why the pace is slow at first
The first weeks of a job are mostly listening. This plan puts setup, people and vocabulary first, and saves proposals for month two and three. Suggesting changes before you understand why things are the way they are is a common early misstep, and the gaps between items leave room for the actual job.
Why notes at 30, 60 and 90
Your view of a new job changes fast. What looked broken in week two often makes sense by week eight, and the reverse is true too. The notes at each milestone catch those changes while you still remember the earlier view.
How to adapt it
- Starting a remote job? Make the coffees video calls and add a task to learn which channels are for what.
- Leading a team? Add one-to-ones with each person in the first two weeks.
- Many meetings? Pair this with the meeting prep template so the follow-ups don’t scatter.
An honest tip
Starting a new job is tiring in a way that’s easy to underestimate. If items get carried over in the first month, that is expected. Move them and keep going; the dates are a guide, not a test.