Congrats on leading a new team! You have two main objectives in your first 30 days: Establish team culture and clarify business goals. The faster you can do this, the better. Here's a breakdown of what to do week by week in your first 30 days.

Week 1

Set up a team chat, whether that's through Slack, Teams, or something else.
Set up a recurring team meeting – preferably once a week to get started.
Set up recurring 1:1s with your direct reports – preferably once a week to get started.
Provide clarity around your team's business goals, and write down these goals and other relevant information into a meeting agenda.
If you have a new person on the team, add them to any relevant company chats they should be in.
If you have a new person on your team, ask every member of your team to meet with the new person for at least one 1:1. Start building those relationships early.
Ask for everyone’s phone number and address, even if they’re remote. You’d be amazed how often something will come up where you’ll need this information.

*Recommended agenda items for first team meeting

Do an introduction of each person on the team.
Set team culture expectations. These can include:
- What time you want your team to start in the mornings.
- Meeting window times – especially if you have both East and West Coast people on your team.
- Meeting expectations, such as including agendas and being on time.
- How far in advance you want your team to submit PTO requests.
- The workload expectations.
Note: It's ok if you don't know every answer to every question yet. If things are still being hammered out, be honest that things are in the works.

Week 2

Try to have at least the first assignment given out by either the first week or early in the second.
Schedule upcoming meet and greets with your team and the departments they'll work the closest with.
Start examining current workload processes and tasks. You'll likely want to make updates. Start foundation-building if processes aren't already in place.

Week 3

Attend any meetings you've set up from the week before, whether they're 1:1s or department meet and greets.
The first assignment should be turned in by now. Start examining the work and the processes to get there. Make changes if needed.

Week 4

There should be a rough idea of team flow by now. This is the time to make further adjustments to processes and clarify any potential questions that have come up.
This is a good time to take stock of how things are going overall. You might want to adjust things like meeting cadence or set up additional meet and greets.
Potentially pitch larger-scale projects for your team if they have the basics covered.

Onboarding a new team member

These are some valuable things to include in your onboarding doc.

Very brief history of the company.
The goal of your company / account / team.
Names, roles, and contact information for:
- People they'll work closely with.
- Departments such as HR and IT support.
An org chart of the company, or your branch of it.
Links to documents they'll frequently use, such templates or editorial calendars.
Links to how-to guides for any programs and tools you regularly use.
Basics of their role and the expectations.

Additionally, it's wise to connect your new employee with an on-boarding buddy. This is the person they can turn to for additional questions if you're not available.

How to Lead a New Team