The benefit of a fresh perspective

This article is written by Abby Sheard, Leadership Programme graduate in the UK Civil Service.

• The problem: You’ve started a new role – it feels like it’s going to take months to learn the ropes before you add any value.
• Why it matters: We all start new roles, and it can be a good thing! There is unique value that new-joiners can bring: individuals and managers can embrace this.
• The solution: We shouldn’t write off our contributions in the first few months of a role. Our curiosity and learning can add value and have an impact… as we ask questions.

I’m Abby Sheard, a UK Civil Servant on a graduate leadership programme, which places me in four different organisations across three years. So far, I have supported an in-house consultancy team to develop environmental policy, then I was seconded to a health-focused not-for-profit and now I am working within a recruitment team in central government, with a year and one more post to go!

I am no longer new at being a ‘newbie’.

One of the benefits of the programme that I am on within the UK Civil Service is that I get to experience a range of departments and roles. Every six months to a year, I move on from my role into a new post in a different government department.

Each post requires a completely different skillset: it could be a policy, operational or corporate role in any government department. The idea isn’t to become an expert in your role in that time, but instead to experience a variety of policy areas and develop your leadership skills and style while on the programme.

Adding value

Imagine that on a Friday afternoon, you are consulting on a piece of environmental legislation, taking a policy team through an evaluation process. Then comes Monday morning: you have changed post and you are suddenly thrust into the world of health, liaising with healthcare leaders across the country. Fast forward six months, and you finally understand the difference between primary and secondary healthcare – phew! Naturally, it must be time to move on… and the following week, you are supporting recruitment campaigns for a team you’ve just joined within central government.

More than anything, I have learned that I can add value from day one by allowing myself to be curious and ask questions.

I have spent a lot of time over the past two years of all this movement trying to justify to myself and those around me how I’m adding value. Personally, I have learned a lot through this role-hopping – I have grown in confidence, learned how to quickly adapt to new teams and colleagues and have gained a lifelong appreciation for acronym- and jargon-busters.

But what about the benefit for the team, for the department and ultimately for the people that our government is serving? Surely there must be some value I can add when only in a post for six months?

The power of questions

My solution, and my encouragement for anyone new to a role, whether you plan to be there for six months or six years, is this: questions.

This solution came from a series of logical deductions I made, which went like this:

• Everyone on the team knows this policy area better than me
• Many people on the team have more experience in the role (and in the workplace generally)
• I can’t even bring good jokes to the team meetings
• I am the newest person here

There were some other points (insecurities) on my mental list. And I couldn’t find a benefit for the team. So, I decided to use the only thing going for me:

• I’m not going to be able to learn this policy area in six months and know any more than my colleagues
• It’s going to take time to upskill for the role
• My jokes have always been and will always be sub-standard; there’s no point trying harder there
• I am the newest person here

So, let’s be the newest person here. I made a decision when I went into my second role to add value from day one by not “faking it” until I made it.

I was honest about my lack of subject-specific knowledge and expertise.

I sat in on every meeting they would let me be a part of.

And I asked questions.

You see, I have convinced myself through this practice that being new to a role can reap huge benefits for the organisation. When we have the confidence to admit our lack of knowledge and let that fuel a culture and environment of asking questions, we can:

• Unlock process improvements – you may notice inefficiencies or issues when observing a process with fresh eyes that would otherwise go unnoticed.
• Encourage creativity – when you model asking questions and making humble suggestions even when new to the role (and therefore inexperienced), this encourages others to bring their own questions and ideas.
• Learn a lot – getting stuck in, asking questions and being bold in bringing a fresh perspective has sped up the learning process for me when I start a new role.

More than anything, I have learned that I can add value from day one by allowing myself to be curious and ask questions – why wait until month six to make a difference in your role?

Practical tips

Here are some practical tips from my experience to get comfortable with this:

• Ask if you can ask – check with those running a meeting whether it is appropriate in that context to interject with questions, and if not, ask for a follow-up call to discuss.
• Get interested in individuals – speak to as many people as possible to get to know them and their roles. Most people will be happy to explain who they are and what they do, and it makes it easier, once you’ve had that first introductory call, to go back to them with more questions.
• Respect the reasons – some things can be changed, some can’t – try to ask questions out of curiosity rather than just to point out problems!

Have fun!

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