My Onboarding Experience as a Project Manager

Here are a few of my highlights and why I knew I’d found a great team culture at Amazee Labs right from the very beginning:

• A well-structured, achievable onboarding plan
• Time to settle in
• The regular 1:1s with my team and the development lead, amazing support and lots of patience
• Open and constructive feedback to help me develop

WELL-PREPARED INTRO TO THE FIRST DAY AND WEEK
 

I appreciated getting all the details upfront about my first days and weeks at work, there were no surprises which made me feel reassured from the very beginning. I knew exactly what to wear, what to bring and how to find the office because everything was communicated before my start date. In addition, I received a very well-structured, detailed onboarding plan which my team lead, Isabel Racine, had put together beforehand. It all helped me feel that I had no reason to be nervous about my first day as an Amazee.

And I was right: after a very warm welcome and checking out my swag and starter package (all nicely decorated and waiting for me on my desk), the day was filled with many new names and faces, meetings and introductions as well as setting up hard and software to get me started. 

ONBOARDING WEEK AT THE OFFICE
 

The first workweek was spent entirely at the office shadowing Isabel, who I would mainly work with during my three-month onboarding phase. This really helped me settle in and it helped us get to know each other. I was able to look over Isabel’s shoulder while she explained some of the processes, workflows and basics of Drupal. At the same time, I was able to ask any question I had straight away without having the “boundary” of having to ping her on Slack or call via Zoom. Thanks to that and my new colleagues, my first week turned out to be “Amazeeng” with a lot of fun together and delicious sushi for lunch at the end.

PROBATION PERIOD TO HELP ME GROW 
 

The following three months just flew by and what stands out for me is the continuous support I received from the whole team to get me up and running with the new job. The friendly, respectful and supportive way of helping each other is so unique and I can’t mention enough how grateful I am for everyone’s patience. 

I was able to take over and manage my own projects after only a couple of months thanks to daily one-on-one meetings with Isabel, shadowing her in client meetings, taking on smaller follow-up tasks and covering for other PMs during their leave. 

What also helped me grow into my new role is the fact that everything around each project is very well documented and accessible to everyone in Confluence. I could easily read up on how-to-articles, project-specific processes or meeting minutes to better understand the history of the project.

Also, all the communication around projects is transparent and can be followed by everyone in the team in the respective Slack channels. This makes it easy to access information, give feedback and get other team members involved in case they’ve had similar issues or if you missed something. In any other environment, I would have been scared to make mistakes and felt watched all the time, but at Amazee Labs it’s exactly the opposite so I was grateful to receive constructive feedback to help me improve and learn for the future.

WHAT'S CHANGED SINCE MY ONBOARDING?
 

Apart from realising how time is flying and that I consider myself luckier than ever to be part of our Amazee Labs family, nothing much has changed. The support is always there, and my career growth continues. What has changed for me personally, however, is how I see myself and the role I've grown into. I’m now handling bigger projects completely by myself, dealing with complex client situations and working out implementation questions together with our developers. It's so unique to be able to work autonomously and at the same time be supported by such an amazing team!

If this sounds like a dream job to you and you want to find out what it's like to be part of the team, we’re looking for a German-speaking Project Manager – have a look at our open Project Manager position and apply today!