How to ace your first 100 days

The first 100 days in a top job have become an important milestone, with everyone from South Africa’s public protector to the new US president currently being scrutinised on their performance during this key period. 

In fact, the milestone dates back to another US president. When Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933, he faced the Great Depression, a banking catastrophe and a devastated economy.

Within 100 days, he established key initiatives (including a famed jobs programme) that would reverse the ruin. Since then, the 100-day standard has become a key measure of success.

Here’s how to make your mark in the early days:

1. Learn names. “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language,” Dale Carnegie famously said. “Respect and acceptance stem from simple acts such as remembering a person’s name and using it whenever appropriate.”

In fact, this should be part of your homework before you start a new job. Along with learning as much as you can about the company’s positioning (particularly its pricing and strategy, and what competitors are doing) before you join, compile a photo book with the names and profile pictures of the people you will work with. 

2. Be clear on what you are supposed to achieve by confirming your goals with your new boss or the board. If the company is in crisis, you will be expected to move fast and take drastic action. 

3. Don’t focus on firefighting. You will be faced by an onslaught of immediate problems and urgent tasks. Getting caught up in day-to-day management is tempting: from the outside, you look busy and dynamic. Resist this and focus instead on the bigger picture. You need to make sure the company is on the right track.

Step back, and spend most of your time in the first 100 days devising a clear strategy for the future. Spend time with your team members and ask them for their input on how costs can be reduced, performance improved and revenue increased.

Ask stupid questions. This will give your new colleagues a chance to demonstrate their domain knowledge. Also do your own on-the-ground research before you formulate a strategy.

4. Once you have a clear strategy, set up concrete targets for the short, medium and long term. Make sure that your team understands what the strategy is, and why these targets are important. Repeat the strategy over and over again; it is only with repetition that people will internalise what they need to achieve.

Make sure the goals are achievable, and celebrate success. Set up quick wins (for example, lowering the costs on a project) for the first 100 days. Success is energising. Also, break down problems into smaller, more digestible projects, to avoid people becoming overwhelmed by all the challenges.

5. Accept that you won’t be universally loved. Your new approach and strategy probably won’t be roundly welcomed and there will be plenty of detractors. Stay calm when encountering criticism.

6. Show that you trust your team. Once you have conveyed your strategy, don’t micro-manage the implementation, says Professor Tommy du Plessis, director of the North-West University School of Business and Governance.

7. Establish solid relationships. This should be your top priority. Understand what motivates each person on your team and work hard to connect with them. Without strong relationships, you won’t be able to rally people behind your strategy and create an environment where information flows freely. Build trust with each person and don’t show favouritism.

8. Create a communication channel. Consider sending a weekly email to your team with some of your personal experiences. This can be an important platform to reinforce the new strategy, and will also help you counter rumours and make you more accessible to employees.

9. Get out of your office. Connecting with people where they work will give you a clear idea of operational challenges.

10. Accentuate the positive. Avoid negative language and fearmongering. Celebrate what has been built in the business and don’t criticise those things that make employees most proud.

11. Don’t dither. The first rule of swimming with sharks: don’t bleed. After gathering all the facts, take decisive action and don’t backtrack.

12. Make the hard calls as soon as possible. If retrenchments or closing a department is unavoidable, do it within the first 100 days. Also, get rid of the dissidents. While it may sound cruel, your first priority is to rally your team around a strategy and not to accommodate naysayers and armchair critics, says Du Plessis. Make changes within your team before you get bogged down with the weight of relationships. Don’t delay the inevitable; instead get it behind you as quickly as possible.

13. Whatever you do, don’t redecorate your office or spend company money on making things more comfortable for yourself. This sends out the wrong message in these straitened times. Instead of buying new furniture for your office, focus on things that will make life better for your team members.

14. Don’t forget your clients. Often in the transition process during the first 100 days, employees are so distracted by the internal changes that clients are neglected, says Du Plessis. “From the start, make sure that employees stay focused on clients.”

This article originally appeared in the 16 February edition of finweek. Buy and download the magazine here.