The First Hundred Days

Starting at a new company gives you exactly one chance to do things differently, to establish a new approach, realign the team's efforts, and change the tenor of the discussion. To be effective in your new role as leader, you must establish rapport with the other departments and with your team, and take control of the work pipeline.

You've made the leap. You're about to start at a new company, maybe as a senior sysadmin, maybe as a team leader or manager. Now you're asking yourself, "What do I do first?"

Moving to a different company or being promoted internally gives us a unique opportunity to put aside the history of a site and take a new look with a clean set of eyes. If you're hired as the new team lead or manager, then knowing how you're going to get to know the new site and how you're going to get on top of any site consolidation activities is critical to your longevity in the role.

This class discusses the various aspects of moving from a tactical (bottom-up) view of system administration to a strategic (top-down) view. We cover the initial site survey, the first steps of identifying and cauterizing open wounds, and the process of systemic review and improvement.