This blog was written by Microsoft General Manager, Wangui McKelvey, as part of the Amplifying Black Voices blog series. Check out some lessons she's learned as a newcomer to Microsoft during the pandemic.
I joined Microsoft in February 2021 which was just about a year into the global pandemic. Like most places, we were 100% working from home with no real sense of when normalcy would return. Since I had spent the last year working remote with my previous employer, I thought it would be easy enough to roll into this new gig remotely as well. On the one hand it was a seamless transition. I had my home office setup working, had figured out how to manage my kids’ virtual school schedule and I was trying to figure out whether I loved or hated getting my groceries delivered. On the other hand, it was harder than I thought. I took for granted how much I knew and understood at my previous employer. If I got stuck, I knew who to call or where to look to get help. I knew I had a stellar support network that I could tap into if I needed advice, someone to bounce ideas off or simply a safe space to vent if I was having a bad day. I didn’t realize how much I relied on this work village until I no longer had it. The good news is I can create a new work village here and still tap into my existing village whenever I need it.
So, I thought I would share 5 things I’ve learned so far about navigating a new company in this new hybrid world:
Lastly, I have learned I have so much more to learn. I just have to be open to the journey. So that is what I’ll do. Be open, be curious and keep learning
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