Commencement Bingo

Will 2025 see you starting a new job - maybe?

Starting a job well is far more than a simple first-month exercise—it's a critical inflection point that can dramatically shape the trajectory of your entire career. The initial weeks of a new role are a pivotal moment where you establish your professional reputation, set expectations, and create momentum that can compound over years, even decades.

This initial investment is worth being proactive about, and a bingo card can help you decide what you will do.  Additionally it creates a way to keep you focused, on track and accountable to yourself.

Here's how to go about doing it:

1. On a sheet of paper create a 5 x 5 box, giving you 20 boxes – see below.
2. Review the list of potential first month actions and pick out those that you believe would be advantageous for you to do in the first month of your new job.
3. Add to these any additional ideas you come up with.
4. Fill in the squares of your Bingo card with actions you want to do.  There may be some actions that appear multiple times because you want to do them more than once e.g. “have a personal conversation with a colleague” might appear three times.
5. Keep your Bingo card somewhere you will see it often.
6. As you undertake an action put a star or a sticky dot on the box to show yourself the progress you are making.
7. Aim to fill your Bingo card by the end of the first month.

Potential Bingo Actions

• Offer to help a colleague
• Have a coffee catch up with a new colleague
• Have a laugh with someone 
• Share an idea in a meeting
• Make your physical space inviting
• Schedule yourself into some internal learning
• Ask someone to share their perspective on the team’s priorities
• Ask for intelligent advice on a piece of work
• Connect with someone from another department
• Ask your manager about their priorities and how you can help
• Set goals with specific deadlines
• Make note of your achievements in the first month
• Give a colleague a compliment on the work they are doing
• Ask for training in core IT systems so you master them
• Write key learnings in a notebook at the end of each day
• Create an ally
• Talk positively about your last role and what you achieved
•  Set up regular meetings with key people
• Write up your thoughst about power dynamics and critically examine them
• Compliment the team you are a part of
• Say no to a request that would over-commit you
• Outline a 30-60-90 day plan

Enjoy starting your new role.

As always wishing you a flourishing career.

Katherine