A friend recently asked “I start a new UX Design gig next week. Do you have any advice for how to adjust to a new team or company?” Now every company and team is different. But from our conversation, I arrived at two principles. They stand out as generally correct approaches to set yourself up for success in a new team or company.

Build connections

Capitalize on the opportunity to connect with folks on your team and across the company early. Most teams have meetings and structures in place to introduce you to relevant folks during onboarding. But after you’ve settled in, those structures stop working. You’re no longer encouraged to make connections. Instead, the focus shifts to delivering work.

Connecting with people can take any shape. Think 1 on 1s, happy hours, solving a problem together and so on. The thing to remember is you want to establish a personal connection. Get to know your colleagues beyond what they do for work. What are their hobbies? How do they unwind after work? How have current events affected them and their families? These are all avenues you can pursue to build a personal connection with them.

Strong personal connections have big advantages. They add empathy and trust to your working relationships. They make it easier to ask and receive feedback. They allow you to build a strong network of friends and colleagues that you’ll keep for years to come.

I’ve found the best time to connect with folks is when one of you is new to the team. Reach out, introduce yourself, and set up a 1 on 1. Again, make it a point to learn more about them beyond their work. Keep checking in every now and then. Call on them when it feels like they can offer insight into a problem you’re facing. They’ll appreciate the opportunity to help and feel comfortable calling on you for the same.

Be helpful

As a newcomer, you bring valuable knowledge and perspective to not just your role, but the entire team. You’re also able to more easily spot problems that the team has either accepted, or is completely unaware of. The opportunity here is to proactively identify and solve these problems for your team.

When connecting with your colleagues try to identify problems they are facing. If you have time, look for systemic solutions to their problems. Consider documenting an invisible process, automating a repetitive task, sharing knowledge to make your team better at something and so on.

Bringing an attitude of helpfulness makes you an invaluable asset. Beyond being incredibly fulfilling, you’ll find that it pushes you to learn new skills and allows you to advocate for yourself with more confidence. You also lead by example and encourage your team to be more helpful to others.

Over time everyone’s life becomes a little easier. They have more time to give to themselves, their work and others around them.

The ripple effects are huge.