Goal: A quick-reference checklist of dos and don'ts when you're new to a team or project - technical, cultural, and strategic.
Bookmark this for future reference
Mindset
- Listen and absorb as much as you can from discussions, meetings and conversations.
- Ask a lot of questions from different people in your team such as engineers, PMs, QA, designers. Do not limit yourself to just your domain.
- Clear assumptions: It's good to clarify your assumptions even if they are obvious.
- Focus on "why X is like that" instead of "why we are not doing Y instead of X". Understanding the context matters more than proposing alternatives early on.
- Start small: Ship a tiny fix or feature to learn the end to end flow. Take notes where required to have a reference for next time.
Ramp up smartly
Learn
✅ How to build, run, test and debug the project locally.
✅ Where docs live (internal wikis, Notion, READMEs, Slack pins)
✅ What is the API setup, data flow, and connection between frontend and backend
✅ Project structure, conventions, auth, permissions, and environment variables
Release process
Understand the release process — what happens after you push code? How can you verify your changes? Is there a post-deployment checklist or test plan you need to follow?
This helps you build confidence in the full development lifecycle.
Get familiar with
- GitHub workflow (branches, PRs, reviews)
- Jira / PM tool workflow (tickets, estimations, priorities)
Know the Business + Team Culture
Understanding the “why” behind decisions and the way your team works helps you navigate smarter and contribute meaningfully. This helps you get the bigger picture.
- What business value does the tech serve?
- Which business goals are driving the current direction?
- Why not switching tech is often a conscious, valid choice
- Understand legacy: it exists for a reason, even if it looks messy
- Learn the team’s communication norms, review style, meeting rituals
Expectations Over Time
Have realistic expectations for yourself based on the project’s size and complexity. A project is a marathon, not a sprint.
Ramp-up: 3–6 months to be confident, especially in large/legacy projects
Efficiency: 1–2 years to become fast and intuitive
Proficiency: 3–5 years to develop deep technical and domain depth
Final Tips
- Take your time learning — there’s no rush to “prove yourself.”
- Ship something small, build confidence.
- Have fun and bring your unique value to the team.
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