Adjusting to a new team at work has been an exciting but challenging experience, as I’ve learned to balance supporting new colleagues with managing my own responsibilities. Coming towards the end of this month, I’m also coming towards the end of my first month working alongside a full team at I’M MORE. It’s something I’ve wanted for a long time, and after spending months watching the business slowly grow, seeing the room finally filled with people has been an amazing feeling. But what I hadn’t quite prepared myself for was how much adjusting to that change would take out of me.
When I first started working alongside Bradley, things were very different. There were fewer people, fewer conversations happening around me and a routine I’d slowly become comfortable with. I had my own responsibilities, my own way of working and the time to concentrate on what I needed to get done. As the business grew, I became more and more excited about the idea of having a proper team. I wanted coworkers, people to collaborate with, people to share ideas with and people who were beginning their own journeys within I’M MORE.
And now I have exactly that.
Going from a workplace of three people to a team of eight is a massive difference. Suddenly, the room is full of different personalities, different experiences, different ways of working and people who are all trying to find their feet in a new environment. It’s exciting to see, especially knowing how long we’ve been working towards it, but I’ve also learnt that something you’ve wanted for so long can still be difficult to adjust to once you finally have it.
At the beginning, I absolutely loved being able to help everybody. I enjoyed guiding people in the right direction when they were unsure about a task, explaining how certain applications worked and sitting beside somebody for a little longer when they needed that extra bit of support. There was something really rewarding about being able to share the things I’d learnt over the past few months with people who were only just beginning.
When I first joined I’M MORE, I already had some experience using certain applications and software, which helped me become familiar with my responsibilities a little quicker. But not everybody has had that same experience. Some of the new team members had never used those applications before, meaning we needed to start right from the beginning. Others were entering their first paid job or returning to employment after spending a long time away from a workplace.
And I understand that everybody has to start somewhere.
Some people will understand something almost immediately, while others might need a little more time, a few extra explanations or somebody sitting beside them until they feel comfortable enough to do it themselves. That doesn’t make anybody less capable. It simply means we’re all arriving with different experiences, and what might feel straightforward to one person could be completely unfamiliar to somebody else.
But while I was helping other people find their feet, I slowly started losing track of my own.
Adjusting to a New Team at Work: Finding the Right Balance
What began as answering a few questions or helping somebody understand a task gradually became a large part of my working day. I’d stop what I was doing to explain something, sit beside somebody to work through a problem and then return to my own responsibilities, only to realise how much time had passed. I genuinely wanted to help, but the more time and energy I gave to everybody else, the less I seemed to have left for myself.
And that started catching up with me.
I found myself becoming mentally and physically drained. Some days, it felt like I’d used up all my energy before I’d even had the chance to properly concentrate on my own work. I was constantly trying to balance helping other people, completing my responsibilities and adjusting to the changes happening around me. By the end of the working day, I was exhausted, and that exhaustion started following me throughout the week.
For the first time in a while, I began really cherishing my weekends, not because I didn’t enjoy my job anymore, but because I needed that time to switch off. I needed to relax my brain, have some time to myself and do the little things that helped me feel like me again before returning to work the following week.
And I think that’s something people don’t always talk about when it comes to starting work or being part of a growing team. We talk about learning new skills, meeting people, gaining experience and building confidence, but we don’t always talk about how much energy those things can take, especially when you’re still adjusting yourself.
I’m coming up to my fifth month of employment next month, and despite everything I’ve learnt since joining I’M MORE, I’m still figuring things out every single day. There are still tasks I don’t completely understand, situations I haven’t experienced before and moments where I need somebody else to guide me in the right direction. Having a few more months of experience doesn’t suddenly mean I have all the answers.
Yet somewhere along the way, I think I started putting pressure on myself to have them.
Because I’d been there longer than the new team members, I felt like I should be able to help whenever somebody needed me. I wanted to be somebody people could approach, somebody who could explain things clearly and somebody who made their first few weeks a little easier. But I hadn’t really considered how much responsibility I was putting on myself by trying to be available all the time.
It reached a point where even Bradley noticed something was different.
He told me that I’d “lost my smile” and that we needed to get me back to my normal self. Hearing that was strange because I hadn’t necessarily realised how noticeable the change had become. I knew I was tired. I knew I was feeling overwhelmed. But having somebody else recognise that I wasn’t quite myself made me realise just how much the past few weeks had affected me.
I think one of the biggest things I’ve started to realise throughout this first month is that there’s a difference between being willing to help somebody and feeling responsible for helping everybody. When you’re one of the people who has been there the longest, it’s easy to fall into the habit of putting your own work aside because somebody else needs assistance. And while I genuinely enjoy helping people understand something new, I’ve had to recognise that my own responsibilities, time and energy matter just as much.
It’s also made me appreciate how different everybody’s starting point can be. Some people will pick something up within minutes, while others might need it explained a few times before it starts making sense. That doesn’t mean one person is more capable than another. It simply means we’re all bringing different experiences into the same room, and learning to work alongside those differences is something I’m still figuring out myself.
As we come towards the end of our first month together, things are beginning to settle. Everyone is finding their own responsibilities, becoming more familiar with the work they’re doing and gradually building their own routines. Having some of the workload taken off my shoulders has given me the opportunity to focus on the things I need to get done, rather than constantly feeling like I’m trying to catch up.
And I think that’s what I needed more than anything. Not to stop helping people or to distance myself from the team, but to find a balance where I can support others without losing the energy I need for myself.
I still love having a team. I love walking into a room that was once so quiet and seeing people working, talking and slowly finding their own place within I’M MORE. But I’m also learning that the excitement of something new doesn’t mean it won’t come with challenges, and being happy about where we are doesn’t mean I have to pretend every day has been easy.
Maybe that’s what this next chapter is teaching me. When I first joined I’M MORE, I was learning how to find my place within a workplace. Now I’m learning how to keep that place while making room for other people to find theirs.
The room is full now, and I’m genuinely happy about that. But somewhere amongst the conversations, the questions, the responsibilities and the changes, I’ve realised that I need to make sure there’s still enough room for me, too.
“I’m still learning, still growing, and still proving that where you start doesn’t decide where you’ll finish.”
— Macey Hutchins
