Run a listening tour in my first month at a new job
Interview questions, a note-taking template, and a synthesis method to learn the real state of a new team.
The prompt
Help me run a listening tour during my first month in a new role. This is step 2 of my new-job plan; it follows the first-week plan from step 1.
My role: [TITLE - individual contributor or manager]
People I'll meet: [NAMES or roles - manager, peers, direct reports, partner teams, customers, and any long-tenured "go-to" people]
What I most need to understand: [e.g. why projects slip, what customers complain about, team morale]
Time per conversation: [e.g. 30 minutes]
Give me:
1. A core set of 8 open questions to ask everyone, so I can compare answers (e.g. "What's working that I shouldn't break?", "What's one thing you'd change?", "What did you hope this role would do?").
2. 3-4 extra questions per stakeholder type (manager, peers, direct reports, partner teams, customers).
3. A one-page note template for each conversation.
4. A method to synthesize everything: recurring themes, disagreements, quick wins, and deeper problems, each with how many people raised it.
5. Guidance on listening well: don't pitch solutions yet, protect confidentiality, and follow up on promises.
6. A suggested meeting order over the first 3-4 weeks (manager and direct reports first, then partner teams and senior leaders), plus a short invite message.
7. A short message to share back what I heard (without naming sources) and what I plan to focus on.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Career & Job Search prompts
What to fill in
- TITLE - individual contributor or manager
- e.g. 30 minutes
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the Few-Shot structure (Few-shot prompting). A few-shot prompt includes one or more worked examples of the input and the output you want, so the model can copy the pattern instead of guessing it.
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