How To Introduce Yourself To A New Team (With Examples)

Updated 30 September 2022

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The first day of a new job can be an intimidating experience for many new employees. Adapting to a new culture and navigating new workplace processes can be challenging, but introducing yourself to your colleagues can make the process easier. Learning about a few key introduction strategies can help introduce you to your colleagues warmly and start your new professional journey positively. In this article, we discuss how to introduce yourself to a new team.

How to introduce yourself to a new team

Learning how to introduce yourself to a new team can be very helpful in large organisations and companies that do not have dedicated introductory or team orientation sessions. By becoming friendly with your colleagues, you can start your new job with positivity and confidence. Here are some ways in which you can go about introducing yourself to a new team:

1. Write a short description

It can be a good idea to prepare a short introduction to yourself. This can focus on your work experience, new role and what you hope to achieve in your job. If the company's work atmosphere is more relaxed, you can also include information about your personal life, like your interests and hobbies. This is particularly important if you are joining the company in a leadership or managerial role.

You can memorise which aspects of this description you can focus on while talking to your new team and send the longer version as an email later. Here are some examples of short introductions:

Short introduction in a large and formal organisation

Here's how you can introduce yourself in a large organisation:

“Hi, my name is Vikas. I am the new graphic designer and I am looking forward to working with you. I worked at Wavewood for four years before this job and I am also a certified CAD designer.”

Short introduction in a small organisation

In organisations where the workforce is small, or the culture is more informal, you can add more details to your introduction. For example:

“Hi, my name is Shefali. I am the new operations manager and I am very excited to work with you. I have more than 12 years of management experience and have organised several events, conferences, seminars and workshops. I particularly enjoy the process of marketing and promoting events. I am sure that with all of you, our team will achieve great results in the future. Besides work, I am a mother of two young kids and enjoy trekking.”

2. Use the onboarding and orientation process

Many companies organise a dedicated orientation and onboarding process for employees that includes introducing them to their colleagues and teams. This is an excellent opportunity to interact with your new colleagues. If the company's HR or senior leadership is facilitating the introduction, it can help make things easier and more comfortable. If someone manages the introductions, you can simply ask the people you meet what they do and whether you will be working together.

If you are alone with your colleagues to interact, you can prepare a few generic questions in advance to initiate a conversation. Some of these can be:

What is the performance evaluation cycle here?
What do you like the most about working here?
Is there anything I should be mindful of in my first week?
Do people prefer to communicate through email or IM apps?
What is the workplace culture in this company?
Do you know how I can get a parking pass for the building?

3. Ask for an introduction to the team

If you do not get the opportunity to interact with your team members during the orientation, you can request the person conducting it to do so. This can showcase your curiosity and excitement to work with your new team members. You can make this request by saying, “I am very interested to learn more about how we work at the company, but I would also like to meet some people I will be working with closely. Do you think it would be possible to meet them today?”

When you meet other team members, introduce yourself to everyone individually and enquire about their work and role nature. You can introduce yourself using a shorter version of the introduction you have prepared. For example, you could say, “Hello, I am Vikas. I will be working as the new social media manager in the team and am very excited to work here. Will we be working together a lot?”

4. Talk to other team members

Introduce yourself to employees and colleagues outside of your immediate team. Since you may work and interact with many colleagues outside your team, this can help create a positive and familiar working relationship with others. If you try to establish this on the first day, you can get to know people from different departments. For example, it can be beneficial to introduce yourself to people working in the accounts, IT, HR and administrative departments so that you reach out to them in case of any issues or doubts. Here is how you can introduce yourself to colleagues from other teams:

"Good morning, my name is Shefali and I am the new digital marketer in the marketing team. I'm looking forward to working with you in the future."

5. Use the lunch or coffee break to meet new colleagues

As your first day progresses, you can find new opportunities to start conversations with people you have not talked to yet. You can use the lunch or coffee break to introduce yourself to team members more casually and interact with them about work processes and policies. You can choose to keep this introduction as formal or informal as you wish. A great way to start conversations can also be to enquire about things you are struggling with. For example:

"Hi, I am Vikas. We met earlier today during the meeting. Do you have a couple of minutes to explain how to set up my email?"

"Hi, it was a pleasure to meet you in the morning. I'm the new content writer. Can you please explain how to get my employee badge?"

"Hi. Do you know what is the objective of tomorrow's team meeting?"

6. Understand the company's organisational chart

On your first day, try to get a copy of your company's organisational chart that explains the hierarchy and lists different team members. Many organisations include this information in the employee handbook, but others may have a separate company document explaining the same. You can ask the HR department to get a copy of the company's organisational chart. This can help you identify your immediate colleagues and understand the company's overall structure. It can also help you identify colleagues before you formally interact with them or approach them with a query.

An example of how you can introduce yourself to someone after learning about them from the organisational chart could be, “Hi, are you Akshay? I am Vikas from the marketing department. I recently joined the team. We may soon be working with you and your team on the new Wavewood project.”

7. Share an introductory email or write follow-up emails

Many organisations share internal emails and updates about new employees who join the team. If your company has sent a welcome email to introduce you to the team, make sure that you respond to it by the end of the first day. Thank your manager and colleagues for welcoming you. If there isn't an introduction email, you can send one yourself and reach out to your immediate team members. You can use a version of the introduction you have prepared and briefly highlight different aspects of your professional and personal life. Here is an example for both types of email:

Responding to a welcome email: "Hi everyone. Thank you so much for the warm welcome. I am glad to have made your acquaintance on the first day. I am very excited to work with everyone and look forward to succeeding together."
Introducing yourself to your team by email: "Hi everyone. I am delighted to have met all of you today. Thank you for welcoming me during the morning meeting. I am very grateful for the opportunity to work at Wavewood and look forward to working with all of you. Thanks again for such a wonderful first day."