• Introduction
• Why the First 90 Days Matter
• What to Do in the First 90 Days
• Understanding Qeap
• Qeap Methodology Breakdown
• Week-by-Week Breakdown
• Conclusion and Next Steps
  

Introduction

Your initial three months in a new job are a critical blueprint for your professional success. In these crucial few weeks, you have the opportunity to absorb the company's culture, build strategic relationships, showcase your unique value, and set the trajectory for your entire career path. 

Enter Qeap, a 13-week program designed to help you maximize your first 90 days by providing a structured approach to achieving in three months what others might take a year to accomplish. With Qeap, you’ll leverage Week 0 for reflection and planning and the following 12 weeks to execute your strategy, ensuring you make a strong impact in your new role.

Keep reading to learn more about the Qeap approach to getting stuff done and how it can help you maximize productivity in the first 90 days of your new job.

Why the First 90 Days Matter

Why do these first 90 days matter so much? It’s because they're your prime moment to make a powerful first impression, understand the organizational dynamics of your workplace, and position yourself as an indispensable team member. 

Professionals will form judgments on a person’s performance and abilities in the first 90 days of working with them. If you can make a good first impression quickly, you will build trust that will last you throughout your partnership or employment.

Building trust is not just about showing up to work on time or being pleasant to your coworkers. You must act. Actions and accomplishments go further in making a positive first impression.  Michael Watkins, author of The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter, suggests that the first 90 days are your opportunity to show your new employer, employee, team, or colleagues who you are through your actions: “Secure early wins. Early wins build your credibility and create momentum."

Approach this period strategically: Listen actively, learn quickly, and demonstrate your potential. The connections you forge and the insights you gain now will echo throughout your professional journey with the company.

Miss these opportunities, and you risk feeling disconnected, undervalued, and potentially seeking opportunities elsewhere. A 2018 study revealed that one in three of the surveyed employees quit a job within 90 days of employment. 

Nail them, and you'll establish yourself as a rising star with genuine impact.

What to Do in the First 90 Days

If you’re starting a new job and are looking for the best way to succeed in your new role, here are some goals you may want to set for yourself:

• Seek out answers you may have about growth within the company.
• Build relationships with coworkers.
• Understand the expectations your team has for you in your role. 
• Start working on a new project where you can show your value.
• Secure early wins.

That’s a lot of tasks for 90 days, and getting these done will likely overlap with your onboarding process, which can often take a few weeks in and of itself. How will you get all of this accomplished?

Enter Qeap, a 13-week program designed to help you make the most out of these three months and maximize your first impression. With Qeap, you can accomplish in twelve weeks what most people aspire to accomplish in twelve months. Qeap is a productivity program that dedicates one week to goal-setting and planning, and 12 weeks for execution, setting you up for quicker wins.

These wins don’t have to be concrete. An early win could look like a meeting in which you bond with a coworker. A more long-term win could be the completion of a project. With Qeap, you can identify early wins and quickly start working on how to secure them to set you up for success in your new role. 

With Qeap, making an impact in a new role is as simple as committing to thirteen weeks of strategic goal-setting and execution. We’ve demystified the process of learning and adapting in a new job. Read more about all that below!

Understanding Qeap

With Qeap, you are empowered to act with urgency to achieve your goals. 

Thought leaders often write about the “December deadline deluge,” or the sense of urgency that people feel at the end of the year when the year is wrapping up. This sense of urgency encourages us to take action and actually accomplish what we had set out to do throughout the year. 

What if you could structure a sense of action into your goal-setting from day one? Qeap makes that possible. The structure of Qeap’s thirteen-week program encourages action more quickly, giving us opportunities to accomplish a year’s worth of goals in three months. 

Bias for Action

Qeap’s thirteen-week structure allocates one week for planning and twelve weeks for action. While coming up with a goal is a good first step to achieving it, you cannot achieve a goal based on planning alone. Twelve weeks of opportunities to act helps you increase the chances you will achieve your goals.

Extreme Ownership

Qeap helps you take full ownership of your goals and the steps you take to achieve them. Qeap’s Bias for Action cards reveal how much you are getting done each week. Your Action Score or “AScore” helps you track how often you are taking action. More about that later.

Focus On What Matters 

With only 13 weeks – that’s 91 days – to achieve what you might otherwise achieve in a year, prepare to prioritize ruthlessly. The first week of the Qeap asks you to prioritize your goals and actions, focusing on what matters and what will move you further toward your goals.

Qeap Methodology Breakdown

Qeap begins with “Week 0,” which is dedicated to planning and goal-setting. Weeks 1-12 are for taking action and achieving your goals. Learn more about each week and its main focus in the table below, and keep reading for a week-by-weak breakdown of what the first 90 days at your job might look like with Qeap.

Week-By-Week Breakdown

The following week-by-week playbook lays out how one might use Qeap to adjust to a new job. You can make adjustments to the goals and actions based on your new role or project.

Week 0: Planning the Qeap 

The first week in a new position or project is the perfect time to prepare for the 90 days ahead. You don’t have to ask yourself the classic, yet nebulous, question of “Where do I see myself in five years?” Instead, ask yourself, “Where do I see myself at the end of this Qeap?” 

In Week 0:

• Create a positive mindset by celebrating your new role. 
• Define your goals for the next 90 days and the actions to help you achieve them.
• Consider what has worked in the past as you organize your Qeap. 

Use Week 0 to set one to three goals that you will carry out throughout the rest of the Qeap. Do not stop at writing down a goal; really think about the importance of achieving that goal and how you will measure success. I recommend breaking that measurement down into two categories: what it means to meet your expectations and achieve your goal, and what it means to exceed your expectations and achieve beyond your goal. 

Document this process in one place: a journal, a Word document, or a notebook. In this journal, you can also take notes of what you have learned during your Qeap.

Example: Before you begin your new role, you set aside time for reflection. Maybe you buy a journal, talk to a friend, or set an appointment with a therapist. During this time, you intentionally think about your past experiences and physically write down goals for your first 90 days. By writing these goals down, you give yourself the opportunity to “measure” your success throughout the rest of the 90 days and see your progress. As you start to set goals, you begin to identify actions that you can complete throughout the week to help you accomplish what you set out to do. 

After identifying your goals, make a list of the actions required to meet and exceed your expectations. You are expected to put five to ten of these actions on your to-do list throughout the next twelve weeks of the Qeap.

The following table lays out the importance of each goal, the measure of success, and what it would mean to meet and even exceed expectations for each goal.

List of Actions:

• Meet with team members individually.
• Reach out to your manager to discuss their pain points.
• Brainstorm ways to improve collaboration with team members.
• Volunteer for projects to secure early wins.
• Write down a list of long-term goals and send them to a manager for confirmation.

We recommend sharing the goals you create during Week 0 of Qeap with your manager and/or team members. This way, you can be on the same page about how your first 90 days on the job will look.

Week 1-4: Learning The Ropes

It’s time to act. Schedule the first ten actions of your week and get to work.

In Weeks 1-4:

• Introduce yourself to teammates.
• Understand expectations for your role.
• Identify ways to help with projects.

At the end of each week, reflect on how many actions you accomplished that week and whether you need to adjust your expectations. By dividing the actions achieved by the total actions, you calculate your Action Score (AScore). We recommend aiming for an AScore of 80% and above each week.

Example: In your journal, you list five actions that you want to achieve in Week 2: meeting separately with three different coworkers; spending an hour brainstorming ideas to improve team collaboration; and scheduling a meeting with the manager to discuss long-term goals. 

After a group meeting, you reach out to a team member and ask them to grab a coffee or find a breakout room to discuss their roles and current projects. In this meeting, you introduce yourself and share your gratitude to the company. You ask about your team member’s background and what challenges they are facing currently at work. As the team member answers these questions, you take some notes in your journal. You also ask your team members to keep you in mind for future projects. They may not have an assignment for you at that moment, but your effort will be remembered. 

After meeting with that team member, you cross one action off your list and move on to the next action.

Week 5-8: Gaining Traction  

The middle of the Qeap is a chance to build on the early wins from the previous weeks. Follow through on your first impression to show your new team that you have the skills necessary to succeed in this role. 

In Weeks 5-8:

• Build on early wins.
• Seek feedback and adjust accordingly.
• Focus on assigned tasks.

Example: After a month in the office, you start to have a steady daily routine. With assignments coming your way, you have more opportunities than ever to secure early wins. You take some time at the end of the week to check in with team members and your manager about your performance, but you spend more of your time putting your head down and doing what you came to your job to do. 

Weeks 9-12: Delivering Results

In these last few weeks, you should feel the urgency to accomplish your Qeap’s goals. As you wrap up initial projects, you should set the foundation for ongoing success. 

In Weeks 9-12:

• Follow through on promises to colleagues.
• Look for opportunities to build on current wins.
• Prepare for the next Qeap cycle.

Example: The urgency you feel at the end of your Qeap encourages you to keep working until your projects are completed to the best of your ability. As you hand in these projects, you set up another meeting with team members or your manager. In this meeting, you confirm that you exceeded expectations and share your desire to start the next project. 

Conclusion and Next Steps

The first 90 days in a new role are crucial for making a strong impression and setting the foundation for long-term success. Qeap is a 12-week program designed to help professionals maximize their first 90 days in a new position. Qeap organizes this time and allows you to achieve in 12 weeks what you might otherwise achieve in the first 12 months at a new job via seven principles that encourage you to act while focusing your time wisely. 

Qeap's structure includes one week for planning (Week 0) and 12 weeks for execution (Weeks 1-12). The 12-week execution period is divided into three main phases: learning the ropes, gaining traction, and delivering results.

For best results: set clear goals at the outset, aim for consistent action, track your progress weekly, focus on building relationships, and deliver tangible results.

Ready to take charge of your first 90 days and set yourself up for success? Start your Qeap today and unlock your full potential in your new role!