There is a ramp plan that I like & have used many times, both for myself and members of the team. Like most things that are awesome, it takes the form of a very simple looking table.
3 Columns:
- People: Meet with stakeholders and the team I will be working with, understanding their needs & determine how to best work with each person
- Product: Learn the product, value prop, messaging, pitch and know how to do a killer demo
- Business: Understand the buyer journey, key metrics, market and all the "math camp" things
4 Rows:
- 30 Day: List of activities I will do in my first 30 days for each column
- 60 Day: List of activities I will do in my next 30 days (more advanced)
- 90 Day: List of activities I will do in my next 30 days (even more advanced)
- Deliverables: These are "contained projects" I will take ownership of each month, so that while I'm learning things, I'm also shipping things.
This plan is focused on successfully ramping during the first 90 days, its not focused on making a big impact during th first 90 days. This is because you are only the "newbie" for a limited period of time. The first 90 days are the time to ask all the questions, re-ask the same questions and have people spend hours explaining it all to you. This is not time that will come back, so its important to take advantage of it. TLDR: Don't short circuit your ramp, it will be the investment that will make the big impact possible. If your stakeholders see you asking insightful questions, ramping well on the business and mastering the product in the first 90 days, you're already winning.