Team & People
Workplace People Map: Know Who to Ask Before You Get Stuck
Beginner | 1 whiteboard page · Task board: 4 columns (5 parent tasks, 13 subtasks)
Beginner: No technical terms. Just answer the whiteboard's questions, following the examples, and it takes shape.
The Workplace People Map template helps a new hire on an unfamiliar team work out who to ask about what, before the first real blocker arrives. The whiteboard holds ground rules for asking, a mind map of people branching from your own team out to support functions and outside contacts, a 3x3 grid of first and backup contacts by problem type, a 5W1H layout for shaping the question, and a priority matrix that ranks who to approach by how often you work together against how little you have spoken. The task board runs across four columns - Name known, Have spoken, Can ask for help, Worked together - and starts with five parent tasks and 13 subtasks, from listing the people to building regular contact. Make one card per person and move it right as the relationship gets easier, and hunting for help mid-blocker turns into a named first contact for every kind of problem.
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Workplace People Map
How to use: 1. Set your rules for asking 2. Fill in the people map 3. Pick who to ask per problem 4. Build the ask with 5W1H and work down the list
1. How You Lean on People (asking is part of the job, and you pay it back)
- Where you want to be in six months One person you can ask freely in each of the three areas
- Ground rules for contact and notes - Greet three people around you when you get in - Every card carries desk, remit, and channel
- When to ask, and when not to - Search for ten minutes, then ask - If you have put it off two days, ask today - No more than three asks a day to one person
- Pay it back the same day Do not stop at thanks - return what you were taught Write the steps down and hand them to the next new hire
2. Your People Map (own team, nearby teams, support functions, outside)
- Workplace
people map
- Own team Manager and 5 peers
- Team next door Sends work weekly
- Support functions Facilities, HR, IT
- Finance and legal They own the deadlines
- Outside contacts Clients and on-site
- Peers and mentors 3 in my cohort, 1 senior
3. Who to Ask, by Problem (decide it before you are stuck)
| The specific problem | First person to ask | Backup | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ways of working | Not sure how granular an estimate should be How much detail goes in meeting notes | Dana, third year, sits next to me Free before 10 a.m. | Marcus, my manager, in the weekly one-on-one Anything needing a decision goes here |
| Systems and access | Cannot reach the external network No permission on the shared drive | Priya on the IT desk The chat help channel is fastest | A senior on my own team Someone set this up last month |
| Admin and forms | Expense deadlines and how to file How to request leave and log hours | Expenses, Chris in Finance (ext. 201) Leave and hours, Robin in HR | Alex, second year, same team Will show me last year's form |
4. Build the Ask (5W1H)
- The ask you are about to make
- What Not sure how granular an estimate should be
- Why If I do not start today I miss the deadline
- Who Dana, the first contact in the grid
- When Catch her before 10 a.m., when she is free
- Where Go to the desk if it is involved / chat if it is quick
- How What I checked, what I am stuck on, what I need decided
5. Who to Approach This Week
Vertical axis: How little you have spoken / Horizontal axis: How often you work together
- Wait for now Little contact, and no introduction yet. Wait for an all-hands or a team event, and spend no time on it this week.
- Say hello first Requests come in weekly and you still have not spoken. Go to their desk this week, give your name and your work, and agree how to reach them.
- Drop by now and then You have spoken, but you rarely overlap. A monthly hello, and a word when you pass by, keeps the relationship alive.
- Go deeper You work together daily and talking is easy. Bring them one real question, and move the card into Can ask for help.
Task board contents
Name known 18 items
List the people
If faces and names do not line up, you cannot decide who to ask. Put everyone on a card first, so you can see them all at once.
Card your own team
Working from the seating chart and the org chart, make one card per teammate and line them up in Name known.
Add team contacts
List the teams you send requests to or check things with, and card the one person you deal with on each.
Match names to faces
Look up photos in the staff directory, note where each person sits on the card, and greet them the next morning.
Check who owns what
A job title will not tell you what someone can take on. Confirm the real scope before you decide who to ask.
Trace the org chart
Check what each team is responsible for on the org chart and the intranet, and add one line about it to the card.
Ask your manager
In your weekly one-on-one, ask who decides on three live items, and record the decider and the doer separately.
Pick who to ask
Hunting for help once you are stuck burns hours. Decide the first person to ask for each kind of problem in advance.
List 5 blockers
Write down five moments in the last month where you stalled, and sort them into ways of working, systems, and admin.
Name a first contact
For each kind of problem, pick exactly one person to go to first, and write their name and channel into the grid.
Name a backup too
Pick one fallback per kind of problem, for when your first choice is out or busy, so you never sit waiting.
Introduce yourself
It is hard to ask someone who does not remember you. Get your name and your work out there first.
Do a 1-minute intro
At the stand-up, cover three things in one minute: what you work on, what you did before, and what you will need help with.
Go say hello
Tell your manager first, then visit each team contact to give your name and your work and agree how to reach them (two a day, max).
Keep in touch
One conversation will not make someone easy to ask. Keep the contact small and regular, and move the cards to the right.
Chat once a week
Once a week, at lunch or by the coffee machine, start a short conversation with someone you have not spoken to yet.
Pay help back
When someone teaches you something, report the result the same day, so it stays easy to go back to them.
Update the map
At month end, review the people map and the grid, and move the cards of anyone you actually leaned on to the right.
