Imagine a client gives you access to a project management tool you have never used and says, 'Set yourself up.' What are the first three things you would do inside the tool to get oriented without asking the client for hand-holding?

Situation

In my previous role as an administrative assistant for a remote freelance consultant, I was suddenly given a Monday.com login and told to organize the client's task board while the client was offline in a different time zone.

Task

I needed to quickly understand the platform's board, task, and notification settings on my own so I could set up a clean task list without pestering the client with basic questions.

Action

First, I checked the tool's built-in help center and watched one three-minute beginner video on board structure. Then I opened the existing sample board and clicked each icon to see what it did, testing only in a duplicate practice board. Finally, I searched the tool's settings to see which notifications were turned on and turned off all unnecessary email alerts before making any changes to the live board.

Result

Within 45 minutes I had a working task board mapped to the client's existing email threads, and the client later said the board was exactly what he needed, with no follow-up questions.