Hit the ground running meaning: start at full speed

Full speed from day one

You hit the ground running when you start something new and are useful straight away, with no slow warm-up.

Hit the ground running in a job ad

In a job ad, hit the ground running means the team wants someone who already knows the tools, so the training will be short. It often shares the ad with other entries in our corporate jargon dictionary. In an ad, a team player can mean someone who’ll take on extra work for no extra pay. Work hard, play hard promises long days, then drinks you’re expected to stay for. And we’re a family here asks for loyalty and unpaid effort, right up until the layoffs.

Running, rolling and sprinting

Hit the ground running is about speed from the first minute. Get the ball rolling only asks for a start, at any speed. Storm out of the blocks is the sprinter’s version of hitting the ground running.

Saying it without the jargon

If you’re writing the job ad or the welcome email, name the goal and the date instead, such as “running payroll on your own by week three”.

Top of the UK list

Ask UK workers which phrases they use most, and hit the ground running comes out on top, named by 16%. Touch base and get the ball rolling tie for second, at 14% each.

Australian office workers were asked a different question, so their figure doesn’t compare. 33.0% of them say they use it, the ninth-highest share on the list.

Understood by half

About half of UK workers could explain hit the ground running without looking it up.

Of the 24 phrases tested, only “in the loop” did better. 57.3% of UK workers could explain that one.

The laptop arrives Thursday

In a new job that expects full speed from day one, the first week is mostly waiting. You wait for the laptop and the accounts, and then every system asks for an authenticator code. The ground you hit is a login screen.

Running into a reorg

New managers are expected to get up to speed fastest of all, and to arrive with a 90-day plan. Some of them run into the next reorg before day 90.

Back from the holidays

The phrase turns up in January kickoff emails for the first Monday after the break. On that first morning back, you can eat the frog by opening the email you dread most before the rest of the unread pile.

Three stories, no winner

Nobody has settled where hit the ground running began. One idiom dictionary lists three possible origins and doesn’t pick one.

• Troops dropped into a combat zone had to move the moment they landed.
• Stowaways jumped from freight trains as they slowed near a station.
• Pony Express riders changed horses without losing time.

An onboarding email with hit the ground running

Subject: Welcome aboard, your first week

Hi Ana, welcome to the team. We need you to hit the ground running skip the training, so your first client call is Tuesday at 10. IT says your laptop should arrive Thursday. Ping me if you need anything.