Someone who has a firm handle on the "lay of the land" is likely to get things accomplished more quickly than someone who does not. This idiomatic English expression presents a vivid visual metaphor that is easy to translate to everyday use, because the phrase is both literal and figurative. Used as an idiom, this expression simply means to have an understanding of the situation or the way things are done.
Getting the "lay of the land" at the office might mean understanding the social and professional pecking order to understand who controls group dynamics, who has the greatest influence and whom to avoid. It also might be more literally applied. If a woman has a new job in a huge office complex, she might need to get the "lay of the land" to figure out the best way to get to the cafeteria, where the ladies’ restrooms are located and the shortest way to the parking lot at the end of the day.
Sometimes the expression is applied in a manner that isn’t quite so literal. For example, a young man who has enrolled in a virtual college and will be taking class online isn’t likely to feel the need to get the "lay of the land" in purely physical terms. He doesn’t need to know where the registrar’s office is, nor the closest student parking. When this student reports that he feels fairly comfortable and thinks things will go well once he gets the "lay of the land," he merely means that he needs to figure out how to get assignments and submit work, where to go for help, and otherwise determine how his virtual school works.
Like most good idioms, this one gives the user as well as the listener a sort of visual hook. One could imagine an explorer attempting to get the "lay of the land" in an uncharted territory to determine what is there, key landmarks, resources that are available and where it is in relation to known areas. This idiom can be traced back to 1700s England and might have been used well before that. The idiom first appeared — and still does, in some places — as the "lie of the land."