It took you weeks to hire a new team member, and weeks more to convince your manager you need one. She signed the contract and starts in a week. You are getting ready to onboard her to the team.
But wait, What does a good onboarding consist of?
In this article we will learn what are the goals of an onboarding, and how to create the most effective and pleasant way to achieve those goals.
The Vision
“A great onboarding process is to seamlessly integrate new team members into the company culture while equipping them with the knowledge, tools, and support they need to become confident, productive contributors from day one.” — ChatGPT
Thank you ChatGPT, so what are the points we should keep in mind?
Building the Foundations of the Communication
“Nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively.” — Gerald R. Ford, former United States president
During the onboarding process it is vital you invest your time to create trust between you and the new team member. On the very first days you should sit down with her and have your first 1 on 1, In that meeting you should strive to create trust and find clues on how to communicate effectively with each other. Moreover here are some points that will help with building strong foundations:
Understand her Expertise
In the interview process and in your first 1 on 1 meeting you should aspire to understand what is her expertise, what is it that she is good at.
But wait, how do you do that? ask.
Having an idea what her expertise is can help you choose better tasks, buddies and much more.
Solve her Problems Tactically (and then Strategically)
During the period of the onboarding and to be honest during the time she will work in the company, she will encounter many challenges. As a leader you want to be the one that helps solve these issues, by guiding, by helping technically or guiding others to.
This can increase the trust significantly and help you communicate better.
Whenever these problems rise, the first thing you should do is solve it tactically. But do not forget to solve this issue Strategically for the better future, even better you can help the colleague solve it themself.
Exchange Expectations
During the time you will be working together, expectations should be clear and always measured. In your first meeting with the new employee you should exchange these expectations, meaning you should ask what do they expect of you and vice versa.
Moreover you should talk specifically on the matter of the onboarding.
The First Tasks
Her local environment is working properly, the time has arrived for the first tasks. Here are some points we must consider when choosing them:
Urgency & Time Sensitivity
We should strive to pick issues that are not urgent nor time sensitive, we do not want our first tasks to cause stress. But do not choose tasks that are not important at all. As the team leader you have a huge backlog of tasks that you never get to but they will give huge value, these are good candidates.
Comfort Zone
Each team member has a different comfort zone, some like backend, some frontend (How?) and some even prefer DevOps. Feel free to ask the new employee to what kind of tasks they prefer and tailor it to their preferences. Our goal here is to reduce their stress, let them start with the areas they feel most comfortable in.
Quick Wins
Good feel and quick value, this is what we aim for. To do that we want to find tasks that are QQ (Quite Quick) and give value for our end users.
Refinement
As a new team member you have a lot on your head, as the leaders we can avoid to add more. You can do that by making sure the tasks are well refined and really clear on what should be done and how.
Areas of Responsibilities
Each team has their own areas they are the owners of, as the manager you should strive to find tasks that touch the different responsibilities.
A Buddy
The buddy is a fellow team/group member who is your go to guy for questions regarding your task. It should be someone who is technically strong, understands the task into depth and can guide you to a well implemented solution.
Choosing the right buddy is important, here are some tips:
- Understands the new colleague task into depth and can guide the different challenges that might occur.
- Can communicate effectively and be an exemplary example.
- Has the potential to collaborate with them in the future.
The Equipment
Really? A whole section just for equipment? Why is it so important?
One of our goals as Managers is to ensure the best onboarding experience. But how does the gear is helping us achieve that?
In order to understand this, we need to be emphatic. Starting a new job is hard, you been there, I have been there and she is currently experiencing it. It is a lot of stress, tons of changes, a totally new environment.
The equipment is helping us give her a known settings, that way she can focus on what is really important. Getting used to new keyboard/IDE or even a chair can interrupt her efforts of dealing with all of the change.
So, A week before your new team member joins up, send them a message ask them what equipment would they like? Do not limit them, let them build their small safe heaven.
Retrospective
We can always do better, nothing is perfect. Whenever they become independent, and deliver value consistently without help, it is time to understand what could have been better and learn from it for the next time.
As leaders we should be aware of most of the issues already, we need to strive to solve them as fast as possible. This means most of the problems were fixed tactically.
At the start of the onboarding create a retro board, share it with the new member and remind them to write everything that could have been better. But do not forget, this is not a replacement for you to be aware of those and solve them along the way.
To Summarize
Mastering employee onboarding requires a strategic approach to seamlessly integrate new hires into the company culture and make them productive contributors from day one. This involves clear communication, understanding their expertise, addressing challenges both tactically and strategically, and setting clear expectations. Additionally, choosing appropriate initial tasks, providing necessary equipment, and assigning a supportive buddy can significantly enhance the onboarding experience, ensuring a smooth transition and fostering long-term success.