What Does Your Onboarding Process Look Like?
Are you familiar with the onboarding process at your organization? Have you had the opportunity to participate in the onboarding process? Preparing new staff, vendors, and consultants to their role in the organization has become even more critical in our remote, and hybrid, work environments. Many of you have heard me discuss the positive impact of a comprehensive onboarding program for project team members and I continue to promote the benefits of onboarding project team members as well as new staff members. And what about the consultants and vendors who have been hired to help out on a temporary assignment - are they being onboarded as well?
Over the years I have asked a number of organization leaders if they have an onboarding plan for their staff, committees, consultants, vendors and volunteers. The response is varied:
Yes, but we haven’t updated it in several years.
Yes, but it’s not comprehensive or doesn’t apply to most positions.
No, we meet with the new folks regularly.
If you have had the experience of being the newcomer to a team, you will understand how frustrating this can be. As the newest member of the team, you want to prove that you are capable of this opportunity. Yet, just to get through the first day, week, and, possibly, month, you need to ask someone, or several people, just about everything.
Here are a few simple strategies you can use to ease the assimilation process for new team members:
Onboarding package. Provide the new team member with some documentation, perhaps in a binder or in a folder on the network drive. For new project team members, I like to include the following in the Onboarding Kit:
A Project Brief that provides some detailed information on the project about the objectives, timelines, key contacts (internal and external), team members & locations, project tools being used to track and manage the project with links to training materials and project team meeting schedules, time tracking protocols…and other project related information. A high level brief for committee members and volunteer organizations can also include expectations, office protocols and the layout (if applicable) including parking, bus/metro routes, lunchroom, restrooms, smoking area, and fire exits. You can also include information about computer and network access along with training programs available.
The Project Charter which is the one-page high level document that provides the key details of the project with respect to scope, risks, and assumptions. This is also the artifact that authorizes the project and will be the first component of the communication plan.
A glossary of terms - this can be incredibly helpful to a newcomer - all organizations have their own systems, processes, terms, phrases and acronyms. It can be incredibly valuable for a new team member to have a glossary of terms to refer to when trying to understand some of the discussions taking place around them.
For new project team members, a Stakeholder Register can also be incredibly valuable for identifying key contacts, various organizational or departmental subject-matter-experts and others who you can reach out to with questions.
If there are vendors or consultants that are hired on a temporary basis, it would be advisable to also provide them with guidance on status reporting, time tracking, invoicing procedures, work hours, remote/hybrid work protocols, as well as the other information provided above.
Buddy program. Ask the team for volunteers who would be willing to be that “Go To” person for the new team member. The Buddy can show the new team member around the office, introduce him to others on the team, and help him acclimate to the schedules, meetings, and some of the software tools used in the organization.
Transition plan. If the new team member is replacing someone who was promoted or has moved to a different team, can she meet with the outgoing team member for details on the role and responsibilities? This would be a good opportunity for the new team member to ask questions about the details of the role.
Brief check-ins. Establish a schedule to meet with the new team member regularly. Set up a series of 15-minute meetings on their calendar to check in on how they are doing and assess how they are adjusting to the new organization. Don’t miss the meetings. Lead by example.
By providing consistent support to new team members, you set up the organization for success; team members welcomed in this way will be more likely to want to stay and be part of the team.
Ensure that you have the support structure in place with an established onboarding program to welcome new team members to your organization and enable them to be successful from Day 1. Everyone benefits from onboarding new team members!