Onboarding is the process of bringing a new joiner up to speed so they have the right knowledge to build connections within the team and to do their job successfully.
During the first few days, a new joiner will likely be exposed to more information than they can retain. This process can be helped by having an *Onboarding Guide* which can act as both a guide and a notebook of their first experiences.
Here's the sections that I like to have in my own onboarding guides:
* A list of accounts I'll need, what for and how I can access them. * A list of people I should meet, and some initial prompts on what to ask about. * Terminology and Jargon that is in common use in the team. * A list of the projects our team works on, and key projects by other team that I will need. * A list of what I should expect to see in my calendar, so I can confirm whether I'm added to the right events. * A list of internal communities or interest groups that might interest me. * A list of onboarding sessions and events, ideally with timing on when they will happen. * Concrete tasks that I am expected to complete in week 1, and month 1.
I have a template for this guide in Template: Onboarding Guide, or as a PDF below.
templates/onboarding