Onboarding in a time of Zoom and Slack

Let's face it - starting a new job is hard. You know nothing, yet these are the days you most want to look busy and make a great impression. Anyone who's started a new job remotely will know that it can be even harder when you can't just whisper to the person at the next desk to find out answers to basic questions. So how can hiring managers help new recruits to settle in and get up to speed quickly?

Create a 'To Do' board for new starters

A technique I like to use is to give new hires their own own 'to do' board (using Trello, Miro, whatever your tool of choice is). I make sure the new starter knows that this is solely for them - nobody is going to check up on what gets done here, and there are no deadlines involved! The board has three columns: 'to do', 'doing' and 'done'. I divide the 'to do' column into relevant rows, so for a Product Manager, that might include things like 'getting to know your team', 'meeting the rest of the business', 'getting to know your customer', 'understanding the business' etc. Then in each row, I put a bunch of tasks that the new starter can pick up and do whenever they have time. The tasks can be anything - people to reach out to and organise an intro coffee, documents to read, people to contact for login / set up details, user testing videos to watch, vision and strategy slide decks - the idea is that they're small things that the new starter can get on with independently during those first few days when you don't really know which way is up.

On relevant 'tasks' I also like to include the name of someone who can provide more information about anything interesting - e.g. a member of the team to give more background on a product, or someone in sales who can talk through market segments. It gives new starters a new contact in the business, and a reason to reach out and talk to them. The feedback I've had is that these 'to do' boards are really helpful to give new starters some pointers on the areas where they can start to build their knowledge, and that they take some of the fear out of not knowing what you should be doing between meetings! It's also weirdly satisfying to move items through to 'done', and be able to see what you've achieved in your first couple of weeks.

Put some meetings in the calendar

If you start a new role remotely, it's very daunting to feel that you're not busy when everyone else is! While most people would love to have fewer meetings in their calendar, having a few meetings set up ready for when you arrive in a new job can help you get into the swing of things and give your day a bit of rhythm. And I don't just mean inviting the new starter to the regular meetings with their team. Add a few 1-2-1 meetings with key people in the business, and some intro sessions on topics that will be important to them - ideally with as many different people from across the business as possible. Add a couple of 'catch up / coffee' sessions in the week with you too, so that the new starter knows they'll have a chance to ask questions. It can be daunting if your list of questions is getting long but everyone seems to be busy, or replies via Slack seem to take a long time. Just one caveat here: avoid bombarding new starters with meetings in their first week. Just two or three meetings a day is enough, and ideally with nothing back to back, out of hours or over lunch!

Find them a buddy

It often seems like those people doing the hiring are the busiest people in the business - the 'Lead' or 'Head of' who spends most of their time running from meeting to meeting (or clicking from Zoom to Zoom!). If they are the only contact for a new starter, it can be pretty intimidating, not to mention tricky when answers to questions take a while. Try nominating an informal 'buddy' to help your new starter through their first few weeks. They don't have to be doing the same type of role (although it's great if they are), they just need to be a friendly face that will willingly answer 'daft' questions, reach out to make sure the new starter is OK and check that they're popping up in important team meetings (technical glitches in your first few days are miserable if there's nobody to give you a hand!). If this isn't possible, try setting up a 'safe space' Slack channel with a few friendly people, so that the new starter can ask questions without feeling that all of the other 500 employees will be watching!

Help them find their own buddies

Working remotely can be lonely. Even more so when you don't know anyone yet! Many companies have set up informal Zoom sessions where employees can chat and get to know each other, and talk about more than just work. A wonderful company I worked with recently set up a 'random beer or cake' Slack channel. The idea is that anyone in the channel will be paired with one other person at random each week, to have a virtual beer or some cake together, and chat about anything that isn't work! Help new starters to find these kind of opportunities to make friends, and if they don't exist yet, try setting them up.

Empower them to help the next new person

New starters are the best people to spot flaws in out of date onboarding materials or any information that's given to new starters that might not make sense if you don't know all the company lingo. Try keeping these materials somewhere that anyone can edit (like Google docs or a Wiki), and encourage new starters to comment on areas that need updating, or add in new information if they feel it's missing. This helps them to feel they can contribute something in those early days, and ensures that onboarding material stays fresh and up-to-date for the next new starter.

Those first few days and weeks in a new job are so important. They can make or break your experience of a new company, and remote working makes it even more important to feel connected. A great onboarding experience is a really good way to build company culture, by quickly getting new starters involved and helping them to feel a part of what you're building. . What other techniques have you tried that help new starters get off to a flying start?