Welcome back, everyone! Today, we’re here to discuss a topic that almost every single one of you will encounter at some point in your career. As we transition into new roles or companies, it’s guaranteed that others will do the same! And with that, comes new teammates, leadership, mentors, and more. If you’re in a ‘senior’ position on your team, have the longest tenure, or otherwise possess a ‘specialty’ skill in an area at work, you will likely be tasked with at least part of another employee’s onboarding experience. So, learn how to prep, provide a meaningful training experience, and get started… HERE!

Onboarding and New Hire Training

Create Standard Work: Where applicable, I highly recommend creating step-by-step guides on how to complete blanket tasks that your entire team is responsible for knowing. Whether this is a request for access to company software platforms, a request to join a cross-functional team’s working station or ‘board’ (on platforms like Miro!), recurring submissions within commonly used software/platforms, etc., it will not only help them but also YOU to have a reference guide! Often, the more “mundane” tasks that you’ve become used to are those that are most ambiguous to a new employee, so make sure to be mindful of all inputs that you execute daily.
- Extra Tip: We also encourage you to get ahead of the curve on this one! Joining a new team? Anticipating an upcoming rotation? If this sounds like you, start to brainstorm ways that you can create standard work while onboarding to save time and effort in the future when you inevitably pursue a new role.
Document Best Practices: On the same note, create best practices or include them within standard work resources! Whether this means a certain way of titling projects, general naming convention, descriptions, communicating as a team (on platforms like Microsoft Teams!), meeting cadences for weekly team connects, fonts/formats/layouts utilized in presentations or documents, and more, there is likely a quicker avenue to the finish line that’s guided by knowing your best practice. Especially as it relates to the preferences of the cross-functional teams you work with, assisting someone new on the ins and outs of the way you work is key to their onboarding success.
Track In-flight Projects: If you’re in the position of leaving a team, it’s also super important to have written documentation of projects or tasks that are incomplete upon your departure. Documenting project components (ex: employee dependencies across the org.), who tasks are assigned to, inputs and individual status, and any relevant documentation will ease your team’s ability to take over where you left off.
Free Up Space on Your Calendar! Free up your calendar when and where you can. Simply stating to the new teammate “Find some time on my cal!” will not suffice in being welcoming and engaging. Make sure to suggest optimal times to chat live in person or via video; if you’re tasked with specifically training another individual, we recommend you schedule recurring meetings with them to kick off on a positive note as soon as the first day they join the team.

Searching for a new position? Check out our open jobs!