Being able to quickly onboard new team members will benefit your company as a whole. Incorrect onboarding can result in an overall slowdown of productivity in the team and this is something that you want to avoid. If you need to quickly onboard new team members, there are a few steps that you can take to achieve this.
Have An Employee Handbook
A lot of people underestimate the value of an employee handbook. This document can contain a lot of information the new team members need to know and that will take a lot of time to explain. They can also include an organization chart which makes it easier for the new team members to find out who everyone is.
If you are going to have an organizational chart in the handbook, you need to limit it to the people the new team member will deal with. There is no point in having information for an employee that they never communicate with. It is recommended that you use the 80/20 rule when it comes to determining what to include in the handbook.
Have An Introductory Meeting
While the handbook can provide a lot of information to the new team member, you should also schedule an introductory meeting. This is a great way to let the new team member meet the rest of the team and get to know them. You can also cover a number of topics related to the work they will complete.
During the meeting, you should take the time to share what everyone’s main responsibilities are. You also need to provide information on recent progress for any projects and what the current objectives of the team are. Information about future work should also be covered in this meeting. Of course, this can all be a bit overwhelming and you need to have meeting minutes prepared for the new team member.
Explain The Basis Of Unfamiliar Systems
If you have bespoke systems or systems that you know the new team member has not used, you need to explain the basis of them. Ideally, you should have a technical lead do this for you because they will understand the workings best. The only issue you could have with this is that they will use technical terms that can confuse your new team member.
A good idea is to provide the new team member with a list of terms and acronyms linked to the unfamiliar system. This will help them understand what people are talking about and communicate more effectively with the rest of the team. A short guide on how to use the systems might also be helpful.
Have An Overlap
If possible, you should have an overlap between the team member who is leaving and the new team member. This allows the leaving team member to teach the new team member what they need to do. This is vital in direct replacements and will be more beneficial than you might imagine.
There are a lot of steps that you can take to quickly onboard new team members. These steps can be used for any position and will make life for everyone much easier.
