Onboarding

When a new teammate joins the team we make sure of helping them as much as possible to put them up to speed with the rest of the team. We try to be available with them at all times so that they don’t feel lost or overwhelmed by the avalanche of information they will be receiving in their first weeks with us.

The buddy

Before anyone joins the team we elect a buddy to take care of them from their arrival. This is a voluntary role that team members take on themselves.

The buddy is responsible for the introduction of the new teammate to the team and of being a referent for any questions or problems that might arise during the onboarding process.

What is expected from the onboarding?

The expectation is that the new teammate gets familiarized with the context of the product, our processes, and they get to know the team to get up to speed and contribute autonomously.

How long does it take?

It depends. Each person has their own rhythm. There is no need to rush it, some people might take weeks while others need a more relaxed pace. It usually takes in the ballpark of a couple of months to feel comfortable with the team and process to contribute autonomously.

When do we consider the onboarding is done?

We consider the onboarding to be finished when the new team member feels comfortable to move around on their own, handle comfortably the team processes and can contribute autonomously to the product.

The timeline

Once someone joins the team, a rough timeline of what happens is at follows:

First day

• The buddy schedules a welcome call to meet the rest of the team before the first daily
• After the daily the buddy explains how the onboarding board works. The main tool we use to guide the onboarding. Its goal is to teach many things, from domain context to tools and processes we use daily.

First weeks

• The buddy and the new teammate join regularly to review how the onboarding is going, and to solve any doubts that might have arisen on the process.
• During the first weeks, what usually works best is that the new teammate follows the buddy all around pairing with her/him. This seems to be the most effective way to avoid feeling lost and getting up to speed with all the stuff going on.

Following weeks/months

• Eventually the new teammate might feel comfortable enough to pair with different teammates and get to know different parts of the application
• The onboarding work from the board continues in parallel.

Onboarding end

• At some point the onboarding might “feel” finished. At this point the buddy takes care of communicating it to the rest of the team at the next Synchro
• The buddy takes care of helping the new teammate to find a mentor inside the team who can continue helping from then on. The mentor might or might not be the buddy herself. Check the Mentoring section for more information.