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Onboarding.md

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EARLY DRAFT: This section still needs a lot more work before it is ready. Most things here will probably change before it reaches a publishable state.

Onboarding

This document is about the general priorities and policies for how we as a company bring new partners onto the team. As a new person on the team, if you have questions about starting at Learners Guild, check out Your First Day at Learners Guild.

We may also create specific onboarding recommendations for different roles in the future.

Before Arrival

After a candidate accepts an offer to join Learners Guild, there are a few things that we can get out of the way before they show up.

  1. Complete employment paperwork -- these should end up in their personnel folder (see [Sharing Files][sharing-files])
  • Signed [Offer Letter][offer-letter]
  • Signed [Proprietary Information and Inventions Assignment Agreement][prop-info-agreement]
  1. Create accounts for all required software/apps
  • See [Tooling][tooling] to find list of software/apps which the new partner will need an account for
  • Use two-factor auth or highest security level available
  1. Background reading
  • [Holacracy Book][holacracy-book] (required)
  • [Getting Things Done][gtd-book] (required)
  • [Deschooling Society][deschooling-society]
  • [The Power of Mindful Learning][mindful-learning]
  • [Thinking in Systems][thinking-in-systems]
  • [Soul Without Shame][soul-without-shame]
  • [From One to Many][from-one-to-many]
  • [Holacracy Constitution][holacracy-constitution] for Learners Guild

  1. Set up payroll, benefits, etc.

  2. Put 3 events on whole team’s calendar

  3. NAME’s First Day

  4. Team Lunch to welcome NAME

  5. Team Celebration of NAME’s First Day.

The First Day

A new partner’s first day is critical to making them feel welcome at Learners Guild. The goals of the first day are to help them get set up, situated, and comfortable with the team. It is the responsibility of the person who led their hiring process to make sure that happens.

Some guidelines for the first day:

  • The day should start at 10:00 — this lowers the commute stress and gives us time to set up their desk and get the team ready for them.

  • The new partner should arrive to a desk with their new computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc. set up and ready for them. So far, we have opened the computer, updated software and installed tools, then reboxed it (because the unboxing process of a new computer is nice, but this helps save them annoying time on the first day). There should also be a nice note signed by the team and anything else that feels welcoming or personal to them.

  • Everyone in the office should know that they are starting, their name, their preferred gender pronouns, and what they’re doing. There is one person in charge of the onboarding process, but it is everyone’s responsibility individually to make the new partner feel welcome.

  • The person in charge of onboarding should block out the whole day and plan to spend it with the new partner helping them get set up. In practice, they won’t need the attention for the entire day, but should never be stranded when they do need it.

  • The partner should push something public live during their first day. That might be a code commit, a design change, or a blog post depending on their position, but publishing something is important. This ensures that they’re getting set up to contribute and that they don’t feel restricted while they get up to speed.

  • The whole team should eat lunch together, and this should be put on calendars as far in advance as possible so people don’t schedule other meetings.

  • The day should end at 5, and at the end of the day, the new partner has the option of how to celebrate (a team high five, a drink out, or dinner). They should pick one before the day starts so the team can plan, but they can also change their answer at the end of the day.

The First Week, Month, Beyond

The first week of working at Learners Guild should be focused on learning -- learning the company norms, learning how to work with everyone, learning the tools we use, etc. New partners should be contributing a little bit all week, but the expectation is that they ask questions and get set up, not that they immediately assume leadership.

After a week, the new partner should have their first one-on-one meeting. This meeting should go over all of the normal things that we cover in One on Ones, but should also probe about any gaps in their knowledge.

From there, the process should merge towards the normal process. It’s important to set reasonable expectations and be very supportive for as long as it takes for the partner to feel comfortable at Learners Guild (this might be a week for some and a month for others).

[offer-letter]: TODO make offer letter (clef version: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WUiY-mzKHJblc6MatcyZcqWqdnhe_D4fl0RvFXR7dz0) [prop-info-agreement]: TODO do we need this? (clef version: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10RI3ne-OLjU8cwuwVuYA3H_pQdEW1pioz1zIAJ3nOLY) [sharing-files]: Sharing-Files.md [tooling]: Tooling.md [holacracy-constitution]: https://github.com/LearnersGuild/Holacracy-Constitution [deschooling-society]: http://learning.media.mit.edu/courses/mas713/readings/DESCHOOLING.pdf [gtd-book]: http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280 [soul-without-shame]: http://soulwithoutshame.com/ [mindful-learning]: http://www.ellenlanger.com/books/2/the-power-of-mindful-learning [thinking-in-systems]: http://www.chelseagreen.com/thinking-in-systems [from-one-to-many]: http://www.amazon.com/One-Many-VISA-Chaordic-Organization-ebook/dp/B00XAX5UY0/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 [holacracy-book]: http://www.amazon.com/Holacracy-Management-System-Rapidly-Changing/dp/162779428X