Onboarding A New Team Member

Onboarding A New Team Member

Principles

The onboarding process has been designed to be lean and simple.

A member of the Ops team will produce a contract and initiate the onboarding process. The following is a guide for carrying this process out with the Onboardee.

User stories

Onboarder = person setting up the new team member (needs to be authorised by Rufus or Sylvie).

As the Onboarder I want to know what I need to do for and with the Onboardee so they are set up and supported and nothing is missed out.

I need to know:

  • Things I need to do before the Onboardee starts their onboarding (e.g. ensure they have a contract).
  • Things to do during onboarding.
  • Things to do after onboarding.

Overview

graph TD

subgraph "Onboarder"
  contract[Create Contract]
  send[Send Contract]
  gsuite[Create GSuite Account<br/>And send email]
  welcome[Send Welcome Email<br/>personal+work email]
  addthem[Give them access]
  
  contract --> send
  gsuite --> welcome
end

subgraph "Onboardee"
  recc[Receive Contract]
  review[Review and Sign Contract]
  
  send --> recc
  recc --> review
  review --> gsuite
  gsuite --> recc2[Receive GSuite setup<br/>Login and set password]
  welcome --> recc3[Receive welcome email]
  recc3 --> onboard[Visit<br/>Onboarding Guide]
end

subgraph "Basics"
  onboard --> setup[Setup Accounts]
  setup --> phonebook[Add details to phonebook]
  phonebook --> emailob[Email Onboarder]
  emailob --> addthem
  emailob --> laptop[Setup Laptop]
  laptop --> read[read Working With Us]
  read --> issue[Create onboarding issue]
  issue --> complete[Complete onboarding issue]
  complete --> finishbasics[Finish Basics]
end

subgraph "Welcome / Getting Started"
  finishbasics --> context[Company Context]
  context --> onboardmeet[Onboarding Meeting]
end

Onboarding Checklist: Issue template

  • Go to https://github.com/life-itself/ops/
  • Create an issue to track the Onboarding process
  • Name it Ops Onboarding {First Name} {Last Name} {Date}
  • Copy and paste the checklist below into your GitHub issue
  • Complete the steps to ensure the Onboardee has everything they need.

Next, scroll down for more detail on completing the steps.

* [ ] Contract drafted (and reviewed)
* [ ] Contract shared with the onboardee (CC the requestor and ops@lifeitself.us)
* [ ] Contract signed
* [ ] PDF created and sent to Onboardee
* [ ] GSuite email created
* [ ] Email sent to welcome onboardee
* [ ] Invite sent to welcome call
* [ ] Add to appropriate WhatsApp channels
* [ ] Added to Youtube Channel
* [ ] Invite to Xero and add bank details
* [ ] Send Getting Paid doc (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e8ZRmp-VKd1D6RkFUOsYf2GSzI4XksyBjBiXKWfzBH0/edit)
* [ ] Add to Life Itself on Github once the Onboardee has created a GitHub account
* [ ] Welcome/Onboarding call complete
* [ ] Welcomed to the team on standup
* [ ] Confirm to the requestor that the Onboarding is complete

General Onboarding Agreements

  • We start onboarding new joiners early enough (at least 5-7 days in advance) so that
    • we leave them enough time to review and sign the contract and do the prerequisites on their end
    • we leave ourselves enough time to set up their accounts on our end and ensure their smooth onboarding
  • The onboardee should be fully onboarded by us by the end of their first day (= Github issue fixed and closed)

Create the Contract

  1. Create a folder for the Onboardee in Life Itself - People / HR/Contracts).
  2. Create a draft contract:
    1. Copy the template contract which is stored here.
    2. Move it to the Person's folder you created in Step 1.
    3. Rename it to {Contractor Name} Life Itself Contract {Year}.
    4. Fill in any relevant sections, especially the key terms in the Schedule section.
    5. Highlight everything that needs to be filled out by the Onboardee.

Contractor Reviews

  1. In Google Docs click Share and share with the contractor's personal email.

    • Make sure to tick "Skip sending notification" as you will notify them by email in the next step.

  2. Email the contractor with the email below (cc ops@lifeitself.us).

    Subject: Your Life Itself Contract: Please Review and Complete

    Hi XXX,

Welcome! This is your contract:

{Insert Link to Google Doc}

Please review and fill in any relevant highlighted sections. If you have any questions please note these as comments in the doc. 

EITHER: you have questions. If so, please email us to let us know so we can get those resolved 😀

OR: it all looks good and you have no questions. Please then sign (insert your signature and date) and email us to let us know. We will then sign and send you a copy.

Many thanks,

XXX

Email Contract

Once both parties have signed we:

  • Review the contract and remove the highlighted parts.
  • Make a PDF of the contract.
  • Store that in Drive in the contract folder for that contractor.
  • Email the PDF of the signed contract to the contractor for their records cc'ing ops@lifeitself.us.

Setup on Systems

These steps can be done in parallel or out of order.

However, unless otherwise agreed, we should only do these steps once there is a signed contract.

  1. GSuite Account and Email: Create the Onboardee's email account as firstname@lifeitself.org (or firstname.lastname@lifeitself.org if necessary) on the Google Admin page and ensure the log-in details are sent to the Onboardee's personal email address.

  2. Create accounts / send invitations on systems where they can't create themselves

    • Add them on Bitwarden. Steps: login ⏭️ Organizations ⏭️ Members ⏭️ Invite Member. Then remember to click 3 dots and choose collections and check "Grant access to all current and future collections")
    • Add them to Life Itself Github organization via https://github.com/orgs/life-itself/people (Invite Member button)
    • To add them to Xero see Xero access and add their bank account details once received.

  3. Welcome Call Invitation: Send them an invitation for a Welcome Call within the next days.

  4. Welcome email: Send them the welcome email to their Life Itself email.

    Subject: Welcome to Life Itself – next steps in getting you set up

    Hi {XXX},

Welcome to Life Itself. This is the beginning of an amazing journey! 🚀 👩‍🚀

**1. Start Setting Yourself Up!**

Please start getting yourself set up here:

https://tao.lifeitself.us/onboarding/

**Please complete as much of the Onboarding Guide as possible before your Welcome Call, making note of any questions you have**. Doing this allows us to grant you access to all systems and makes the the onboarding process super-smooth.

**2. Welcome call**

A welcome call has been scheduled and you will have received an invitation by email. Please accept the invite. 😊

If you are **unable** to make that time please let us know asap by declining the invite and suggesting an alternative time!

Looking to having you on board!

Best,

...

Welcome Call

Here is the suggested agenda for the Welcome Call with the new team member. It should usually take no more than an hour.

Tip

The Onboarder should capture questions during the onboarding meeting and forward any questions they can't answer to other team members.

Welcome

  • Introduce yourself [5m]
  • Ask them to intro themselves [5m]

What this call is about – intro to onboarding and company context

  • We’ve designed the onboarding process to be a self-service one but I’m just going to say a few words to intro you to the company.
  • Overview of Life Itself.
    • What we do.
    • Team is global and fully remote, with team members in Germany, France and the UK.
    • Flat, self-organizing self-managing organisational set-up [very brief but this even informs the nature of this onboarding process!]
  • Who they will be working with
  • Talk about Values & Culture briefly, as our emphasis on culture is an important and distinctive part of our approach.
    • Why that’s important to us.
    • Example: Integrity.
  • Does the Onboardee have any questions about culture not answered in the Tao?

Onboarding

The Onboarder should have completed most of the Onboarding Guide.

  • Check that they have done steps and whether they have any blockers or questions [15m]
  • Introduce the Onboardee to how we manage our website on Wordpress and answer any questions they have about our other systems, such as GitHub. Show them around the All-Team Google drive and ensure they know the location of key documents, such as those relating to accounts.
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