Many startups don’t have a formal on-boarding process, yet you're expected to start contributing on your first week. Here's how to set yourself up for success.
I've been building onboarding experiences for many years in L&D teams and this is the essentials. I would add getting time on others calendars too. This helps you build your internal network but also get a sense of culture, and diverse views on how the organisation works.
Thanks Wes. Great insights! Aligns well with my current day job at a large company where I'm onboarding myself. Your article helps me to frame things in the right way.
And I'm curious to know what happened in that meeting at Bare Escentuals, where you were asked to lead. How did you manage it?
Yes, I led the meeting and I’d say it went as well as it could have. I had learned to stay calm under pressure from a previous role, so that came in handy. It's a great reminder that no lesson goes wasted. It all builds and adds to the mix of your abilities, judgment, skills, etc as the well you draw from.
Glad to hear this was helpful for your on-boarding, T. Congrats on your new role!
And loved this quote: "no lesson goes wasted. It all builds and adds to the mix of your abilities, judgment, skills, etc. as the well you draw from."
Yes, I'll be using your article to "frame" my on-boarding review discussion next week :) It has also given me the confidence to take charge of my on-boarding.
This must be a mandate for those who want to start working in a startup!
I can relate to my experience when I switched from a cushy corporate job to startups and the culture shock was jarring.
Initially I used to wonder if I made the wrong decision joining this company or blaming people - why can't they be like this/that.
But then I realized no one was wrong - they are different. That stopped the blame game and gave me a sense of control on what I can do. (Kind of like Anne Hathway in The Devil Wears Prada 💃)
It was a nice perspective Wes to start by actively building a map. Your post reminded me of "the 3 maps" that Tanya Reilly talks about in her book "The Staff Engineer's Path"
- Build a map about your product and your customers
- Build a map of your org and dynamics
- And build a map about the vision you are heading towards
The topic I was not expecting in your blog was developing a point of view. I have been reluctant to show an opinion when learning and I have always prioritized questions. But with the right communication skills (and respecting what came before), I think I can pull it off with more proactive opinions and not only questions. I'll definitely try it out, I'd love to read more about the topic
Definitely try it and let me know how it goes Fran. Given how thoughtful you seem, I’m sure folks will be eager to hear your initial reactions, hunches, and point of view. You can always preface by saying these are your initial or early thoughts. I find this helpful if I want to reinforce that these are the beginnings of POVs that will crystallize as I see more data points, recognize patterns, and gain conviction.
This is a timely read, thank you! I'm somewhat on the other side -- a community professional setting up our new onboarding process. Would you have previous essays or tweets on this topic, Wes? Much appreciated!
Typical onboarding consists of a morning filling out the benefits paperwork and then a lunch with your new manager or perhaps your team.
If you are lucky, your company has some sort of onboarding process and perhaps your boss has created a short plan of who you should meet and key meetings to attend.
By contrast, every time a US Army officer changes jobs they get 4 to 6 weeks of dedicated education which covers:
(A) Current top challenges the Army faces overall (context for the new job).
(B) Technology changes (new weapons, new enemies, cyberwarfare, etc.).
(C) And everything the officer needs to take on the job successfully.
4 things you can take from this:
(1) Read The First 90 Days if you are changing roles.
(2) Ask your new boss about the onboarding plan and prompt them for help.
(3) As the new hire onboarding, proactively provide your manager a 90-day plan to kickstart ideas, feedback, and the process. Saying "Doing XYZ will help me get up to speed faster" helps the manager move faster and unlock blockers (e.g. you need to meet with ABC, I'll intro you now).
(4) If you are hiring, consider what more you can do to onboard your hires. Tacos alone are not enough!
In the past I thought “oh I must not get this part of the product because I’m new.” But if you think a UX flow is confusing, or landing page messaging isn’t clear, new customers will likely have the same reaction. Leads and customers aren’t as incentivized to stay and figure it out either--if they’re confused, they often simply bounce. When you speak up, you give your team a chance to see through a beginner’s eyes and make it instantly obvious what users should do.
“Your fresh perspective is one of the most valuable things you bring.”
Great reminder to speak up sooner rather than later when you start a new job. Don’t discount your initial thoughts—they’re one of your best assets.
Wes - I revisit each of your pieces. There is a book here somewhere <3
This means a lot, thank you Bipin 🙏
I really like this advice.
I've been building onboarding experiences for many years in L&D teams and this is the essentials. I would add getting time on others calendars too. This helps you build your internal network but also get a sense of culture, and diverse views on how the organisation works.
+1 on getting multiple perspectives on how the org works. Thanks for adding, Ross.
This was such a timely and actionable piece for me. Thank you!
Thanks for being here and learning together Joy!
Great post! And I think this goes for jobs beyond start-up land as well. Thanks!
Thank you Ian!
Thanks Wes. Great insights! Aligns well with my current day job at a large company where I'm onboarding myself. Your article helps me to frame things in the right way.
And I'm curious to know what happened in that meeting at Bare Escentuals, where you were asked to lead. How did you manage it?
Yes, I led the meeting and I’d say it went as well as it could have. I had learned to stay calm under pressure from a previous role, so that came in handy. It's a great reminder that no lesson goes wasted. It all builds and adds to the mix of your abilities, judgment, skills, etc as the well you draw from.
Glad to hear this was helpful for your on-boarding, T. Congrats on your new role!
Thank you for replying. Great to hear that!
And loved this quote: "no lesson goes wasted. It all builds and adds to the mix of your abilities, judgment, skills, etc. as the well you draw from."
Yes, I'll be using your article to "frame" my on-boarding review discussion next week :) It has also given me the confidence to take charge of my on-boarding.
This must be a mandate for those who want to start working in a startup!
I can relate to my experience when I switched from a cushy corporate job to startups and the culture shock was jarring.
Initially I used to wonder if I made the wrong decision joining this company or blaming people - why can't they be like this/that.
But then I realized no one was wrong - they are different. That stopped the blame game and gave me a sense of control on what I can do. (Kind of like Anne Hathway in The Devil Wears Prada 💃)
That was a self-aware insight Sridhar. I’m sure this mindset shift contributed to your success within the company.
Indeed :)
We own our onboarding, we own our careers!
It was a nice perspective Wes to start by actively building a map. Your post reminded me of "the 3 maps" that Tanya Reilly talks about in her book "The Staff Engineer's Path"
- Build a map about your product and your customers
- Build a map of your org and dynamics
- And build a map about the vision you are heading towards
The topic I was not expecting in your blog was developing a point of view. I have been reluctant to show an opinion when learning and I have always prioritized questions. But with the right communication skills (and respecting what came before), I think I can pull it off with more proactive opinions and not only questions. I'll definitely try it out, I'd love to read more about the topic
Thanks for sharing!
Definitely try it and let me know how it goes Fran. Given how thoughtful you seem, I’m sure folks will be eager to hear your initial reactions, hunches, and point of view. You can always preface by saying these are your initial or early thoughts. I find this helpful if I want to reinforce that these are the beginnings of POVs that will crystallize as I see more data points, recognize patterns, and gain conviction.
That makes sense, thanks for the tips, Wes!
I'll look into putting myself more in a position where I'm the "new guy" to practice
This is a timely read, thank you! I'm somewhat on the other side -- a community professional setting up our new onboarding process. Would you have previous essays or tweets on this topic, Wes? Much appreciated!
Hey JoAnne, I haven’t but I feel like others have written good stuff about this. Will keep my eyes peeled.
Typical onboarding consists of a morning filling out the benefits paperwork and then a lunch with your new manager or perhaps your team.
If you are lucky, your company has some sort of onboarding process and perhaps your boss has created a short plan of who you should meet and key meetings to attend.
By contrast, every time a US Army officer changes jobs they get 4 to 6 weeks of dedicated education which covers:
(A) Current top challenges the Army faces overall (context for the new job).
(B) Technology changes (new weapons, new enemies, cyberwarfare, etc.).
(C) And everything the officer needs to take on the job successfully.
4 things you can take from this:
(1) Read The First 90 Days if you are changing roles.
(2) Ask your new boss about the onboarding plan and prompt them for help.
(3) As the new hire onboarding, proactively provide your manager a 90-day plan to kickstart ideas, feedback, and the process. Saying "Doing XYZ will help me get up to speed faster" helps the manager move faster and unlock blockers (e.g. you need to meet with ABC, I'll intro you now).
(4) If you are hiring, consider what more you can do to onboard your hires. Tacos alone are not enough!
Great additions, thanks for sharing Jason
In the past I thought “oh I must not get this part of the product because I’m new.” But if you think a UX flow is confusing, or landing page messaging isn’t clear, new customers will likely have the same reaction. Leads and customers aren’t as incentivized to stay and figure it out either--if they’re confused, they often simply bounce. When you speak up, you give your team a chance to see through a beginner’s eyes and make it instantly obvious what users should do.