Team Building

Intentional Onboarding: Setting New Team Members Up for Success

October 24, 2020 /

Whether an employee or consultant, or contractor, when you add a new team member, you hope they can bring value to your team.  Enabling that is your responsibility.

Startups are nearly always capital-constrained, carefully husbanding their resources even as they try to build value as rapidly as possible.  This often means that adding new resources does not happen until they are really needed.  One of the hard choices is exactly when to bring new team members on board and, because of the pressure to conserve resources, by the time you decide, find, and vet a new resource, the need for that resource has often become quite acute. 

That means that, once you find the right resource, getting them on board and contributing quickly should be a high priority. It is tempting just to get a contract in place, schedule a start date, and go. However, investing some time in preparing for the new arrival and getting them up to speed can be time well spent even when it means that you have to deprioritize other things for a bit.

As the CEO of a startup, one of my primary jobs is to build the team that can build the value the startup was founded to create.  That means thinking ahead to identify what resources we need. Making sure that we find the right ones. And then making sure that we maximize the value they contribute. To accomplish this, I choose to invest in the new team member onboarding process regardless of whether that new resource is a consultant, contractor, or employee. Some of the specific techniques I use to do this successfully include:

  • Spending enough time with the new team member either during the hiring process or once they are coming on board to understand what motivates them, where they think they can add the most value, and what they need to be successful.  For those that have a high degree of self-awareness, sometimes you can just ask these questions outright.  For others, you have to be more of a detective. Once you understand these dimensions, you can tailor the scope of the role and adjust to align the unique qualities of the person or team you just hired with the work you need done to maximize commitment and enthusiasm.

  • Before the new team member starts, invest time thinking about what organizational history and context would help them make good decisions. Then pull that information together and organize it a bit so that you can accelerate the new team member’s learning process. Remember, the sooner someone gets up to speed, the sooner they can contribute value. Do not underestimate how enabling it is if you provide background information so that they are equipped to leverage what you have already built and advance the cause rather than reinventing the wheel.

  • Think creatively about what meetings, workshops, projects, and other work is going on that the new team member might benefit from as they establish new relationships, build understanding and trust with new co-workers, and come up to speed on the problems you are actively trying to solve. Make sure to invite the new team member and let them know what you are hoping they will be able to both give and get out of the meeting.  Sometimes a new team member can bring a fresh new voice into the mix while simultaneously learning how things get done in your company.
     
  • Invest time answering questions, discussing what the new team member thinks, and encouraging the right relationship connections in the company. How much of this you do personally versus how much you delegate likely depends on where the new team member fits into the organization.  At a minimum, make sure someone is doing it. If the new team member reports to you or is trailblazing a new function for your startup, make sure you spend time helping them orient and know the critical priorities and limiting parameters.

  • Do not forget logistics and tools. Ensure your team has whatever the new team member needs to be productive – and that they know when the new team member is arriving.  Do they need a computer? Do they need special software, licenses, log-ins, access to data, specialty equipment? Do they need a desk, phone, email, key, parking pass? Do they need instructions on setting up a development environment, running a prototype, or recording experimental data? Whatever they need, make sure to be proactive about getting those things in place. It is a waste of resources if a new team member shows up and has to wait days or weeks while the rest of the organization marshals the necessary stuff.

It never feels like there is enough time to invest in a thorough onboarding. However, if you are going to spend the money to add a new team member, investing the time to help that person be positioned for success will pay substantial dividends.  Make the time.

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