Developer Onboarding | 90-Day Productivity Plan
Structure developer onboarding with GitScrum task checklists, progress tracking, and milestone check-ins. 90-day plan gets new hires productive faster.
7 min read
Great onboarding transforms new hires into productive team members while building their confidence and connection to the team. GitScrum helps structure onboarding with task checklists, progress tracking, and visibility into the learning journey.
Onboarding Structure
90-Day Plan
ONBOARDING TIMELINE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ WEEK 1: SETUP & ORIENTATION │
│ ├── Day 1: Welcome, admin, team intros │
│ ├── Day 2-3: Environment setup, access │
│ └── Day 4-5: Codebase tour, architecture overview │
│ Goal: Environment working, can run tests │
│ │
│ WEEKS 2-4: FIRST CONTRIBUTIONS │
│ ├── Week 2: First bug fix with pairing │
│ ├── Week 3: Documentation improvements │
│ └── Week 4: Second bug fix independently │
│ Goal: First PR merged, understands workflow │
│ │
│ MONTH 2: BUILDING CONFIDENCE │
│ ├── Week 5-6: Small feature work │
│ ├── Week 7-8: Begin code reviews │
│ Goal: Contributing to sprint work │
│ │
│ MONTH 3: INCREASING OWNERSHIP │
│ ├── Week 9-10: Medium features │
│ └── Week 11-12: Own small project area │
│ Goal: Independent contributor │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Onboarding Board
ONBOARDING PROJECT BOARD:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ New Hire: Alex Chen | Start: Jan 8 | Buddy: Sarah │
├───────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┬────────────────┤
│ TO DO │ IN PROGRESS │ BLOCKED │ DONE │
├───────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────┤
│ │ │ │ │
│ □ Review │ ■ Set up │ │ ✓ Meet team │
│ architecture│ local env │ │ │
│ docs │ │ │ ✓ HR admin │
│ │ ■ Complete │ │ │
│ □ First bug │ security │ │ ✓ Get laptop │
│ fix (#234) │ training │ │ │
│ │ │ │ ✓ Account │
│ □ Shadow │ │ │ access │
│ standup │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │
└───────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴────────────────┘
Week 1 Checklist
Day 1 Tasks
DAY 1 CHECKLIST:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ ADMIN (Morning): │
│ ☐ Sign paperwork with HR │
│ ☐ Get laptop and equipment │
│ ☐ Set up email and calendar │
│ ☐ Join Slack/Teams │
│ │
│ INTRODUCTIONS (Afternoon): │
│ ☐ Meet manager (30 min) │
│ ☐ Meet team (team lunch) │
│ ☐ Meet onboarding buddy │
│ ☐ Tour office/virtual workspace │
│ │
│ ORIENTATION: │
│ ☐ Review company handbook │
│ ☐ Understand team structure │
│ ☐ Calendar recurring meetings │
│ │
│ END OF DAY: │
│ ☐ 15-min check-in with buddy │
│ ☐ Questions documented for tomorrow │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Environment Setup
DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT CHECKLIST:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ ACCESS (Day 2): │
│ ☐ GitHub/GitLab organization added │
│ ☐ AWS/Cloud console access │
│ ☐ CI/CD system access │
│ ☐ Internal tools (Jira, Confluence, etc.) │
│ ☐ Password manager vault access │
│ │
│ LOCAL SETUP (Day 2-3): │
│ ☐ Clone main repositories │
│ ☐ Install development dependencies │
│ ☐ Configure IDE with team settings │
│ ☐ Set up local database │
│ ☐ Run application locally │
│ ☐ Run test suite successfully │
│ │
│ VERIFICATION (Day 3): │
│ ☐ Make test change locally │
│ ☐ Create test branch │
│ ☐ Open draft PR (not merged) │
│ ☐ Verify CI runs correctly │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
First Tasks
Ideal First Tasks
FIRST TASK CHARACTERISTICS:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ GOOD FIRST TASKS: │
│ ✓ Well-defined scope │
│ ✓ Clear acceptance criteria │
│ ✓ Isolated (few dependencies) │
│ ✓ Low risk if delayed │
│ ✓ Touches real code (not just docs) │
│ ✓ Similar examples exist │
│ │
│ EXAMPLES: │
│ • Fix typo in error message │
│ • Update outdated documentation │
│ • Add missing test case │
│ • Improve error handling in known spot │
│ • Small UI copy change │
│ │
│ AVOID FOR FIRST TASKS: │
│ ✗ Complex business logic │
│ ✗ Cross-team dependencies │
│ ✗ Tight deadlines │
│ ✗ Unclear requirements │
│ ✗ Critical path work │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Task Template
NEW HIRE TASK TEMPLATE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Task: Add loading indicator to user search │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ CONTEXT: │
│ Currently, user search shows no feedback while │
│ loading, causing confusion. │
│ │
│ WHAT TO DO: │
│ 1. Add loading spinner while API call runs │
│ 2. Hide spinner when results arrive │
│ 3. Show error message if API fails │
│ │
│ FILES TO LOOK AT: │
│ • src/components/UserSearch.tsx (modify) │
│ • src/components/Spinner.tsx (use this) │
│ • src/components/ProductSearch.tsx (similar example) │
│ │
│ ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA: │
│ ☐ Spinner shows during search │
│ ☐ Spinner hides on success │
│ ☐ Error state handles API failure │
│ ☐ Existing tests still pass │
│ │
│ SUPPORT: │
│ Buddy: @Sarah - ping if stuck > 30 min │
│ Estimated time: 2-4 hours │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Progress Tracking
Check-in Schedule
ONBOARDING CHECK-INS:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ DAILY (Week 1): │
│ 15 min with buddy │
│ "What's unclear? Any blockers?" │
│ │
│ WEEKLY (Weeks 1-4): │
│ 30 min with manager │
│ Progress review, feedback, questions │
│ │
│ BI-WEEKLY (Month 2-3): │
│ 45 min with manager │
│ Deeper career discussion, performance │
│ │
│ MILESTONE CHECK-INS: │
│ │
│ Day 5: Environment working? Questions? │
│ Day 14: First PR merged? Team workflow clear? │
│ Day 30: Contributing to sprints? Comfortable? │
│ Day 60: Growing independence? Areas to improve? │
│ Day 90: Onboarding complete? Next growth areas? │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Success Metrics
ONBOARDING SUCCESS INDICATORS:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ WEEK 1: │
│ ✓ Environment working │
│ ✓ Can run tests locally │
│ ✓ Understands team workflow │
│ │
│ WEEK 2-4: │
│ ✓ First PR merged │
│ ✓ Attended all team ceremonies │
│ ✓ Asks questions proactively │
│ │
│ MONTH 2: │
│ ✓ Contributing to sprint goals │
│ ✓ Participating in code reviews │
│ ✓ Starting to own tasks independently │
│ │
│ MONTH 3: │
│ ✓ Delivering features independently │
│ ✓ Helping other team members │
│ ✓ Comfortable with codebase areas │
│ ✓ Onboarding buddy relationship optional │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘