Team Onboarding Processes | First 90 Days
Reduce ramp-up time with structured onboarding: pre-boarding checklists, buddy system, and 30/60/90 day milestones. GitScrum tracks onboarding tasks and progress.
9 min read
Good onboarding accelerates productivity. GitScrum helps track onboarding tasks and provide visibility into project context for new team members.
Onboarding Preparation
Before Day One
PRE-BOARDING CHECKLIST:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ 1 WEEK BEFORE: │
│ ────────────── │
│ ☐ Create accounts (email, Slack, GitScrum) │
│ ☐ Request access to repositories │
│ ☐ Order equipment (laptop, monitors) │
│ ☐ Assign onboarding buddy │
│ ☐ Schedule first week meetings │
│ ☐ Prepare welcome message │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ ONBOARDING TASK IN GITSCRUM: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ ONBOARD-001: Prepare for @newdev ││
│ │ ││
│ │ START DATE: Jan 27, 2025 ││
│ │ BUDDY: @alex ││
│ │ MANAGER: @jordan ││
│ │ ││
│ │ PRE-ARRIVAL: ││
│ │ ☑ Email account created ││
│ │ ☑ Slack invite sent ││
│ │ ☑ GitScrum access granted ││
│ │ ☐ GitHub added to org ││
│ │ ☐ AWS console access requested ││
│ │ ☐ VPN credentials generated ││
│ │ ││
│ │ EQUIPMENT: ││
│ │ ☑ MacBook Pro ordered ││
│ │ ☑ Monitor ordered ││
│ │ ☐ Desk assigned (B-42) ││
│ │ ││
│ │ MEETINGS SCHEDULED: ││
│ │ ☑ Day 1: Team intro (9am) ││
│ │ ☑ Day 1: 1:1 with manager (2pm) ││
│ │ ☑ Day 2: Architecture overview (10am) ││
│ │ ☑ Day 3: First PR pairing (2pm) ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
First Week
Day One
DAY ONE SCHEDULE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ MORNING: │
│ ──────── │
│ 9:00 Welcome, team introductions │
│ 9:30 Equipment setup (laptop, accounts) │
│ 10:30 Coffee with buddy │
│ 11:00 HR/admin setup (if needed) │
│ 12:00 Lunch with team │
│ │
│ AFTERNOON: │
│ ────────── │
│ 1:00 Development environment setup │
│ 2:00 1:1 with manager │
│ 3:00 Continue environment setup │
│ 4:00 Read documentation │
│ 5:00 End of day (leave on time!) │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ GOALS FOR DAY ONE: │
│ ────────────────── │
│ ✅ Feel welcomed │
│ ✅ Laptop working │
│ ✅ Access to essential tools │
│ ✅ Know who to ask for help │
│ ✅ Understand what's expected │
│ │
│ NOT EXPECTED: │
│ ────────────── │
│ ❌ Write production code │
│ ❌ Understand entire codebase │
│ ❌ Remember everyone's names │
│ ❌ Be productive │
│ │
│ MANAGER'S 1:1 TOPICS: │
│ ───────────────────── │
│ • "How was your first day?" │
│ • Role expectations │
│ • First 30/60/90 day goals │
│ • Communication preferences │
│ • Questions and concerns │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
First Week Plan
WEEK ONE CHECKLIST:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ DAY 1: WELCOME & SETUP │
│ ────────────────────── │
│ ☐ Team introductions │
│ ☐ Laptop and tools setup │
│ ☐ Access to repositories │
│ ☐ 1:1 with manager │
│ │
│ DAY 2: CONTEXT │
│ ──────────── │
│ ☐ Product overview (what we build, who uses it) │
│ ☐ Architecture walkthrough │
│ ☐ Development workflow (branching, PR process) │
│ ☐ Key documentation tour │
│ │
│ DAY 3: FIRST CONTRIBUTION │
│ ───────────────────────── │
│ ☐ Clone repo, build project │
│ ☐ Find first issue (small, well-defined) │
│ ☐ Pair with buddy on implementation │
│ ☐ Submit first PR │
│ │
│ DAY 4: DEEPER DIVE │
│ ────────────────── │
│ ☐ Meet stakeholders (product, design) │
│ ☐ Understand testing approach │
│ ☐ CI/CD pipeline overview │
│ ☐ Continue on tasks │
│ │
│ DAY 5: REFLECTION │
│ ───────────────── │
│ ☐ Attend sprint ceremonies │
│ ☐ 1:1 with buddy (how's it going?) │
│ ☐ Document questions and feedback │
│ ☐ Week 1 check-in with manager │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ FIRST WEEK VICTORY: │
│ ─────────────────── │
│ Goal: Merged first PR by end of week one │
│ Even if small (typo fix, config change) │
│ Proves: Can build, can test, can deploy │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
First Month
30-Day Milestones
FIRST MONTH PROGRESSION:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ WEEK 1: ORIENTATION │
│ ─────────────────── │
│ • Meet the team │
│ • Understand the product │
│ • Set up environment │
│ • First PR merged │
│ │
│ WEEK 2: BUILDING CONFIDENCE │
│ ─────────────────────────── │
│ • Complete 2-3 small tasks independently │
│ • Start understanding codebase structure │
│ • Participate in sprint ceremonies │
│ • Ask questions freely │
│ │
│ WEEK 3: INCREASING COMPLEXITY │
│ ───────────────────────────── │
│ • Take on medium-sized stories │
│ • Begin reviewing others' code │
│ • Understand key integrations │
│ • Contribute to technical discussions │
│ │
│ WEEK 4: SETTLING IN │
│ ─────────────────── │
│ • Complete stories with less guidance │
│ • Know who to ask for what │
│ • Comfortable with development workflow │
│ • 30-day review with manager │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ 30-DAY REVIEW QUESTIONS: │
│ ───────────────────────── │
│ • What's been challenging? │
│ • What's unclear about the codebase? │
│ • How is the team dynamic? │
│ • What would improve onboarding? │
│ • What support do you need? │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Onboarding Resources
Documentation
ESSENTIAL ONBOARDING DOCS:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ README.md: │
│ ────────── │
│ • Quick start guide │
│ • How to build and run locally │
│ • How to run tests │
│ • Key commands │
│ │
│ ARCHITECTURE.md: │
│ ──────────────── │
│ • System overview diagram │
│ • Key services and their responsibilities │
│ • Data flow │
│ • External dependencies │
│ │
│ CONTRIBUTING.md: │
│ ──────────────── │
│ • Branch naming conventions │
│ • PR process │
│ • Code style guidelines │
│ • Review process │
│ │
│ ONBOARDING.md: │
│ ────────────── │
│ • Account setup checklist │
│ • Key contacts │
│ • Common tasks walkthrough │
│ • FAQ for new joiners │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ TIP: Keep docs current │
│ New joiner task: Update any outdated docs you find │
│ Fresh eyes catch what veterans miss │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Buddy System
ONBOARDING BUDDY ROLE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ BUDDY RESPONSIBILITIES: │
│ ─────────────────────── │
│ │
│ FIRST WEEK: │
│ • Help with environment setup │
│ • Answer "silly" questions │
│ • Introduce to team members │
│ • Pair on first tasks │
│ • Daily check-in (15 min) │
│ │
│ FIRST MONTH: │
│ • Available for questions │
│ • Review PRs with extra detail │
│ • Include in meetings and discussions │
│ • Weekly 1:1 (30 min) │
│ • Advocate for new joiner │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ BUDDY QUALITIES: │
│ ──────────────── │
│ ✅ Patient and approachable │
│ ✅ Good knowledge of codebase │
│ ✅ Has time to help (not overloaded) │
│ ✅ Remembers what it's like to be new │
│ ✅ Different from manager (peer level) │
│ │
│ BUDDY IS NOT: │
│ ───────────── │
│ ❌ The manager │
│ ❌ Responsible for performance │
│ ❌ The only person to ask │
│ ❌ Expected to do their work for them │
│ │
│ TIME COMMITMENT: │
│ Week 1: ~1 hour/day │
│ Week 2-4: ~30 min/day │
│ After: Available as needed │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Improving Onboarding
Feedback Loop
ONBOARDING IMPROVEMENT:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ COLLECT FEEDBACK: │
│ ───────────────── │
│ │
│ AT 30 DAYS: │
│ "What was most helpful?" │
│ "What was confusing or missing?" │
│ "What would you change?" │
│ │
│ AT 90 DAYS: │
│ "When did you feel productive?" │
│ "What took longer than expected?" │
│ "What would have helped earlier?" │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ ONBOARDING RETRO: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ FEEDBACK FROM @NEWDEV (Day 30) ││
│ │ ││
│ │ WHAT WORKED: ││
│ │ • Buddy system was very helpful ││
│ │ • First task was good size ││
│ │ • Architecture doc was clear ││
│ │ ││
│ │ WHAT DIDN'T: ││
│ │ • AWS access took 3 days ││
│ │ • Testing setup docs outdated ││
│ │ • Didn't know about Friday demos ││
│ │ ││
│ │ IMPROVEMENTS: ││
│ │ ☐ Request AWS access earlier ││
│ │ ☐ Update testing docs (assign to @newdev) ││
│ │ ☐ Add demo schedule to onboarding ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT: │
│ Each new joiner improves the process for the next │
│ Update checklist based on feedback │
│ Keep documentation current │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘