The Manager - 131 - A better induction process
Monday 22nd March 2021 - A better induction process
Hi,
How are you? Hope you are safe and well. It's all good here at Lambert Towers. Lots of video content being worked on, Keynotes to prep, conferences to organise, new Etsy designs to finish and a new book closing in on the the final edits and design.
This week I was working with a client and the induction process leaves a lot to be desired.
Here's the basics of a good induction process (I cover this in more depth in my book Join Our Company)
1. It makes people realise they made the right decision in joining your company
2. It gets them productive as soon as possible.
Induction and onboarding is not about free gift bags (LinkedIn is full of these), nor some bizarre clapping / cheering ritual (again, LinkedIn has loads of these in the feed....cringe), nor is about purely social events like meeting the team and lunches etc.
A good induction is about getting new starters as productive as possible, as quickly as possible.
People want to get stuck in, management want their new starters to be effective quickly.
So how do you do this:
Clear Communication - clear information about what their role is, who they work with, what's expected, where to find information, who to buddy up with and where and how they can get hold of you, their manager.
Buddy and pairing. Long time readers know I am a fan of on-the-job training. It's the best way to learn, so I pair new starters with people who are already doing a similar job well. They can learn the ropes, the politics, the behaviours and who's who, quickly.
Start building your relationship. Welcome them, give them your time, let them ask questions, let them know how to find you - all related to showing up and making them feel welcome. No need to overload them, but be there on day 1 - you'd be surprised how few managers do this.
Keep in touch. Check in regularly in the first week - then ease off as they get settled in. Keep in the loop and let them know you're supporting them, but not hovering.
Kick start the management process. Explain to them how you manage and how it all works. Book the 1:2:1 and book a coaching plan design session. Give them clear information on how it all works and how you will work with them enabling them to succeed in the role quickly.
IT ready. Ensure all IT equipment and logins are working before they join. It's hard to be effective quickly, if you don't have a laptop - I've had this happen to me...for three weeks I had no laptop.
In a nutshell, it's about finding the right balance between information overload and enough to get stuff done.
I have a Trello board with my standard induction process on it --> https://trello.com/b/9LFa01uz/public-cultivated-on-boarding
Tailor it as you see fit, hack it around (after you've copied it) and let me know what works. I've been using this same induction process for about 7 years now and it works a treat.
Good, clear communication is the key to making people feel relaxed and settled quickly.
Enjoy
Rob..
Interesting Articles
1.
Long time readers may spot that I'm a big fan of Alan Watts. His classic Western interpretations of Zen thinking have made their way into much of my work and my management style. Here's a great article on Brain Pickings about Watts' thoughts on being the moment and the antidote to fear.
“You cannot think simultaneously about listening to the waves and whether you are enjoying listening to the waves.”
2.
Seth Godin on 10 reasons why you should write a book.
3.
Google and Coursera join forces to offer training and certification.
4.
How to measure burnout accurately and ethically.
5.
Wonderful. A website that reads Wikipedia pages to you with ambient music. Peace.
6.
Sick of Zoom meetings? Well, here's a tool that lets you sabotage zoom meetings with noise, disconnects and shady audio. No need to make up lame excuses, let the tool do it for you.
7.
How do we learn when there's no-one to learn from, watch or observe as we work from home?
8.
Why not create your own holiday? Not a trip, but an actual period of time during the year for your own, custom, bespoke day off from work - your own holiday!
9.
You don't have to unplug to take a break
10.
Changing your mind can be good for you. When we hang on to always being right we can make ourselves anxious!
11.
We're coming out of the back of the Pandemic by all accounts and it was a very big remote working experiment - apparently now comes the hard part - implementing how we'll work together post-lockdown
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Thanks
Rob..