By Paige Rodeghero, Thomas Zimmermann, Brian Houck, Denae Ford, and Sonia Jaffe
Here are some suggestions for remote onboarding of new hires based on a survey and interviews of Microsoft employees (details are in the research paper). Page numbers refer to where the findings are discussed in the synthesis report.
Promote communication and asking for help
Remote work often makes asking questions harder. Without being able to ‘drop by’, communication may feel less casual—and emails and IMs generate a record, which can make people hesitant to ask potentially ‘stupid’ questions (page 25). Everyone should share their communication preferences with their colleagues, but it is particularly important that new hires be encouraged to ask questions, and managers need to communicate what medium is preferred for what types of communication.
Help new hires connect with the team
Encourage teams to turn on cameras while onboarding new hires
People like being able to put a face to a name, so, if possible, use a camera when in meetings. Managers that turn their cameras on can act as role models for team members.
Schedule 1:1 meetings
Of new hires surveyed, 40% said they did not have at least one 1:1 communication from someone on their team daily. For employees in general, manager 1:1 time is associated with less of an increase in work hours during WFH.
Provide information about the organization early on
In large organizations, working remotely can make it particularly hard for new hires to understand how their individual role and their team’s role fit in the broader context.
Emphasize team building activities
Social and collaborative isolation is a major challenge for remote work (page 9). New hires need extra help connecting with their teammates. Team connection is essential for productivity and job satisfaction. Managers should host virtual events and encourage all team members to join in. These events can vary from a coffee hour to a team game night.
Assign an onboarding buddy
An onboarding buddy, often from a different team in the organization, helps a new hire find the resources they need, connects them with others within the company, and helps make the new hire feel welcome. By making the mentor role explicit, managers can alleviate the anxiety around sending multiple and frequent questions.
For developers / programmers—help new hires get started on work
Assign a technical mentor
A technical mentor—someone on the same team and who has worked with the code—helps a new hire with the technical details (e.g., code questions) of their work, that the onboarding buddy may not be able to help with.
Assign a simple first task
In one Microsoft group, 24% of new hires that started during WFH did not complete any pull requests in their first 90 days (page 31). Until new hires have gone through the process of creating their first pull request, they may not understand the workflow and be lost during some of the discussions in meetings. Having new hires complete a simple task during their first week—such as fixing a spelling error—gives them the opportunity to quickly go through the process of making changes, creating a pull request, submitting it, and having it reviewed.
Provide up-to-date documentation
New hires that had ample documentation reported that they had a smooth onboarding process. Up-to-date documentation can be particularly valuable during remote work when it is harder to ask colleagues for help. However, new hires also need context to understand where they fit into the project in relation to the documentation. In addition to technical guidance, providing documentation on workflow information, can also be helpful in giving new hires a guide to the team’s day-to-day language.
Much of the research motivating this guidance is in Please Turn Your Cameras On: Remote Onboarding of Software Developers during a Pandemic.