My remote onboarding
Ten days ago, I started to work remotely for OpenClassrooms.
In my previous job, I’ve often heard that full remote was not an option. Mostly because newcomers could not benefit from a reliable onboarding. And it was true, they reported a feeling of loneliness and isolation since they had started.
But I am decided to work remotely, that’s one of the reasons why I chose OpenClassrooms. However, I like to feel surrounded by my coworkers and to be part of a team. The social aspect of work is important for me to be fulfilled. I was not especially worried but still: would this remote onboarding be satisfying? Follow me!
Build a sense of belonging
Even before starting to work I already felt belonging to the team. How?
At the end of year, more than a month before my first day, I received a package of sweets and a greeting card, like every other employee.
Also, during my application path, I have met several people from the team, not only the tech one. They have all been very friendly and approachable. They repeated that I had to feel free to reach out to them whenever I needed to. And each time we had small discussions just like the coffee machine ones.
That’s only small talk and a package of sweets, but it allows building a personal relationship with everyone. They appear to you like a real human being deserving your attention and not just a candidate/employer behind their screen.
Provide an onboarding guide and documentation 🖋️
Monday, 9a.m. appointment to retrieve my devices. We are warmly welcomed, each presenter is friendly and makes time for us.
And it is check-list time. This customized check-list is called Yournamehere’s OnBoarding and is divided into three sections: Welcome on board, team organization et agenda. Every couple of weeks, my manager and I have a 1:1 meeting to talk about my progress.
The agenda follows me from day 1 to the end of my first month and is cut into 4 parts.
I’m alone at home but always with this guide telling me where to start. Also, my manager is very present for me, I have IT, HR and facilities contacts if I need something and my cheerful colleagues (let’s not forget them 😉).
In this agenda, there is something we, developers, all love but don’t like to write: documentation.
We know that technical documentation is amazing, but do we know documentation about the company and its processes? That’s at least as useful!
A few examples of the links provided in my onboarding check-list:
- Take a look at our global tools (Confluence, Notion, Jira…)
- Developer first steps
- Check-list of technical needs you will have
- Engineering Starter Kit
- Definition Of Done
- Meetings Guidelines
- Handle Days Off
- Technology Academy
- Ongoing initiatives from tech managers
As a result, I did not feel lost or overwhelmed even once.
Dedicated meetings and 1:1 👩💻☕️
29 meetings.
Developers working in an agile environment always complain about having too much meeting. Nevertheless, I’m thrilled by those 29 meetings.
Starting day 1, I had a 1:1 with my manager, a meeting with my squad and another one with my chapter (the other JS front end developers).
Then, I add a 30 minutes 1:1 with everyone from my squad and my chapter. I was wondering what we will talk about, will not repeat my professional background 29 times be off-putting? Not at all! I enjoyed it. No awkward silence, everyone has started an easy-going and nice conversation. We talked about our hobbies, where do we live, etc. Now I have a real connection with all these persons, and I know them better than after an onboarding in the office (eg. come in a room full of people staring at you, talking briefly about your career path, eat some pastries and have a chat with the two more extroverts talking to you about code or work, and hear people say “ok I’m gonna go, I have work to do”).
Among those 29 meetings, some were with the C-level. I received an introduction about technical, design and quality workflows, with the opportunity to ask questions. Now that I know them, I feel more invested than after listening to their speech in a room full of people with, as always, those two extroverts asking questions at the end.
A buddy
Last but not least: I have a buddy. He is the other front end developer of my squad, the senior one, I am the junior one. He likes to teach, he’s interested in pedagogy and our product owner/solution manager gave him some free time to induct me. He showed me the technical stack, its history, the current projects and the target. He reaches out to me everyday and we are doing our tasks in pair programming. And he always shows up when I have questions.
Thanks to this great move, I never feel alone or stuck. And behind me these times where I was timidly raising my head in the open-space, trying to make eye-contact with someone to borrow time from.
Go for it!
Just in case it’s not obvious: I preferred this remote onboarding over the previous ones in the office.
I explain this well-being mostly by two key points: my colleagues seem to be happy at work and glad I’m here. Finally, if I have met them in the office, it would have required more time to get to know them but I am certain that they all would have been as nice. However, even with this very well put onboarding, if they were disinterested I would still not have a sense of belonging.
So, wanna try those twenty hours of meetings?
tl;dr: remote work does not mean your onboarding will be laborious or lonely, if it is well prepared and with a pleasant team everything will be fine :)
Two takeaways :
- provide a detailed onboarding guide
- meet everyone is necessary to connect with your new coworkers
