Developer onboarding documentation: How to improve the onboarding process for new hires

For a Developer, there’s no greater thrill than joining a new project they’ve been so enthusiastic about. However, the excitement can quickly turn into frustration when it comes to poor onboarding and a lack of comprehensive documentation. According to Gallup, only 12% of employees express satisfaction with their onboarding process, leaving 88% with a less-than-positive experience.

In 2018, TalentLMS conducted an onboarding survey in which 65% of the respondents indicated that onboarding helped them “somewhat” or “not at all.” However, investing in decent Developer onboarding documentation is more beneficial than one might think. The TalentLMS survey revealed that proper onboarding significantly impacts the productivity and corporate culture engagement of newcomers.

Now, let’s set the numbers aside.

As a Technical Writer, I frequently face a lack of proper onboarding documentation when starting on a new project. And it’s not a “me” problem — it affects the experience of everyone joining a team.

Once, I was called upon to create an onboarding guide for a team that had been responsible for service support for years. The challenge was the constantly changing team composition which meant:

· Lots of knowledge left undocumented.

· Complex processes explained all over again.

· Issues that could have been prevented with proper documentation.

The onboarding guide I developed contained environment setup guidelines and step-by-step configurations for all necessary services. With the team’s support, I also created a comprehensive knowledge base that hosted product information, support guidelines, troubleshooting solutions, and more.

Surprisingly, soon after, our onboarding guide became one of the most visited pages of the workspace, and I was called upon to create similar documentation for two more teams. Seems to be quite high demand, doesn’t it?

So, let me share the most common types of documentation a new Developer might need, and you shall see that the onboarding process doesn’t always have to be messy and painful 😉

README (or Environment setup guide)

The first step is always to properly configure the local development environment. Although the process depends on the projects, it usually includes installing the necessary software, configuring IDEs, and setting up required data sources.

On one of my previous projects, the Team Lead and I spent a few hours only to configure my local working environment. This was because there had been no newcomers in a while, and the setup guide had become outdated. Hence, clear instructions on how to install and configure the environment can save hours (or even days) for new team members and their colleagues.

Software Developer onboarding checklist

While it’s not always a Tech Writer’s responsibility, having a Software Developer onboarding checklist is crucial. It ensures that all necessary setup tasks, such as environment configuration, access to repositories, and understanding coding standards, are systematically addressed. The checklist also provides a clear roadmap for new hires, resulting in:

· Reduced onboarding time.

· Minimized oversights.

· Consistency in onboarding practices.

Newcomer’s FAQ’s

Every new Developer will ask questions — your task here is to address common queries upfront. Consider including FAQs in your onboarding documentation to save time for both the newcomers and their colleagues, who may otherwise need to answer the same questions repeatedly. This will not only reduce the amount of distractive communication with teammates and managers for basic inquiries but also enable newcomers to navigate their roles and responsibilities more independently, boosting their confidence and productivity.

System architecture documentation

Newcomer Developers need to understand the overall architecture of the system or product they’ll be working on. Architecture documentation provides them with a high-level view of how different components interact, helping them grasp the context of their work.

My advice is to include an architecture diagram in your documentation. A visual representation of complex concepts will be a more effective reference for Developers, Architects, and other team members.

API documentation

Similar to the system architecture, comprehensive API documentation enables new Developers to quickly learn how to use the existing API endpoints reducing the time to start contributing to projects. Well-documented APIs provide clear instructions on their usage, parameters, and expected outputs, helping new Developers avoid common pitfalls and errors.

How-to documentation

How-to guides often incorporate best practices and standardized procedures, ensuring that newcomers follow the same methods as the rest of the team. With detailed guidelines on specific tasks or processes, you minimize the need for constant supervision of other team members and provide a reliable resource for troubleshooting and finding solutions.

Introducing a new Developer to such a knowledge base during onboarding ensures they have access to crucial information from the very beginning. It fosters independence, efficiency, and consistency and supports the newcomer’s integration into the team.

Sample code and examples

Depending on the specifics of your project, consider creating a collection of common code samples and examples. Code samples illustrate the team’s coding standards, best practices, and architectural patterns, guiding newcomers to produce consistent, high-quality code. By examining and experimenting with common code samples, Developers can quickly learn how to implement features and solutions in line with the team’s practices, accelerating their onboarding process.

Wrapping up: Why onboarding documentation matters

In conclusion, comprehensive onboarding documentation is crucial for the smooth and effective integration of new people into the project. Providing resources like system architecture, API documentation, how-to guides, FAQs, and code samples:

· Structures the information into a reader-friendly format.

· Accelerates learning.

· Promotes consistency.

· Boosts the confidence of your newcomers.

· Speeds up the delivery time.

Bonus tip: Include video tutorials in your onboarding materials. While well-written onboarding documentation streamlines the process, video tutorials add a personal touch to newcomers’ experiences, making complex concepts easier to understand through demonstrations and verbal explanations.

Do you know any other tips to make Developer onboarding more productive? Being a newcomer, especially for the first time, can indeed be frustrating, so don’t hesitate to share your onboarding story in the comments below!