WLP219 OnBoarding (or Integration) in Remote Teams and Organisations
Hello and welcome to the first episode of 2020! Today we’re talking about onboarding new people to our remote teams, or - as one of today’s guests frames it so well, integrating them. Three returning interviewees help us explore this pivotal moment for any new job:
02.40 Marcus Wermuth, Engineering Manager for the Mobile Team at Buffer
Marcus Wermuth
Marcus is a true veteran of this podcast, and you can check out some of his contributions in episodes 188 , 195, and 209.
He reflects that his onboarding really began in the moment he was offered the job at Buffer, which he was glad to accept and start very promptly (having been freelancing). His first day was not unlike any other in that sense, logging on to his computer at home - something unique to the remote space.
As an experienced fully remote organisation (though much smaller than it is now), Buffer had a structured approach of a 45 day ‘bootcamp’ process - to determine whether the hire was a good fit on both sides - and a ‘buddy’ system, to help him integrate smoothly. He attended an all-hands team meeting on day one, a baptism of fire for a solo freelancer, to meet 40 new colleagues on one screen.
Marcus’ bootcamp phase concluded early and positively, and he managed to connect with every one of the 40 people individually within the first couple of weeks. He found the buddy system very helpful, as well as the highly transparent culture of the organisation itself - which made immersion easy, and contributed to a sense of already knowing the place quite well, but was also somewhat overwhelming to navigate at first.
A ‘role buddy’ (drawn from the same department) and a ‘culture buddy’ (someone who promotes and advocates for the organisational culture) are still a core part of the Buffer integration process, and as the team gets bigger they become even more important as points of connection and introduction. Culture as a concept remains under continual review to avoid stagnation.
Marcus has fulfilled both of these buddy roles himself now in subsequent hires, and receives lots of support in onboarding from the ‘people’ team - where the first 15 days are highly structured, with checklists of reading and activities. As a manager he sets clear targets and expectations for the first 30, 60 and 90 days, and takes the time to get to know his new colleague as a person - reflecting the necessary intentionality which underpins all remote communications.
You can connect with Marcus on LinkedIn, Twitter, and via his website.
Marcus’ thoughts about the buddy system reminded Pilar of this article, 7 Ways to Set Up a New Hire for Success,” by Michael D. Watkins, which defined 3 types of learning a new hire needs - so do check that out too (though it wasn’t directed at distributed organisations specifically). We would love to hear from you about how you onboard people into your company’s process, quirks, norms, habits, and so on, so please let us know.
27.43 Mandy Garner, WorkingMums and WorkingWise
Mandy Gardner
As well as helping people find their own jobs through their specialist jobs boards, Mandy’s organisation is 100% remote - so it was good to talk to her about how they do things for their own new hires. She is the managing editor of Working Mums and Working Wise (specialising in employment for over 50s), and joined us way back in episode 74, as well as 212 on social change
Unlike Marcus having to plan his own, in Mandy’s organisation they structure meetings and connections to ensure conversations are scheduled for newcomers with every member of their team and others individually, during their first 2 weeks - while also getting on-board with the work and systems as well. Then they meet up in a round table face to face-as-soon as possible.
Understanding the pattern and cadence of the different work activities is particularly important in a team with many flexible workers, which include part timers and job-sharers, and in many ways this reflects their culture as an organisation, supporting returners re-entering the workforce in new ways.
33.30 The Role of Bots in Onboarding
Following our episode (213) about AI in our online teams, here’s the article Pilar mentioned, How to Improve New Hire Engagement and Onboarding for Technical Employees Using AI and Chatbots.
38:05 Mark Kilby, Agile Coach
Our final guest today Mark has been a friend of the show and its host for many years, via multiple connections and conversations. He is an agile coach consulting with various organisations, and he's the co-author of From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams, (which you can learn much more about in Episode 197).
Following experience recruiting and onboarding new hires into different situations and teams, he feels that the more people understand quickly how they fit within an organisation, the sooner they can jump in and be productive - so that’s Mark’s intention, when creating an integration process for new clients.
Mark Kilby
He has moved away from highly structured checklists, to exploring preferences and communication styles in open conversations, which start from the interview, really focusing on passions and possibilities for the future relationship.
This reflects the shift in language from ‘onboarding’ to ‘integration’, and involves the whole team. It’s a process, not an event. Similar to the Buffer buddy system, different roles can be played by different people, from introducing to day-to-day activities and conversations, and connecting with teams via live calls (particularly daily standups in agile teams).
Learning to ask questions in an open team channel ensures deepening connection and support for the new person, but also facilitates new and refreshed learning for everybody. It also reflects the way that every person joining (or leaving) a team actually changes the team, and its an opportunity for the culture to recalibrate, as well for procedures to be reviewed (Marcus and Johanna’s book has some great activity ideas to proactively support this).
He really enjoys helping people feel part of something, the community of their new team and organisation - building the connection and social capital that will support them when the work kicks in.
You can hear more from Mark in Episodes 95, 175, 197, on Twitter, and his website.
And do keep your feedback coming, we really enjoy it - please contact us, or you can tweet Virtual Not Distant, or Pilar and Maya directly, with any of your thoughts and ideas.
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