Onboarding Engineers

https://www.meetup.com/preview/CTO-School-Philadelphia/events/244078441

Transcript

1. Onboarding Engineers
   Yash Prabhu
   Warner Bros. Digital Labs
   @yashvprabhu
   

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2. Goals of onboarding
   ➢ Introduce new hire to team and company culture
   ➢ Ramp them up on processes and coding styles
   ➢ Get them to contribute soon and grow professionally
   

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3. Team Culture
   

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4. Enlist Team
   Have a Company Onboarding process
   Have a Team Onboarding process (with an end goal)
   Have a Buddy System
   ➢ Build trust
   ➢ Mentorship
   

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5. Create a Safe Space
   Use Slack channels/hangouts to ask questions
   Discourage DMs (unless personal)
   Encourage normal working hours
   Encourage discovery
   

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6. Processes
   

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7. Set up
   Have up-to-date onboarding docs
   Keep setup simple
   Have a task for junior and senior devs
   Involve devs in standups and meetings
   

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8. Ramp up
   Ask new hire to update onboarding docs
   Give them tasks of varying levels -> various point persons
   Coding practices - small PRs, coding styles, no silos
   Celebrate small wins
   

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9. Ramp up
   Ask new hire to update onboarding docs
   Give them tasks of varying levels -> various point persons
   Coding practices - small PRs, coding styles, no silos
   Celebrate small wins
   Caution: Different ramp up periods
   

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10. Communication
    

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11. Credit
    

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12. Check in
    Depends on experience or personality
    Check in often at beginning, as needed later on
    Weekly team hangouts
    Company check in - 60 days
    

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13. Feedback
    Have 1:1s
    Always stick to your 1:1 time
    Ask how you can improve onboarding process
    Create good habits early
    Company 360 reviews/peer reviews
    

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14. To Do
    Improvements
    Add onboarding into the
    job profile
    Talk about onboarding in
    interviews
    Involve other teams
    

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15. Takeaways
    ➢ Have a buddy system
    ➢ Check in often
    ➢ Give and receive feedback
    ➢ Encourage questions and transparency
    

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