4.5 Onboarding Team Members
When the team is formed, the original members are usually part of the considerations and decisions made from the first meeting. They have been on the receiving end of group conversations and other communications when updates need to be made. However, if someone new is added to the group at some point during the project, they may feel as if they are playing catch up to fully understand the parts of the process that they were not present for.
Sometimes, we make the mistake of assuming that everyone involved has the same information. But that often isn’t the case. Having a plan in place to onboard new team members is a way to ensure a smooth transition for everyone. Onboarding is the process of getting everyone on your project team familiar with the project. Having an onboarding process allows you to welcome new team members as needed and ensure that they are joining the team and are fully informed about the goals and processes.
Generally, when you start a project, the members of the Project Team will be determined from the start. However, sometimes projects run over a longer period of time, and that may mean that project team members will shift in and out of their roles. Some team members will leave to be part of other projects once their role in the current project has reached its conclusion, others will leave because they have found other employment, or for some other reason.
In the case of someone leaving your team, it is important to make sure that when a new member is added in their place, the Project Team has an Onboarding Plan in place. This will help the new team members get caught up on the goal of the project as well as the status of the project phases without jeopardizing the pace of the project movement to this point. This point in the project is where having a Project Toolkit in place will be very helpful. We’ll learn more about the toolkit later in this chapter.
Your team is on a roll – you’ve made it through the Initiation Phase and are now deep in the midst of Planning, and you’ve just learned that your boss has added two new folks to your Project Team! What to do? Help those new Team Members feel welcome by integrating them into your Project Team with a few small steps. Watch the videos below for some tips to successful onboarding.
Video: “How to Onboard People to a Project – Project Management Video” by ProjectManager [3:49] is licensed under the Standard YouTube License.Transcript and closed captions available on YouTube.
Tips to Welcome New Team Members:
Video: “How to Make a New Team Member Feel Welcome – Project Management Training” by ProjectManager [3:25] is licensed under the Standard YouTube License.Transcript and closed captions available on YouTube.
