Buddy guidelines

by Asya Isakova, Yana Stanchenkova 5 mins read

Visiting another country or hiking an unknown trail all by yourself definitely has its advantages. But if you want to get to know all the local tips and tricks, discover the best view-points and learn fast and safe ways up, you look for local guides.

The same is when you join a new team. A new employee’s onboarding experience is greatly enhanced by buddy who acts as a local guide. It is a person to show around, share advice regarding day-to-day work at Hygge company. Buddy may also provide support and encouragement, as it would help to introduce new employee to organizational culture. Having efficient onboarding process can have long-term benefits, including better team member retention, engagement, and higher productivity.

Buddy checklist:

  • Learn the job responsibilities of a newcomer, including the systems and accesses they would need. You can always refer to a hiring manager to confirm it. To make sure that you didn’t forget anything, use Buddy’s onboarding issue template.

► Buddy’s onboarding issue

Congratulations, you were assigned as onboarding buddy!  Newbies’  onboarding experience sets the tone for their future work and can have long-term benefits. To provide a wholesome experience for all our new team-members, we have a Buddy system.

> Buddy is a person to show around, share advice and guidance regarding day-to-day work at Hygge Company. Buddy may also provide support and encouragement, as it would help to introduce new employee to Hygge culture.

# Onboarding checklist for Buddy

Make sure your Padawan:

- [ ] has access to their Google company account
- [ ] is added to all relevant groups and teams (if not, ping IAM Team)
- [ ] is invited to the weekly group call and other recurring or upcoming team events
- [ ] has access to other platforms they’ll be working with
- [ ] is added to all relevant corporate chats
- [ ] has relevant people in the `Meet your team` section in Welcome Kit
- [ ] has his own personal dashboard
- [ ] is assigned their first real work issue

**First time being a Buddy? Or maybe it’s your hundreds time, but you’re not sure that you got everything covered?**
Don’t worry, we got you! In [Buddy Guidelines](https://hygge.work/growing/buddy-guidelines/) you can find valuable recommendations, tips, and even conversation ideas for chat.

If you need to share feedback during the onboarding process, check out the [feedback tips](https://hygge.work/communication/feedback/).

### Other useful links to share with newbies:
- [Communication guidelines](https://hygge.work/communication/)
- [Our Remote Work Philosophy](https://hygge.work/remote-work/)
- [Guiding Principles](https://hygge.work/guiding-principles/)

## Next step

Check your Padawan's Welcome Kit to ask how they're doing there or strike up a conversation in the corporate chat.
  • Keep an eye on a newbie’s progress. Leave comments and create a safe space for a new person to ask questions and share doubts. Use one-to-one conversations when appropriate. Explain that the team is open to feedback, and if they are stuck on some Welcome Kit issue, they are encouraged to contribute to our internal practices development & update.
  • Stay in touch with a new employee, using your company’s chat. A quick check-up question every couple of days in the first week can change a lot.
  • Try to come up with practical tasks as soon as possible. You can create milestones, issues, or assign the new employee to existing tasks. The goal is to make sure that their GitHub to-do list isn’t empty. However, make it clear that there is no pressure over contributing during their orientation period. The trick is to help build confidence by setting up early wins the new hire can experience as they move through their Onboarding period.
  • During the first call, tell them about the company and the team. Even if you have your team at “About us” page, written information might not be enough to replace one-to-one communication at early stages. You should be a source of informal information.
  • Be friendly and open. Make sure to act as a go-to for questions employees might otherwise feel embarrassed to ask. Try to reduce initial confusion and uncertainty faced by all new employees by staying approachable. If you need to share feedback during the onboarding process, check out the feedback tips.

Here are some ideas for initiating conversations with your Padawan, but feel free to come up with more relevant topics to show that you really care:

Day 1

Hey! My name is …, I am … at … and I will be your onboarding buddy. Come to me with any problems you face during your onboarding, and we’ll figure something out. Just ping me at GitHub or write in the chat. Do you need any help with your accounts or permissions?

Day 2

How are you doing today? Any problems with your Welcome Kit so far? At this stage people are usually overwhelmed with new information, and it’s totally fine. Take your time to look around and understand how things work. I can go through our team with you to tell more about us. If you have any specific tech questions, I can put you in touch with the right people. Let’s schedule a call.

Day 4

Hey, how is your onboarding going? I saw some good progress in your Welcome Kit! Do you know what to do outside it? Also, the team is looking forward to meeting you in person during our weekly call on Tuesday. Are you planning to join?

Day 7

Yay, it’s been a week! Have you talked to your team-mates? What did they say? If you have any questions about our team, your responsibilities, compensation anything else – I am here to answer.

Onboarding Buddy is not expected to babysit new employees, but to empower and guide them when needed. The first 6-8 weeks are critical for further success and fulfillment on the job. Experienced onboarding buddy can impact this process by chatting them up and simply being around.