PRACTICE–UPGRADE Let's talk

← Ideas · Field note 004

Ready or not.

This week a practitioner and I talked through a new onboarding program: a fresh intake of new hires, and business partners who wanted every minute of it face to face.

Request#004

For
New hires
Need
An onboarding program
Format
Face to face. All of it.
Why
Social learning, peer learning, coming on the journey together

The conversation · roughly how it went

Me

How do you decide what goes in?

The practitioner

Past experience, mostly.

Me

What did past programs look like?

The practitioner

Classroom. Lots of slides. Group discussions. A buddy at the end.

Me

Did they work?

The practitioner

People enjoyed them.

People enjoyed it. Nobody could say if they were ready.

The stakeholder has a point

Keep the people. Change what the room is for.

Social learning is real. New starters need people around them, a network and the feeling of coming through it together. All of that is worth keeping.

The question is what the time in the room gets used for. Days of slides fill it with the one thing a room does worst: information people will forget before they need it.

Start with ready

Define ready before you design anything.

Agree with the business what good looks like at each checkpoint. Then design backwards from day 90.

  1. Week 2

    Finds their way around the core systems with support. Knows who to ask. Has watched the core tasks done well.

  2. Day 30

    Does routine tasks with support. Uses job aids with confidence. Has rehearsed the key conversations.

  3. Day 60

    Does the core tasks on their own, with spot checks. Handles common conversations. Knows when to escalate.

  4. Day 90

    Independent on the critical tasks. Handles the harder conversations. Adds to the team.

Now "job ready" is something a manager can see.

Six kinds of learning

Each one has its own best home.

An onboarding program holds six different kinds of learning. Treat them all the same, and you end up with slides.

  1. 01

    Systems and tools

    Learned in the system itself. A sandbox first, then live with support.

  2. 02

    Processes and rules

    Practise the frequent ones on real cases. Keep the rare ones in a job aid.

  3. 03

    Knowledge and context

    Short pre-work, deepened on the job.

  4. 04

    Core tasks of the role

    Watch it, do it with support, do it with feedback, then do it alone.

  5. 05

    Human skills

    The conversations the role depends on: discovery, pushing back, hard news, asking for help. Rehearse with feedback, then do it for real and debrief.

  6. 06

    Belonging and network

    The cohort, a buddy and time with people doing the job.

When to let them look it up

Keep it in a job aid

When it's rare, has many steps, changes often, and leaves time to check.

Practise it until it's automatic

When it's frequent, time-pressured, high-stakes, or happens mid-conversation.

The readiness map

Every cell is a decision.

Systems and toolsWeek 2ClassroomSandbox practiceDay 30On the jobLive, with a buddyDay 60Look it upIn-tool guidesDay 90On the jobEveryday use
Processes and rulesWeek 2Look it upProcess guidesDay 30ClassroomReal cases, practisedDay 60On the jobDoing it for realDay 90Look it upRare ones, looked up
Knowledge and contextWeek 2Pre-workShort pre-workDay 30On the jobLearned in contextDay 60On the jobDeepened by the workDay 90Look it upReference when needed
Core tasks of the roleWeek 2On the jobWatch it done wellDay 30ClassroomPractice rounds with feedbackDay 60On the jobDo it, with feedbackDay 90On the jobDo it alone
Human skillsWeek 2ClassroomRehearse the basicsDay 30ClassroomRehearse the harder onesDay 60ClassroomDebrief the real onesDay 90On the jobHandle it live
Belonging and networkWeek 2ClassroomCohort weekDay 30On the jobBuddy, every dayDay 60ClassroomCohort return dayDay 90On the jobPart of the team

None of them says "because we did it last time."

An illustrative map. Every role will fill it differently.

Flip the room

Use the room for what only a room can do.

  • Rehearse the human skills
  • Practise core tasks on realistic cases
  • Run the simulations
  • Debrief real work: "bring your week"
  • Build the cohort
Cohort weekReturn dayReturn dayReturn day
Day 1Day 30Day 60Day 90

In the roomOn the job, with a buddy and manager

They really do come on the journey together. All 90 days of it.

Make the job the teacher

The job teaches best when it's structured.

Learning on the job is the most powerful part of onboarding. Give it a shape, and give the buddy and the manager a defined role from day one.

  1. 01Watch
  2. 02Do it with support
  3. 03Do it with feedback
  4. 04Do it alone

Measure ready

At every checkpoint, look at the work.

Tasks signed off

By the manager, against the checkpoint.

Quality of the work

Errors, rework, client feedback.

Time to independent

The first critical task done alone.

Confidence

In their words, at each checkpoint.

Enjoyment is welcome. It just isn't the measure.

The takeaway

Define ready first. Then design backwards.

To close

Past experience is a good place to start.

Make the reasoning visible, and it becomes judgement you can test.

Ready or not, the new starters arrive on Monday.

Make it ready.

The same logic applies whenever someone moves into a role they can't yet do: new hires, internal moves, reskilling.

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