Page 119 - Straight Talk On Project Management IV

how they’ll fit your culture. We do this with PMaaS talent, explaining why they’ll fit in subconsciously
accentuates those strengths and idiosyncrasies in a person’s character and behaviours.

When pre-boarding talent you can consider including a timeline for their first day or week with you,
turning up knowing what’s instore lowers anxiety levels and increases anticipation – my friend
recently started at a new organisation and ten minutes into his first day he was whisked off,
unprepared, to meet the CEO. Imagine that!
2 - Make day one fun!!

Make their first day one that they’ll remember. Not a boring snore-fest! Don’t introduce them to
everyone all at once - avoid a barrage of names they’ll never remember! Don’t sit them in front of a
welcome video or online tutorial and just leave them to it! Most of all, make all of their onboarding
relevant to what they will be doing for you (my friend is a radio presenter and when he joined the
BBC he had to take part in a health and safety online tutorial about how to safely film bees in the
Himalayas – he thought it was a first day prank or a joke on a hidden camera show but no! He said.
“This’ll come in handy on a mid-morning local radio show”).

3 - Project Management Office buddy

Consider assigning your new hire an ‘office buddy’ before they join you. The office buddy concept
really helps new recruits navigate their first week. Put them in contact before the start day so your
new talent arrives already knowing someone working in the business. It just makes their initial
experience enjoyable and comfortable, rather than anxious, daunting and all new!! Plus, it’s good to
have someone to go to with any questions that your new hire may not feel comfortable asking a
hiring manager or project leader.

4 – Start training from day one
Over three-quarters of employees (76%) believe that training is the most important factor in settling
into a new gig. So, start training on systems and processes, brand and culture as soon as possible –
we’d recommend on the first afternoon of the first day. This way, as your new hire contemplates
their first day on the train going home or while eating their celebratory take-away, they feel that
their journey with you has truly begun. It’s one of the things that we encourage with clients taking
PMaaS talent and, actually, one of the things that we often take care of when ‘pre-boarding’ so that
your incoming PMaaS resources hit the ground running!
5 – Set them up on systems before they start

Many of Stoneseed’s clients are really good at onboarding, over the years we've learned a lot from
each other. Some set new hires and PMaaS talent up on Slack or Yammer before they start so they
can log in and get a feel for the place ahead of joining, some create corporate emails so that new
recruits can start to make introductions, join in conversations or just observe from a safe distance.

Companies that do the above (and other fabulous onboarding initiatives) are the ones that yield the
greatest success from a new hire.
And it is these greater successes that inspire Stoneseed’s pre-boarding mentality when delivering
PMaaS solutions. It’s a wonderful domino effect, great first days lead to great second days, which
lead to great third days and so on until your IT Project is delivered into service.
Onboarding is relatively inexpensive to implement but the value it delivers is priceless. That’s why
you’ll find onboarding running through every Stoneseed PMaaS placement.