To Begin..

The arrival of a new member to a team is a transcendental moment, not only for the person but also for the team that receives them. Managing this in the most comfortable and productive way for both parties is key to the success or failure of this incorporation.

It is not uncommon to find companies that have no plan for these situations and improvise on the fly. Bad idea. I personally know people who have left a company a few days after starting because during that onboarding time (or rather lack thereof) they have felt abandoned.

At Devengo we have a well-defined onboarding process, which we want to share in case you find it useful and inspiring. Let’s get to it!

Before starting in Devengo

One of the worst experiences for someone joining a company is feeling unexpected, especially in a fully remote setting. Picture a new employee on their first Monday at 8 a.m., staring at a screen, waiting for any sign of welcome or direction.

In the days leading up to the arrival of the new Devenger, we have a number of fixed points that need to be accomplished to ensure that everything goes smoothly. Some of these points require getting in contact with the new Devenger, so this will already make some first interactions that remove the previous uncertainties and make you feel that somehow you are already part of the company:

• Buy and send necessary hardware equipment
• Select a Buddy (more on this later)
• Create all necessary accounts and configurations
• Schedule various welcoming meetings with the new Devenger to introduce them to the team and set expectations.
• Invite the new Devenger to recurring team meetings.
• Define onboarding steps for the first few weeks.

The Buddy Role

Something that is done before the first day is to select what we call the “Buddy”. This Buddy will be providing extensive guidance throughout the onboarding process. Ideally, this person should have been with Devengo for at least six months to be most effective.

Onboarding buddies are not managers or teachers but exist to help new engineers –regardless of level– become confident, comfortable team members. The Buddy acts as a new Devenger’s most consistent non-managerial peer during the onboarding process.

The onboarding Buddy is expected to:

• Support and guide the new Devenger at least through the first three months. This will take a bit of their time, at least 4-8 hours per week.
• Schedule at least one meeting per week to check in with the new Devenger.
• Be an available pair when the new Devenger gets stuck.
• Provide a safe space for sounding other questions and concerns (though not as a replacement for Devenger’s manager).
• Be a source of consistency throughout their onboarding team first development cycles.

Some typical (but certainly not stupid) questions that buddies are well-positioned to address are:

• Setup step X didn’t work
• Who should I talk to, or where should I post in slack about X?
• What is the goal of meeting X? What is my role in it?
• What is the purpose of this piece of code?
• How long until I am fully onboarded/up to speed?

The Very First Day

As soon as the new Devenger logs in, they gets a welcome email with useful information about which accounts they should have configured or how they have to prepare the team to work with the different repositories of the project, who has been selected to be their Buddy (and what this consists of) as well as what plans we have for this first day.

Two interesting links are also attached to help you get settled in:

The Devengo Handbook: where practices, principles, processes, business concepts, etc. are detailed. One of the first tasks of the new Devenger is to expand and correct this handbook since there is no one better than them who is in the process of consultation and discovery. In addition, this way, you get to feel (and be) useful from the first day.

The “Onboarding Issue”: a list of specific tasks to be completed to facilitate onboarding. Although the onboarding issue is not written in stone, it is a good guide to avoid getting lost in these first steps

This onboarding issue is divided into two different axes:

• Due date:
  • Before starting at Devengo
  • On the first day
  • During the first week.
• Ownership of the task:
  • New Devenger
  • Buddy
  • Manager
  • “People team”

Most of our day-to-day business is conducted in Slack. Each team and some company-wide concerns have their channels. We also have a few shared channels with some partners and customers. So another thing they will do this first day is to set up Slack and introduce themselves in the #general channel, where they can ask any questions they have and get to know other Devengers.

In addition, on this first day, the new Devenger will have 4 key meetings:

• Welcome meeting with the Manager: a relaxed chat to get started, review the planning for the next few days and clarify expectations. We will do it as soon as possible, in the first hour that both are available.
• Welcome meeting with the Buddy: as we have already mentioned, the new Devenger and their Buddy are going to spend many hours together, so this meeting serves to start greeting each other, get to know each other and agree on how they are going to approach these first steps.
• Presentation with the engineering team: Introduce the new Devenger to your team on your daily call. Ask them to tell the team about where they were before Devengo, why they wanted to join the team, where they are located, and what they like to do for fun outside of work.
• The daily meeting: The most common ritual we have. Apart from feeling overwhelmed by new concepts and acronyms (we’ve all been there!). It’s a time to meet other Devengers outside the engineering team and understand what is expected of this meeting, where the focus is, etc.

The First Week

Once the nerves of the first day have been overcome, it’s time to get down to work. The first week is used to explore the ground to be covered, but we like the new Devenger to start getting involved in the product as directly as possible. To do this, there are a number of steps that we have seen work very well to hit the ground running:

• Try our API! The best way to get to know a product is to use it and put yourself in the user/customer’s shoes. At Devengo we are very proud of our API guides and documentation, and it’s a great place to get into the product before you even see any lines of code, so that when you see the codebase you know what ground you’re standing on. (I personally found this super useful.)
• Configure and prepare the main repositories we work with. And ideally, take some affordable tasks (with the Buddy’s help) and follow the whole cycle of development, continuous integration and deployment. It is important to get your hands dirty from the beginning to gain confidence and motivation.
• Get familiarised with the engineering handbook and relevant pages linked from there. And as mentioned before, modify and expand it where necessary. The Handbook is a living documentation that has to serve not only for this new Devenger but also for the following ones to come.
• Visualise or attend the “onboarding sessions”. These are didactic sessions on the main topics of technology, business and culture in Devengo. We have some of them recorded, and we record the new ones so that the next incorporation will have them available.

First Few Months and the End of the Onboarding

New Devengers build on the initial foundation with support from their Buddy, engaging in activities like pair programming and learning sessions to understand the product and code. This foundational phase is essential but structured to ease the learning curve.

At three months, new Devengers take on their first role as Support Hero, tackling issues with their Buddy’s support. By six months, they handle these responsibilities independently, though team support remains available.

By the end of this structured onboarding phase, we consider the foundational onboarding complete, though learning and integration continue. The groundwork laid in the initial months enables the Devenger to fully unleash their potential and contribute significantly to pushing Devengo to new heights.