How do you avoid information overload and confusion during onboarding?

Establish specific goals for the onboarding process itself, such as completing necessary training modules, understanding team processes, or familiarizing themselves with tools. Develop a detailed timeline for the onboarding process, outlining what will be covered each week, including training sessions, meetings, and key milestones. Clearly communicate what the new hire can expect from their manager, including support, feedback frequency, and availability. Define which communication tools (e.g., email, chat, video calls) will be used for different types of interactions to streamline communication.

One of the most important things you can do while setting goals and expectations for onboarding is to make sure you foster an environment that allows for open communication. Making communication a two-way street will help the new hire feel confident to ask questions and provide honest feedback.

The main objective for the onboarding process is to get the individual acclimated to the company culture, teams, products and customers as quickly as possible. 1. Make sure that all the personal paperwork is in order prior to the start date or at least 1 week after starting. 2. Expectations for 1, 2 weeks, 1 month and 3 months should be discussed prior to the new hire starting or in the first week 3. Make sure the new hire has all the relevant logins, equipment and access to material related to his/her job 4. Provide access to members of all teams that the new hire will be working with so 1-1 talks can be had 5. Training/shadowing people on the team is crucial 6. Give the new hire tasks to complete. Learning happens quicker this way.

It's essential to establish practical objectives and outcomes for new employees. Take the time to evaluate what you're requesting from them and assess whether it's achievable. For example, expecting a product manager to become proficient in their new product within a week is probably unrealistic and will lead to frustration and overwhelm. Here are some questions to consider when onboarding new hires: - How long is the onboarding process? - Is the time uninterrupted, or are there other activities such as attending team meetings? - What are your expectations? Do you require someone to simply do the job, or is a certain level of expertise needed to be effective (such as in technical support)? - Are their goals similar to their peers?

I think the most important thing here is timing. The points shared in this article are absolutely crucial; I see them as a foundation. The only trick is that if to apply all of that at the same time, overload will still happen. Example, a company shares clear goals and expectations, provides information in chunks in different formats, offers training in self and social learning, and uses gamification—all on the same day or week—immediately asking for feedback. Remember, there are usually people introductions and meetings on top of that. I doubt it will be effective, even with all the efforts to make it perfect. What if try to draw process and put it on the timeline. Then, evaluate if that is achievable. If not, make changes as necessary.

Timing all the onboarding information is critical to avoid overloading onboardees. And don't just use this timing for your onboarding - consider your preboarding too. What we have seen work for many orgs is to break this down kind of like this: 1. Video of one of your leaders welcoming onboardees + Overview of the pre + onboarding programme 2. About the company you're joining (Values, History, Mission, Current state) 3. Introduction to their key contacts (Manager, Buddy and others) 4. Practical information (Parking, what to bring on Day 1, Dresscode) 5. Final check in (or checklist) from HR to make sure onboardees are ready to go. This is just a basic approach to the order of preboarding. Of course you can include muuuch more.

Identify key areas that need to be covered, such as company culture, policies, role-specific training, tools, and team dynamics. Each of these can be a separate module. Group related topics under broader categories (e.g., HR policies, project management tools, communication protocols) to help new hires understand the context. For each module, outline clear learning objectives so that the new hire knows what they should be able to do or understand by the end of that section. Incorporate different formats such as videos, slides, quizzes, and interactive activities within each module to cater to different learning styles.

It's important to establish a clear connection between various training materials. If there's a lot of content and no clear throughline, it can be overwhelming for learners. A curriculum map that outlines all the topics, concepts, and skills that will be covered throughout the training is a great way to show how each topic connects to the other, how they build on each other, and how they are relevant to the role.

Working in sections or batches is important when starting a new job. Creating a 1, 2 week, 1 month and 3 months plan to start is important. Focus on organizing topics and start working (hands on) immediately. This could me having 1-1 conversations with people, reading articles in the knowledge base or checking out past webinars/videos. Ask your manager for feedback and additional tasks to take on. Shadow someone on the team if one hasn't been assigned.

A phased onboarding plan introducing information over time can help avoid information overload. Starting with the essential information in the first days and weeks and moving on to a more in-depth plan can help employees adapt to their new roles.

It’s imperative that all tasks that a new hire should be doing has an estimated time to completion that is reasonable. This will allow the owner of on boarding to easily see if the required tasks for specific timeframe are reasonable. For example, if you give seven hours worth of activities to be completed in a single day, we need to ask whether that is actually reasonable, or fair to the new hire.

To avoid information overload and enhance the onboarding experience, HR can provide "just in time" learning activities tailored to specific timeframes, such as Day 1, Week 1, and then at 30, 60, and 90 days. In the past, I've used structured onboarding checklists designed for each of these critical periods. They guide new hires through their learning activities, providing them with the necessary resources and information when they need it. This staggered delivery of content helps ensure that new employees are not overwhelmed and can effectively integrate the information at each stage of their onboarding.

The best way is to understand the person and work with them on the onboarding and make a specialized plan that suits their learning pace but it is really difficult to make a different plan for everyone, so we should have a generic plan that can be customized and a few changes would be enough and a good onboarding plan will surely cover the social learning where different modules are assigned to different people in teams this helps in new joiners to interact with more people and learn from the specialists within the team. The social learning strategy is a game changer for the freshers especially as it helps them knowing the team and setting up the expectations on what is expected out of them.

Provide access to online courses or training modules that new hires can complete at their own pace, allowing them to absorb information when it’s convenient for them. Organize interactive workshops where new hires can collaborate, discuss concepts, and share insights with their peers. Pair new hires with experienced employees who can provide guidance, answer questions, and share knowledge, fostering a supportive learning environment. Organize informal sessions where team members can present on specific topics, allowing new hires to learn from different perspectives and experiences.

Existem ferramentas que podem ajudar nessa jornada assíncrona. ultimamente fala-se muito no conceito de LXP, ao invés do LMS, onde o novo colaborador pode decidir sua própria jornada, no seu ritmo e com suas prioridades, mesmo que no macro foram definidas pelo administrador do processo. Também vale a pena perguntar para a nova pessoa qual o estilo de aprendizagem que ela mais se identifica, e então oferecer jornadas personalizadas para estes estilos. Obviamente isso exige um pouco mais de maturidade da área, então se mesclar diferentes formas de conteúdo e interações para todos já seria um bom começo.

Implement a points or badge system where new hires earn rewards for completing modules, participating in activities, or achieving specific milestones. Share the company’s history, mission, and values through compelling stories that highlight key events and figures. Use storytelling to showcase real employee experiences, challenges, and successes. This can provide new hires with practical insights into the company culture and expectations. Design a branching storyline where new hires make decisions at various points, leading to different outcomes. This interactive format engages them and encourages critical thinking.

Gamification is indeed a great way to not just send information but focus on 'receiving' as well. Imagine your new starter to have received information about your values, mission and their onboarding program. Gamification can then through interactive quizzes (incl. for instance video's or spoken messages) then 'test' their knowledge. This kind of testing is a great way to increase interaction, enhance engagement and make sure that you not only send but also receive!

Não existe nada que engaja mais do que uma boa história. Boas histórias conectam os pontos, cria contexto e o aprendizado é muito mais assertivo. Independente do processo e das ferramentas que você utilize, certifique-se de que a história está fazendo sentido para quem a escuta, ou seja, para a nova pessoa que está participando do processo. Numa experiência real que eu vivo, existem chatbots que podem assimilar os conceitos da marca e contarem estas histórias, como se a pessoa estivesse ouvindo-as de um antigo funcionário.

In addition to game of education and storytelling, it’s important to consider different learning styles, and ensuring that you have complementary information for each. A mix between auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learning is important for example game of education align with Ken aesthetic, learning and videos may align with visual or auditory, whereas reading is visual only.

Requesting feedback or testing your new colleagues through a short quiz will help both you and your onboardee. Not only do you get a good idea of the effectiveness of your onboarding program. You also help your onboardees remember the content they just read or watched in the long-term. So next time you share certain, important content with your new hires, set up a short quiz (3-5 questions). Surely you too will see results over the long run.

It’s definitely important to collect feedback from both the new hire, direct manager, on boarding, buddy, and others that may be considered key stakeholders within the organization. However, please consider that this is not used to judge the performance of the new hire. It is important That the survey information is handled with care as it relates to only the experience on boarding, not the individuals performance or fit for the specific job. The information should be collected and given to somebody that has access to make changes and improvements to the on boarding process.

Providing support and resources is important, but keep in mind that "more" doesn't always mean "better." Remember that your new hire may not have the time, knowledge or interest to navigate through various links, videos, databases, and other resources. It's important to be mindful of the overwhelm that can come with too much information. Instead, consider offering personalized support and guidance tailored to their specific needs and questions. This can also help build trust and rapport between you and your new hire, as they will feel seen and heard in their role.

Having a mentorship program and guidance in place during the new hire onboarding process will go a long way to retaining employees. You'll also want to have a realistic timeline and expectations. Remember that you, too, were once a beginner.

Providing post-orientation resources is critical to helping each new hire navigate the large amount of information they receive on their first day at their new company. Some things you can do include: 1.) Utilize a Knowledge Base or LMS to create a post-orientation recap that provides searchable individual job aids for each topic that was discussed in orientation. 2.) Hold weekly onboarding office hours. New hires can drop in, ask their question, and go about their day. You can track what is being asked each week and use this information to improve your post-orientation resources over time. 3.) An onboarding buddy whose main purpose is to be on-call during work hours to answer any questions their new hire has during their first 60 days.

A couple of books that have been useful in the past for me: 1. Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the point where they are effective, faster 2. The Onboarding Process: How to Connect Your New Hire (The Team Solution Series)

Complementando a lista de livros: - Os primeiros 90 dias: estratégias de sucesso para novos líderes. Autor: Michael Watkins.