Onboarding from a Project Management Perspective

It seems no matter where I look at job posts, I always see “We need a Project Manager” or “We need a Project Assistant.”

But what is a Project Manager? And more importantly, what is Project Management? This, my own made-up question can be answered by considering what Project Management is very good at facilitating and why it is used.

Project Management performs at its very best once you have determined why a project is necessary in the first place. Capture the essence of what is needed to make the project parameters happen, and you have successful Project Management.

Project Management is specifying the quality of the end result, estimating what resources are needed and in which timescale.

A Danish case is the current metro construction in Copenhagen. The project managers set up a timeframe for the construction. They defined the quality of the metro infrastructure and what it should cost. The present time is showing an indication of their success rate. They will probably be late according to the timeframe, which will either damage the quality or the budgeted cost. The company behind the project has done this before, so we are probably looking at another increase in cost. 

However, the advantages of a Project Management process are that it can develop and implement a plan for the project, and thereby manage the risks, issues and changes on the project. 

In the aforementioned case, they can more easily see and manage when issues occur and then do their best to deal with them – or at least see how these issues will affect the quality, price and timescale of the project.

Linking Project Management to Onboarding

A Project Management process is also a good tool in guiding the Onboarding process, especially since it involves the people who have to make the Onboarding “project” possible and who will deliver the results.

This short-lived nature of a project like Pre & Onboarding results in some challenges, though. For example, how do we make sure that the team members are introduced into the project in the best way? 

From a Project Management perspective, the headline of the project is simply to give the new employees the most accurate picture.

Notice how I said “most accurate” instead of “full.” Time constraints of a short project like Pre or Onboarding might mean sticking to just the essential information. Consider what information does not need to be in the part of this picture. For example, do the new team members need the full company history or only the part which is relevant to them? Or is storytelling about the founders and the road to the current success really necessary for them to do the project?

Give the team members the team-specific objectives in detail. Explain how the new member fits into the team, but also how the team fits into the broader project.

In the Metro construction example, the tunnel worker needs to know how his work affects the broader picture. Tell him how his efforts are important for the end result. One piece of advice I can give is that the shorter the project, the more important Preboarding becomes. This is because you have a limited time for the actual onboarding process because of how short the project is.

The day they start they should be ready to go to work. There should be little or no doubt about the project or its role. The outlines of their contribution and the result they have to deliver should be clear. Only in this way can there be better cohesion of the project and the way it is managed. 

Find a way to communicate with them before they begin the work. This of course does not mean that there is no onboarding process at all. It just means that onboarding may look different. It should be more focused, intense, and structured for the specific project at hand.

Schedule Regular Intervals to Check on the Project

Here’s a little advice that you can apply to a project in general as well as the onboarding process within a Project Management perspective. 

• Plan an interval where you check up on the team members’ progress. Look at not only their work process but their mental process and health.
• Be flexible. Trust that the new team members can work things out for themselves, but make sure that they know where the support systems are on the team.
• Communicate with your team. Communicate your expectations to your team members, old and new. Furthermore, have a clear line of communication, so when issues come to light, they know where to go.
• Address any problems before they occur. Prepare to meet problems head-on. 
• Provide direction. The project manager has the responsibility to keep the team informed and make sure that everything runs smoothly. This can also be achieved by having old team members show the new ones the ropes so you apply the resources you have at your disposal. 

This blog post has been a little schizophrenic: first project management, the pre & onboarding, and then a mix of both processes. But the point is that these processes have a lot in common. They both are dependent on communication, planning, and making the employee or team member safe and confident in the work they are doing.

In other words, look at the Pre & Onboarding as any other project you manage.