I recently started working in a company that employs a structured onboarding process that I have yet to experience in other places. In the past, I had always planned my onboarding, so this was a refreshing experience. It has helped me understand how crucial is a properly planned onboarding process for new product managers.
Effective onboarding sets the tone for employees’ tenure. It helps them understand the company culture, aligns their goals with the organization’s objectives, and equips them with the necessary tools to excel in their roles. In this post, I will share the practices the company I work for implemented that have helped me during my onboarding.
Set a well-structured orientation program: Providing tailored training that enables new product managers to understand the company’s culture, product, and work processes. I prefer training that includes in-person (or virtual) meetings and self-learning from company resources (meeting recordings, training videos, articles) at my own pace. I believe ‘ideal’ training should include:
- Company overview that presents the company’s mission, vision, values, and overall business strategy. Additionally, an overview of the product portfolio, organizational structure, and key stakeholders.
- Delivering self-guided tasks that enable the newly hired employee to actively dive into the product in depth. One of my first onboarding tasks was following a step-by-step instructions manual that ‘forced’ me to learn the product by extensively interacting with it through all its different modules.
- Promoting introduction meetings with all relevant company stakeholders. These meetings provide significant insights and improve company culture by fostering positive work relationships. In my current company, I was encouraged to meet everyone, from the CEO to the marketing and CS teams.
- Provide updated documentation about products, features, processes, and relevant business information. Internal documentation requires frequent revisions, so this is the hardest to sustain. However, I believe this is crucial for knowledge transfer.
- A product overview that includes a comprehensive deep dive into the company’s products or services. This includes deep diving into the product’s features, functionalities, market positioning, and competitive landscape.
- A thorough showcase of the team’s work methodologies and tools used.
- During this time my manager advised me to avoid the ‘daily’ or recurrent meetings and focus my efforts on learning. This advice enabled me to dedicate my time to deep learning.
Define Clear Role Expectations: Clarifying responsibilities, goals, and KPIs (on both organizational and team levels). By setting clear expectations, new product managers can understand their role within the larger context.
Assign an Onboarding Buddy: Pairing the newly hired product manager with an experienced mentor or buddy can significantly contribute to their onboarding experience. This buddy can offer guidance, answer questions, and provide insights into the company’s culture and processes. Another effective way to save company resources and foster a more positive onboarding experience is to join several new PMs together as ‘training buddies’. This is where they can share their journey with each other and get the most out of it.
Encourage Observation: Allow the new product manager to shadow and observe. This can be achieved by attending meetings, reviewing products, and interacting with customers. In the first few weeks, I shadowed my manager. This enabled me to learn valuable information about the company’s culture, processes, and most importantly undocumented information.
Establish Regular Feedback Mechanisms: Regular feedback sessions are vital for any employee, but especially for product managers. For long-term success, it’s highly beneficial for product managers to know their areas for improvement and to hear recognition for their accomplishments.
Encourage Customer Engagement: Product managers play a crucial role in understanding customer needs and translating them into product requirements. Encouraging new product managers to engage directly with customers or observe recorded sessions early on helps them gain valuable insights.
Grant Access to Data Resources: Ask your new product manager to dive into all the available data and analytics tools to gain a deeper understanding of the product and how it is used.
Encourage Continuous Learning and Skill Development: Product management is a dynamic field, and new product managers should be encouraged to continuously learn and develop their skills. This can be achieved through access to online learning platforms, attending industry conferences, or participating in relevant training programs. The company I work for has an online learning platform account that I occasionally use to expand my skill set.
Promote Autonomy and Ownership: Empowering new product managers to take ownership of their projects and make decisions fosters a sense of autonomy and accountability. Starting to deliver tasks during the onboarding process instills confidence and motivation. Clearly, the tasks should be aligned with the PM’s skills and knowledge.
Foster a Culture of Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing: Creating a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing is crucial for new product managers’ success. Encourage regular knowledge-sharing sessions, cross-team workshops, and internal forums where employees can share their experiences, insights, and best practices. During my first month in the company, the product team hosted a data session where all the PMs shared valuable insights about how the product is used by our clients. It was fascinating and also opened a window to the work of other teams.
Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate: Recognizing and appreciating milestones, successes, and achievements is essential for boosting morale and creating a positive onboarding experience. As an example, my team is having a ‘welcome lunch’ to celebrate the arrival of new employees. The company also hosts bi-monthly ‘happy hours’ where new employees are presented and acknowledged.
In conclusion, effectively onboarding new product managers sets the stage for their success and integration within the organization. I am grateful to have experienced a positive onboarding experience and will be a strong advocate for implementing these methods in the future.