Getting started
Start to learn the main concepts of Mia-Platform and how to use to develop your services
Start to learn the main concepts of Mia-Platform and how to use to develop your services
Discover more
Discover all the benefits of becoming a Mia-Platform's partner entering the program.
Discover more
The first day of work begins long before the actual date which is defined by the calendar, both for the newcomer and for the company that will welcome him/her. What will you do, what awaits you, and many others are the questions that you ask yourself before you start working. In the meantime, at the company, the organizational machine has been activated for a long time with the organization of every detail: from documents to papers, until the technical induction.
Usually, the onboarding process is a multi-faceted moment, that becomes even more nuanced when you cannot meet the newcomer in person.
At Mia‑Platform, the onboarding process has been structured over time and has gradually improved. It is a moment that we follow with great care and it involves different people. Although the period prevents us from welcoming a new person by opening the office door and shaking hands, we still did give the first – of several – remote welcome.
In this article, we want to tell you about our experience so that it can support any company that keeps hiring even in such a difficult time.
Therefore, we interviewed Iryna Sary, Operation Specialist, Livia Rossetto, People & Culture Specialist, and Federico Oldrini, Tech Leader and Tutor of the newcomer. These are the people who, once established the date of entry, managed to define all the steps to follow.
As anticipated, the organizational machine was activated a few days before the onboarding date and, in this case of remote management, particular attention has been paid to the time schedule.
Usually, the newcomer has the time to walk through the office and meet people. Instead, in remote onboarding, it is important that the new employee is escorted step by step and that everything goes smoothly through the different operational steps.
This is the reason why the organizational team has:
The first day of work is full of questions both for the most navigated employee and for those who are at the first experience. Who will I meet? Who will welcome me? Should I bring lunch? This is the reason why we usually send emails sometime before in order to involve different people.
Remotely, the day was run in the same way, but with some organizational differences. There was much more coordination among the managers of the various areas who took turns in the Hangouts room. The lunch turned into a virtual coffee together with the team in the early afternoon.
All the people involved – especially the team that would welcome the new person – were asked to turn on the webcam whenever possible during calls, to shorten the distances – at least during the first few days.
As for the equipment that we normally give upon arrival, the PC was shipped to the newcomer’s residency a few days before the start. All our gadgets (water bottle, T-shirt, backpack, etc.) will wait for him/her at the office on the first day of work together.
Our onboarding day is structured as follows:
Iryna leads this first part, providing all the useful tools to start a new journey at Mia‑Platform.
Normally this moment takes place in a meeting room, with the PCs side by side.In this situation, webcam and sharing screens are necessary to get to know each other and understand all the operational aspects of this beginning.
Going in-depth, our operational onboarding explores these topics:
Thus the first part of onboarding ends. That’s a lot of information but we take all the time we need. Usually, this part lasts from 2 and a half to 3 hours.
In a remote management mode, particular attention was given to the explanation of the various moments that would follow and people involved. Livia joined in the final moments of this first part to greet Iryna and move on to the next phase.
The second part of the day is dedicated to our corporate culture and all the aspects connected.
Let’s dig into it!
It’s time to get to the heart, get to know the team, and “get your hands dirty”!.
Normally everything starts at lunch together. In the case of remote onboarding, some changes have been made to the usual procedure.
At Mia‑Platform, a Tutor, an existing employee, is assigned to a new starter.
Before getting to know the whole team, the Product Owner and the Tutor had a chat with the newcomer to take some time to introduce themselves. After that, as mentioned above, there was no team lunch – which could be a little uncomfortable through a screen – but there was a coffee break on the webcam just before starting the work in the afternoon.
This was the part of onboarding that had multiple focus points to adapt to the remote mode. Let’s see them in tangible ways:
Finally, some other aspects have been adapted to these manners. The CEO and the CTO welcomed the new hire with a phone call and there were two Tutors in case one was busy for a meeting.
Remotely welcoming a new person in the team can be done, if you have a well-built onboarding process and therefore easily adaptable to new manners.
Webcam, pair programming, a few more messages and we will suddenly be back at the office or having lunch together.