Team onboarding

Here’s an example of what you can write here. Please modify it or rewrite it from scratch

At our organization, we want everyone to feel safe, valued, respected, and empowered — it’s one of our biggest priorities.

We ask every team member to take responsibility for their words, actions, and attitude.

“Words not only affect us temporarily; they change us, they socialize or unsocialize us.”

— David Riesman

Our values guide how we work together and how we create a culture that is both safe and bold:

🦸‍♀️ People First

Work is important — but people always come first. We believe in helping each other, showing empathy, and being there when someone needs support. Ask questions like “How can I help?”, “How are you sleeping?”, or “Are you eating well?” — because we care about the person behind the job. Please don’t leave people hanging. Don’t play the “busy” card or make excuses.

😳 The Impossible

We believe no problem is truly impossible. If something seems difficult, start by asking: “What would need to be true to make this possible?”

Don’t say “It can’t be done.” Take responsibility, stay curious, and get excited to tackle challenges.

💫 Yes, and…

When was the last time you shared an idea and everyone said “yes”? Probably not often! That’s why we use “Yes, and…” instead of “No, because…” or

“Yes, but…”. This small change keeps creativity alive and helps everyone feel heard.

🥇 Learn, Re-learn, and Share Knowledge

The world changes fast — new tools, ideas, and systems appear every day. Keep learning, stay curious, and share what you discover so we can all grow together.

🕴️ Be Honest, Talk Frankly, Act Quickly

Speak the truth with respect, make decisions fast, and be bold in your communication and actions.

👁️‍🗨️ See and Solve Problems

Don’t tolerate problems — notice them, name them, and create solutions. Every improvement moves us forward.

🦾 Be Loyal to the Mission, Not Just People

Support our shared mission above all else. Don’t let personal loyalty override what’s best for the team or organization.

🤓 Be Transparent and Fair

Openness builds trust. Use transparency to ensure fairness and accountability for everyone.

🥷 Think Like an Owner

Take initiative, act with responsibility, and expect the same from your teammates. Treat the company’s mission as your own.

Here’s an example of what you can write here. Feel free to modify it or rewrite it from scratch.

👉 Two-Pizza Rule: No meeting should include more people than two pizzas could feed. 🍕

👉 Honor Expertise: Be aware of your strengths and trust your teammates when the discussion moves into their area of expertise. 🌠

👉 Meeting Agenda: Every meeting should include an agenda. If it doesn’t, participants can choose to use their time differently. Is that more work? Yes — and that’s the point. We only hold meetings when they truly add value.

👉 No-Meetings [Friday]: This norm is designed to give everyone more control over their calendar and more uninterrupted time for deep work.

👉 Own Your Meeting: If it’s your meeting to run, manage the conversation. Be clear about who’s leading and who the meeting is for. Watch out for assertive “fast talkers” or topic drift — and avoid losing personal responsibility through group decision-making.

Why norms matter

Norms are the shared agreements that define how team members interact, work, and communicate. They clarify expectations, create fairness, and help prevent unnecessary conflict. 💬 Did you have a helpful team norm at a previous company that you think would be valuable here?

If not, select "🚫 I don’t have any additional suggestions."

Read our Code of Conduct document — it outlines how we treat each other, communicate, and represent the company both internally and externally. Reflect on key principles such as respect, inclusion, integrity, and transparency.

Find this document here. (<Add link)

Understand how to report any inappropriate behavior, conflict, or ethical concern (contact [HR contact name/email]).

Read our internal handbook or policy guide — this document covers working hours, time off, communication standards, and more. Review IT and security policies to understand how to protect company and client information. Check the expense and reimbursement process to know how to handle work-related purchases.

Find our documentation here. (<add link)

Understand our conflict resolution and reporting process (contact [HR/People Partner name]).

[Add here a key work habit or ritual that the employee should learn or improve. We’ve added an example about leading effective meetings — feel free to change it or remove this step.]

The average person spends over 50 hours in meetings each month. 😮😰 That’s a lot of time!

That’s why it’s essential to make sure that when we schedule a meeting, we prepare for it properly — defining the key questions, objectives, and information we’ll discuss.

If you’re the one scheduling and leading the meeting, you’re responsible not only for preparing it but also for ensuring a meaningful outcome.

Leading effective meetings is an art 👨‍🎨 — and like any skill, it takes practice. But you can shine at it if you follow this simple framework:

💡 The OFQ Framework

O — Objective:

Clearly define and share the objective of the meeting with everyone involved. Make sure everyone understands what you want to achieve.

F — Feelings:

Check in on how people feel about the topic or objective. Do they care? Do they think it’s important or a priority right now? Are they excited about it?

Understanding this will help you identify whether you have the right people in the room — and whether the topic is worth pursuing now or later.

Q — Questions:

Ask meaningful, focused questions — not just “Any questions?” or “Any comments?”.

Ask questions that tap into your team’s knowledge and experience to help achieve the meeting’s objective.

If you could only ask three key questions to move the meeting forward, what would they be?

🎥 Watch this video or read this blog post to learn more about how to lead great meetings.blog post

[Add here a key work habit, principle or ritual that the employee should learn or improve. We’ve added an example about having fewer meetings— feel free to change it or remove this step.]

Even when our meetings are productive, we know that since COVID, the number of meetings we all have has increased significantly. There are many reasons for this, but without going into details, it’s important to be more conscious about when a meeting isn’t necessary — and how we can collaborate asynchronously instead.

🔥 Yes, asynchronously!

That means you can collaborate with your team, gather feedback, review information, and make progress without scheduling a meeting.

🎥 Watch this video to learn how — and don’t forget to read this too for more tips! blog post.

Tools you will need to run asynchronous meetings:

At [Company Name], we focus on [clarity, collaboration, and accountability]. Our goal is to make progress visible and help everyone do their best work — without unnecessary [what?]

Essential processes or systems everyone should follow.

Outline your core processes (3–5 main ones). Example:

Here are a few key habits or responsibilities everyone is expected to uphold.

Include your “must-dos” or non-negotiables: Example:

These habits are what make us fast, flexible, and aligned. They help us trust each other, move quickly, and focus on what truly matters.

[ EDIT THIS TEXT OR ADD YOUR OWN ]

👏 Remote work comes with many perks — flexibility, autonomy, and freedom — but it also requires a specific skill set and a strong culture to thrive. You might already have experience working remotely, or you might still be developing the habits that make it work effectively.

We know that remote work only succeeds when organizations educate their teams, rethink their culture and processes, and use the right tools to stay aligned and connected.

When remote best practices aren’t followed, teams often experience challenges such as:

By being intentional about how we work remotely, we can avoid these pitfalls and build a culture where everyone stays productive, connected, and supported.

👆 The good news is that when you master remote work and use tools like Nova to guide your team, collaborate, and share feedback — remote work becomes a flexible, fun, productive, and preferred way to work.

[EDIT THIS TEXT OR ADD YOUR OWN]

We’re social beings, and working remotely can sometimes trigger feelings of isolation or loneliness. Here are a few tips to help you stay connected and engaged:

🍽️ Set up virtual lunches or coffee chats for one-on-one interactions.

🤝 Find a mentor who can guide and support you.

⏰ Join meetings a few minutes early and use that time to ask how others are doing.

📸 Turn on your camera and add photos to your Slack, email, and Zoom profiles to make interactions more personal.

💬 Celebrate good work and share appreciation — let people know when you notice something great and offer positive feedback.

💛 Be kind to yourself — some days will be less productive than others, and that’s completely okay.

[ EDIT THIS TEXT, REMOVE THIS STEP OR ADD YOUR OWN ]

Remote management requires a shift in mindset — from focusing on your team’s time to focusing on their output. Prioritize providing clear deliverables and well-defined processes so your team can deliver great results with confidence.

💡 A few key tips:

✅ Always provide clear deliverables with due dates and assigned responsibilities.

🎯 Every deliverable or goal must include defined success criteria and a process that’s clear to everyone involved.

📂 All decisions and key information must live inside Nova or be accessible from it. Avoid keeping important details in emails, Slack channels, or “in your memory.”

🧠 Make knowledge collectively accessible. At the end of each day, ask yourself:

“If I got sick tomorrow and couldn’t work for a week, could my team continue my work and access all relevant documentation and client decisions?”

If the answer is no, you’re not yet making knowledge fully accessible. Ask your manager for best practices to improve this.

[ EDIT OR DELETE: These are key activities we’ve scheduled to maintain routines that support our team, help everyone get to know each other, strengthen bonds, and foster a sense of belonging. Feel free to add your own, edit these, remove this step, or make any changes you need. ]

Gatheround

What it is: A monthly moment to share and connect.

How it works: You’ll have 1–2 minutes to talk about:

Bring a visual artifact (screenshot, slide, link) that represents what you’re most excited about or proud of—we’ll cheer you on!

When & where: Mondays at 9:30 AM on Google Meet (the calendar invite includes the link).

Please prepare your update before the meeting. See you there! 🙂

3Things / Kudos

What it is: A weekly gratitude ritual on Slack.

When & where: Fridays at 3:00 PM in #gratitude.

Post your three prompts:

1️⃣ One thing I feel good about

2️⃣ One thing I’d like to improve

3️⃣ One thing a teammate did that I appreciate

Reflect on the week, tag teammates, and spread the love before logging off for the weekend.

Morning Coffee

What it is: An optional, recurring silent co-presence window to ease into the day—like arriving at the office together.

When: 9:00–9:30 AM Thursday

How to use it: Bring a beverage or breakfast. Chat with teammates—or don’t. Join to connect as humans, to listen, to admire, or simply to feel a sense of belonging. Your choice.

Which one do you like the most?

[Edit this text and indicate how 1:1 meetings work]

Holding regular and meaningful one-on-one meetings is essential to support your growth and strengthen trust within the team. Use this time to talk not only about work, but also about your goals, well-being, and what inspires you — it’s a great way to learn from each other and build genuine connection. 👩‍🚀🧑

How do 1:1 meetings work at our company?

You are responsible for bringing topics and questions that matter to you. Your manager is responsible for using this space to provide feedback, check in on your well-being and energy levels, offer resources, support your development, discuss your growth, and help remove blockers.

At least once a month — though some managers prefer to meet biweekly.

Your manager will discuss the next steps with you and schedule your recurring 1:1 meetings within the next month.

[Make changes to this text or remove it]

Every company has its own set of tools and ways to organize folders and work. Without understanding the logic behind them, your first weeks can feel chaotic.

The goal of this session and the next steps is to:

Ready? Let’s go over this — not to memorize it, but to know that you can always come back here whenever you need a refresher.

[EDIT THIS TEXT OR MAKE CHANGES REGARDING THE TOOLS AND HOW FOLDERS AND DOCUMENTATION ARE ORGANIZED]

📄 “We use [tool name] to manage and store all company documents and files. All shared folders and files are located in [main folder link or platform name]. Folders are organized by [criteria: department, project, phase, client, etc.]. All files should follow this format: [Date–Document Type–Title] or [DD-MM-YY–Title].” Below, you’ll find all the key folders and documents you need access to.

[Remove, add new tools, or delete this step to adapt it to your organization]

Our internal day-to-day communication is managed through the following tools:

We want you to feel comfortable using these tools, so here are a few quick tips:

If you’re new to any of them, take a few minutes to explore free online tutorials — they’ll help you get up to speed quickly.

Contact [NAME at EMAIL] if you have any problems setting up your account.

Please indicate your comfort level with these three tools on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 means excellent comfort.

[Change, edit, or remove to better adapt to your organization]

To manage progress effectively, lead with clarity, and define clear processes that help teams achieve their goals without guesswork, we use [Nova].

Nova is the platform where you’ll begin working. It provides the essential processes to follow, clarifies where you are expected to take responsibility, shows the current status of work, and gives visibility into key decisions — keeping everyone in the loop.

When you start a new project or task, you’ll be assigned a process template to guide you, so you don’t have to start from scratch or wonder what comes next.

Please speak with your manager to request a walkthrough of how you’ll be using this software.

Also, contact [Name] to request access to the platform and ensure you can log in before proceeding.

✅ “I have met with my manager and understand how I will use this platform.”

✅ “I have access to the software.”

[Remove or edit]

At our company, we follow a few guiding principles and mental models, and we’ve put together a list of books that reflect how we think and work. Some of them also happen to be simply great reads! 📚

We invite you to explore these titles if you’re looking for something new to read. Our team even has a book club where we meet regularly to discuss insights and ideas from these books.

Which one would you be reading?