Typical onboarding documents were solely about the new hire - their 30, 60, 90 day goals - and left out the importance of connecting & learning from others and acknowledgement of prior work.


The 30, 60, 90 day framework is common for onboarding new hires. When creating this document I sought and incorporated feedback from members of the Product team and other leaders. I asked for input to be provided by a specific date to ensure sufficient preparation before the new hire joined.

After a new hire joins, my first series of 1:1s with them tends to be focused on answering their questions. The onboarding document serves as a reference point to these discussions. With direct reports, I recommend weekly 1:1s at the start and retain this frequency. Bi-weekly can work as well. In-between 1:1s, I always encourage questions / discussions over Slack and ad hoc check ins when questions arise. You want to be available and support the new hire.

The only challenges I've encountered are calendaring. Some individuals have such packed schedules that it is difficult for the new hire to find an open spot. In these situations, I will get involved and help with calendar juggling. I have also found that some individuals push back when a new hire identifies changes & improvements to existing documents. Having the new hire share the "why" helps to navigate the discussions and improve the assets for all involved as a result.

The level of individuals you are recommending the new hire meet with is likely to change based on the new hire's level of seniority. It's also likely the new hire will meet with more individuals in their role (e.g. PMs will meet with more PMs, designers will meet with more designers, etc). Company culture will have an impact as well. More open or flat organizations will invite new hires to meet with a wide range of individuals at various levels and roles. More hierarchical organizations are likely to narrow the audience a new hire can meet given the more controlled or structured nature of the company.

Diana Stepner

This onboarding document brings together key resources to ramp up new hires quickly and with minimal information overload.

We are thrilled to have you join the Education group!!!

In hopes to ramp you up quickly and with minimal information overload, we have consolidated information about the org, people to meet, processes, tips and more to help guide you during your first few weeks on the team. Please reach out at any time with questions or clarifications needed.

Throughout your onboarding journey, Charlie Brown will be your buddy. The purpose of an onboarding buddy is to help you feel like part of the team!

With so much context to absorb, take the time to get to know the Education group in your first 30 days. Much of the information below will be self-directed, meaning you’re responsible for diving into the links and connections. Use the information as a checklist for getting yourself the context and understanding needed within the first 30 days.

Complete any required onboarding, including training.

Get a high level understanding of Product in the Education group

If individuals are not available, make sure the meet & greet meeting is scheduled.

Start to gain insight into the product area you will be overseeing

Share a quick bio (your experience, education background and any fun fact you’d like to share) with your manager for him/her to introduce you to the team

Review the intranet to learn more about our company policies.

Sign up via our internal learning & development application for internal training that covers our company-wide policies and systems.

What is working well? What is the person most excited about?

What are some tricky points to keep in mind when exploring products? What are opportunities for improvement?

Identify what topics you want to learn more about during month two (60 days)

Ask to shadow product workstream meetings to get a sense of how Product operates.

Getting to know other product team members

PM Team Meeting - weekly meeting for all Product Managers

Education Product Virtual Meeting - monthly meeting for all of Product (Product Managers + Product Operations)

A few tips from others who recently joined the Education group

It takes time to understand the org structure, especially the way of working with channel partners.

It takes time to understand the different meetings and share-outs we do (i.e. leads meetings vs. All Hands vs. reviews, etc.)

It can be really tricky to get calls scheduled -- do not be shy about reaching out to me on how best to connect with people.

You’ll want to end your first 60 days in the Education group with an understanding of both the Education group strategy and how to approach your product exploration.

Understand the Education group strategy stack, including Mission + North Star, Vision, Strategy, and Goals

Dive further into the product development lifecycle (PDLC) and ask yourself:

How do the stages differ from what you’ve seen at other companies?

Why do you think those differences exist?

Are there adjustments to the PDLC you recommend based on your experience?

Spend more time with your product team (quad)

Start leading Product activities per the PDLC, including iterating upon the initial product Vision, Roadmap and Goals

Getting to know other Education group team members

Schedule recurring meetings with individuals critical to your product area of exploration

Continue to meet with individuals identified below as well as those recommended from initial contacts

By the end of your 90 day onboarding you should feel able to call upon a foundation of what you’ve learned so far about the Education group, your team, and your product opportunity. You should feel able to navigate Product and the Education group autonomously and feel confident in taking the next steps in your career in the Education group!

Autonomously navigate your job and apply what you’ve learned in your first 90 days.

Identify areas where the Product team has gaps and ways you can help to fill those gaps based on your background + experience.

Revisit materials referenced during your first 30 and 60 days and identify areas where you now have questions and/or more insight would be beneficial.

Lead Product activities in your product area

Get ready for a pitch process to determine the one or two opportunities to focus on for your product

Present facets of your background to the Product team during a Virtual Product Meeting

Share the status of your product during an All Hands and seek feedback from participants

The team has a mix of remote and hybrid folks and is made up of: product managers, product operations, engineering, data scientists, efficacy analysts, designers, researchers


The following is a summary of the main projects you will hear in conversations and their corresponding stage.

Design and project teams break out in a visual way (link)

Linus will setup a series of meet and greets for your calendar (identified by a *). Relationships that you should begin to cultivate outside of meet and greets are also included below. Individuals are likely to recommend others for you to speak with as well. Each person will have contributions (prior project experience, observations, etc).

New Hire Onboarding at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Welcome Lucy!

First 30 Days

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