Three Elements for a Successful Coworker Onboarding Conversation
Be genuine (by showing Courage, Humility, and Discipline)
A great Coworker Onboarding discussion is only as good as it is honest. Due to the brevity of the dialogue, your earnestness must be demonstrated in your verbal and non-verbal communications. Ask yourself, “If I am a Coworker, do I believe this person (a) wants to change, and (b) is willing to hear my suggestions?”
Be prepared for questions
It is likely that the Coworker Onboarding conversation leads to them asking you questions. Such inquiries may be related to the coaching process, the degree of input required from Coworkers, or even about your very personal decision to go on this journey.
Be concise
A great aspect of Coworker Onboarding is that it does not need to be a creative process. The script is tried-and-true and has been tested with many, many leaders. We know that it works when used as prescribed. Challenges arise when leaders get long-winded or go unintentionally off-script. The tendency to defend one’s actions or accidentally make excuses can quickly cloud the invitation by communicating the wrong message. Help yourself and stick to the script and be concise.
Coworkers Onboarding Conversation - Sample Script
Below is a sample conversation between a leader and their direct report, Melissa, which can be used as is or edited as relevant.
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Leader: Hi Melissa. I wanted to take a minute and share something important with you. Over the next 6 months I will be going through a coaching program to develop my leadership skills. Based on the feedback I’ve received, I’m committing to developing myself in 2 leadership areas: better delegation and more engaging communication. These are two areas where my development would have a positive impact on our team performance and hopefully make the workplace even more enjoyable for others. I realize that if I’m going to get better at this, I’ll need help. Specifically, yours and others that I communicate and work with regularly. Would you be willing to support me in this journey - it will require just 5 minutes a month from you?
Melissa: I would love to help. How can I support you?
Leader: Once a month, I will be asking you for FeedForward. FeedForward is a suggestion that is future focused: so in this case, what can I do to improve over the next 30 days?
As part of the coaching, I’ll be sending you an email once a month asking you for a couple of suggestions on how I can be more effective in my 2 growth areas. I’ll review the FeedForward suggestions from you, and a few other Coworkers, to make an action plan. I’ll share that with you so you can see what I’m working on.
The second way you can help is by providing feedback on my progress. Here’s what that looks like. Once a quarter, my coach will send you a survey about how I’ve been doing for the past three months in these two specific areas. The survey is completely anonymous and takes just a few minutes.
Melissa: So just to clarify, once a month I’ll get an email that asks for a couple of FeedForward suggestions for the future, right?
Leader: Yes exactly. And that gives me clear directions on how I can improve in ways that are important to you and others.
Melissa: And every 3 months, I’ll get a survey on whether you are becoming more effective. Is that right?
Leader: You got it, Melissa.
Melissa: Great, that sounds fantastic.
Leader: Thank you. This means a lot to me and should help me become a better Coworker. I want to be very transparent with everyone about what I am working on. I hope that it will make us a tighter team and will help me make this an even better place to work. I really appreciate your support.