1400 North 14th Street, 12th Floor

Arlington, VA 22209

t: 703-387-3048

www.leanconstruction.org

1.0 Why

2.0 What

2030 Challenge Sustainable Design

3.0 How 3.1 Client&TeamMeetings

3.2 Travel 3.3 Document Management

References/ Sources

Onboarding

“IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE

YOU ARE GOING, YOU

WILL PROBABLY END UP

SOMEWHERE ELSE.”| Lawrence J Peter |

A collaborative presentation from over a dozen experienced Lean IPD practitioners.

© 2015 Lean Construction Institute

ONBOARDING | 2

1.0 Why

Onboarding allows new team members on a project to reach a common level of understanding regardless of when they join the project.

In a project-based industry it is com-mon for groups and individuals who have never worked together to come together for a program or project. It is shortsighted to believe these indi-viduals will immediately know how to work together and understand the project’s Conditions of Satisfaction.

A Lean/IPD approach to project delivery as described in the Lean Construction Overview is a signifi-cantdeparturefromtraditionaldeliv-ery. Lean/IPD changes the culture of project delivery by using collab-orative tools. Projects are relation-ship-based; Business Deals focus on common—rather than individ-ual—goals. By eliminating Waste, Lean/IPD teams provide Value to the Customer.

Onboarding provides a way for team members to reach common levels of learning and project understanding as new team members are added to a project. Onboarding ensures that a team’s–andorganization’s-cultural,behavioral, and procedural environ-ments are not disrupted.

Creatinganonboardingmanualfornew team members can help them become oriented to the project. This could include everything from maps to parkinginformation,filestructure,teamorganization,andstandardforms.

^

ONBOARDING | 3

When leading an onboarding class, team leaders should: Clearly explain the Conditions of Satisfaction or guiding principles.

• Explain the imminent changes driven by Lean/IPD.• Explain the WIIIFMs (What is in it for me?).• Gather risks and concerns and address them.• Introduce the class to Lean/IPD concepts. • ExplaintheexpectationsaboutLeanculture• DescribetheexpectationsaboutbehaviorandexplainwhytheyareimportanttoLeanculture.• Explain the need to listen to the customer and ensure they understand the work that they will perform. • Explain the Business Dealoranyotheruniquefinancialarrangementsattachedtotheorganizationorproject.• Introduce Lean tools in the context of Lean culture. • Providebasicprojectororganizationalinformation.• Providebasicinformationthatteammemberswillneedtoperformtheirroles.• Providecontactinformationandresourcesthatteammemberswillneedtoperformtheirroles.• Assessreadinessattheendoftheinitialonboardingclass.

2.0 WhatOnboarding,alsoknownasorganizationalsocialization,isawayfornewemployees to quickly acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors tobecomeeffectiveorganizationalmembers.Theprocessalsoensuresthatteammembersquicklylearnthesetraitstobecomeeffectivesooner–thushelping to create a High Performing Team.

3.0 How

Onboardingbeginsbeforeanewprojectisinitiatedorbeforeanewteammemberjoinsanorganizationorproject.Existingprojectleaderswhoareaccountable for culture and behavior should conduct onboarding classes to emphasize the importance of change and the processes that will be used to drive that change. All project leaders should take turns leading these classes.Itisimperativethatallteammembersareon-boardedandthecontent administered should be scaled and tailored to the role of each team member.Involvingteammembersin“learn-by-doing”activitiesaspartoftheonboardingprocessimmediatelysetsthetonefordesiredcollaborativebehaviors, builds trust and camaraderie, and transfers ownership of the Lean/IPDprocesstoallparticipants.Activeparticipationshouldbeinterwo-venwithpassivelearningtokeeptheinterestalive.Simulationsandsmall-groupactivities,roleplaying,orproblemsolvingsessionsbothteachandengage learners.

Onboardingisnotaone-timeevent;itisacontinuousprocesswherecon-ceptsandculturearealwaysreinforced.Thebetterthisprocessisincorpo-ratedintotheprojectlife,thebettertheresultswillbe.Itisnotuncommonfor a Breakdowntooccurifamemberfirmorindividualhasnottakentheonboarding class.

Return to Learning Laboratory >>

^