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Organizations worldwide are leveraging Salesforce to streamline their sales, marketing, and customer service processes.
However, finding skilled Salesforce Consulting Services professionals is often challenging due to a limited talent pool, lengthy hiring processes, and higher costs.
Many organizations are adopting remote work and contractual agreements to overcome these challenges. As this trend gains momentum, it becomes important to establish efficient onboarding processes.
This article discusses the best practices to follow when onboarding new Salesforce developers on a contract basis. Let’s dive straight in.
1. Set clear expectations from the start
When developers clearly understand what’s expected of them, they can perform their best work. You don’t have to wait until the onboarding session to convey your expectations.
Job descriptions and interviews are perfect opportunities to start communicating your expectations to potential developers. Provide an overview of the project(s) they’ll be working on, including the scope, timelines, and any specific deliverables.
Additionally, discuss the work environment and any specific requirements you have. Do they need to be available during specific hours or days? Are there any collaboration tools they must be familiar with?
Conveying your expectations is not a once-off job, so regularly check in with new developers.
2. Conduct team meeting
Now that you’ve set clear expectations, it’s time to organize a team meeting. The objective of this meeting is to introduce the developer to your entire team working on the project.
Team meetings also help individuals understand the team composition and how their work fits in the larger picture. In addition, when team members know each other, they are more likely to reach out for help, share ideas, and work together effectively.
When conducting team meetings, encourage existing team members to share their roles and areas of expertise. This will foster collaboration and enable new developers to familiarize themselves with the team.
3. Knowledge transfer (KT) of the project
The success of a contractual Salesforce developer greatly depends on how well they understand the project requirements. This is where knowledge transfer (KT) plays an important role.
Knowledge transfer is typically done by the project manager and may also include other stakeholders like business analysts. They provide all the necessary information like the project’s objective, requirements, and timelines.
Besides communicating project details in the meeting, provide project documentation to the new developer for knowledge transfer. Having project information centralized allows developers to refer back to it as needed.
4. Explain communication guidelines
The next onboarding best practice involves providing an overview of your organization’s communication channels and frequency.
Communication channels
Provide an overview of the primary communication channels used within your organization. These could include instant messaging platforms (like Slack), project management tools (like Jira), and video conferencing tools (like Google Meet and Zoom).
Additionally, you should also provide clarity on the type of channel to be used for different types of communication. For example, project-related discussions may occur in project-management tools or team-specific channels, while urgent issues may require direct messaging.
Communication frequency
Specify the expected frequency of meetings. Will there be daily stand-up meetings, weekly/monthly check-ins, or unplanned meetings as needed?
Additionally, since remote Salesforce developers are likely located in different time zones, communicate the team’s availability. This will help avoid any delays and ensure smooth collaboration.
For more information, refer to this comprehensive blog covering 4 tips for effective collaboration with remote Salesforce developers.
5. Provide access to necessary resources
When Salesforce developers have access to the required hardware and software, they can quickly adapt to their roles and become productive contributors. Following are the resources you’d want to provide:
6. Daily check-in meetings
Regular check-in meetings allow remote developers to share project updates, clarify questions, and seek team feedback.
In addition, regular check-ins allow project managers to determine challenges early on before they escalate. By addressing these challenges in time, project timelines can be successfully met.
Here are the best practices to follow during daily check-in meetings:
- Define a Clear Agenda: Prepare a structured agenda in advance to keep meetings focused and productive.
- Keep it Concise: Keep meetings short (15 to 30 minutes), encourage team members to provide updates concisely, and avoid getting sidetracked.
- Set a Specific Time: Decide on a specific meeting time (considering time-zone differences) and inform all team members.
- Provide Constructive Feedback: Highlight areas of improvement rather than expressing dissatisfaction.
- Document Meeting Outcomes: Keep a record of key discussion points, decisions made, and action items identified.
Conclusion
There you have it, best practices for onboarding contractual remote Salesforce developers. By following these practices, you can ensure your newly hired remote Salesforce developer quickly adapts to their responsibilities and becomes a productive team contributor.
