You hired the perfect developer—now don’t lose them to a messy first week.
Without a solid onboarding process, their first week turns into a scavenger hunt for access credentials, a crash course in your codebase (with no map), and a growing list of questions they’re not sure who to ask.
Not exactly the warm welcome they were hoping for. 😬
A little structure goes a long way. With the right onboarding plan, you can skip the chaos and help new hires settle in faster. And to make your life easier, we’ve got a developer onboarding checklist to keep everything on track. 📝
How to Onboard New Developers (with Checklist)
Summarize this article for me please⭐ Featured Template
Onboarding can quickly become chaotic without a clear plan in place. The ClickUp Onboarding Checklist Template gives you a head start with a ready-made structure to guide new hires through every step—so nothing gets missed and every team member starts strong.
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhy Developer Onboarding Matters
Developer onboarding is the process of integrating new developers into a team, equipping them with the tools, knowledge, and support needed to succeed.
A strong onboarding process helps developers understand workflows, coding standards, and team expectations, setting them up for long-term success. Without proper onboarding, developers can struggle to adapt, leading to frustration and decreased productivity.
🔍 Did You Know? Developers spend more time reading code than writing it. Studies show that most of a developer’s time is spent understanding existing code rather than creating new lines.
Challenges of remote developer onboarding
Despite return-to-office mandates from some of the world’s largest companies, remote work is a trend that isn’t going away anytime soon.
So, how do you pave the way for a smooth first month (or 3) for your remote developers?
Bringing remote developers up to speed isn’t always straightforward. Without a physical workspace, certain onboarding challenges can make the process more complex:
- Limited access to team members makes it harder to ask quick questions or get hands-on guidance
- Technical setup delays cost hours or days without proper documentation or live troubleshooting
- Lack of in-person interactions can lead to isolation and weaker team connections
- Communication gaps cause missed expectations and slow momentum early on
📮 ClickUp Insight: A typical knowledge worker has to connect with 6 people on average to get work done. This means reaching out to 6 core connections on a daily basis to gather essential context, align on priorities, and move projects forward.
The struggle is real—constant follow-ups, version confusion, and visibility black holes erode team productivity. A centralized platform like ClickUp, with Connected Search and AI Knowledge Manager, tackles this by making context instantly available at your fingertips.
Benefits of effective onboarding
A well-planned developer onboarding process helps new hires integrate smoothly while reinforcing key onboarding goals like engagement, collaboration, and long-term retention.
Here are some additional benefits:
- Higher employee retention: Developers who feel supported and valued are more likely to stay, reducing turnover and hiring costs
- Faster time to productivity: Clear guidance and structured training help new hires contribute sooner, minimizing downtime
- Stronger team collaboration: Developers who establish connections early on feel more comfortable asking questions, sharing knowledge, and working together
- Better work quality: Clear expectations and thorough training reduce errors, leading to more efficient development processes
🧠 Fun Fact: Some companies use ‘first-day commits.’ GitHub and other tech companies encourage new devs to make their first commit on day one to build confidence and familiarity with the codebase.
Summarize this article for me pleasePre-Onboarding Preparation
Pre-onboarding lays the foundation for a smooth transition, giving developers the tools, knowledge, and support they need before their official start date. Let’s look at key areas to focus on. 👀
Technical setup
Before a developer can dive into work, they need access to essential tools and systems. Delays in setup can slow productivity, making it crucial to handle these details in advance.
These are essential steps to ensure a seamless start:
- Grant access to tools: Set up accounts for repositories, project management platforms, and software dev collaboration tools to prevent bottlenecks
- Provide key documentation: Share coding guidelines, API references, and onboarding goals so developers understand expectations early
- Ensure hardware and software readiness: Confirm that devices, development environments, and permissions are fully configured before the first day
🔍 Did You Know? Google’s famous Noogler onboarding includes a propeller hat. New Google employees (Nooglers) get a colorful propeller beanie and attend special orientation sessions to integrate into the company culture.
Early engagement
A strong onboarding experience goes beyond logistics. Creating opportunities for early interaction fosters connection and helps new developers integrate seamlessly.
To build engagement before the first day:
- Send a structured welcome email: Outline onboarding steps, introduce key team members, and share important resources
- Create a 30-60-90 day plan: Set clear milestones for learning, skill development, and project contributions to give new hires a structured growth path
- Schedule a pre-start call: Answer any questions and set expectations for the first week to eliminate uncertainty
- Share company culture insights: Provide context on workflows, collaboration practices, and values to help developers feel aligned with the team
- Use new hire onboarding surveys: Gather insights on expectations and concerns to personalize the onboarding experience
🧠 Fun Fact: The first computer programmer was a woman. Ada Lovelace wrote the first algorithm in the 1840s—before computers even existed!
Summarize this article for me pleaseOnboarding Checklists
Onboarding checklists provide a clear roadmap, ensuring that no critical steps are overlooked. Breaking the process into key milestones—first day, first week, and first month—keeps everything organized and helps developers transition effectively. 🗓️
First-day checklist
The first day sets the tone for a developer’s experience. Here’s a checklist:
- Complete technical setup: Verify access to repositories, development environments, and internal documentation
- Meet the development team: Schedule introductions with key team members and assign a senior developer as a mentor for ongoing support
- Review onboarding goals: Outline expectations, short-term tasks, and initial learning materials
- Set up communication channels: Ensure familiarity with messaging platforms, team meetings, and collaboration tools
- Walk through the first assignment: Provide a simple task to help them apply their knowledge right away
- Introduce company culture and values: Share insights into the team’s working style, decision-making processes, and overall mission
- Confirm administrative tasks are complete: Verify that payroll, benefits enrollment, and compliance paperwork are submitted
🔍 Did You Know? A negative onboarding experience can have a significant impact—64% of employees are likely to leave their new job within the first year if the formal onboarding program doesn’t set them up for success.
First-week checklist
The first week is about deeper engagement, learning processes, and getting comfortable in the role. Let’s look at a structured checklist:
- Understand development workflows: Review version control systems, coding standards, and deployment processes
- Attend onboarding sessions: Participate in training on internal tools, security protocols, and company policies
- Start contributing to projects: Work on low-risk tasks to build confidence and understand the codebase
- Join team discussions: Encourage participation in stand-ups, retrospectives, and knowledge-sharing sessions
- Shadow experienced team members: Observe how other developers approach problem-solving, debugging, and collaboration
📖 Also Read: Employee Onboarding Examples For New Hires
First-month checklist
The first month focuses on deeper team integration and long-term goal setting. Developers should feel more independent and ready to take on meaningful work.
Walk through this checklist:
- Take ownership of a project: Work on a feature or task that requires problem-solving and collaboration
- Receive feedback on progress: Check in with managers and mentors to review achievements and address challenges
- Refine the 30-60-90 day plan: Adjust goals based on progress and team feedback
- Explore professional development opportunities: Identify training, certifications, or mentorship programs for continuous learning
- Improve code review and collaboration skills: Actively participate in peer reviews and offer constructive feedback
🧠 Fun Fact: The world’s first computer bug was an actual bug. In 1947, Grace Hopper and her team found a moth stuck in a relay inside a Harvard Mark II computer. That’s where we get the term ‘debugging.’
Summarize this article for me pleaseOnboarding Tools and Resources
New developers juggle a lot in their first few weeks—setting up accounts, learning team workflows, and getting familiar with the codebase.
Educational technology simplifies this process.
Interactive documentation, video tutorials, and onboarding portals provide structured guidance, reducing confusion and making information accessible at any time.
These are some helpful tools to manage software dev teams remotely:
- Codespaces: Let new hires start coding immediately without local setup in a cloud-based development environment
- Replit: Enable pair programming and fast onboarding for junior developers with a collaborative online IDE
- Qodo: Offer assistance with code reviews and best practices to help new developers get up to speed faster
- GitHub: Share repositories, track contributions, and collaborate on code
- ClickUp: Manage tasks, track progress, and centralize all onboarding materials with the everything app for work
While these tools help developers start coding, a successful onboarding process goes beyond technical setup.
New hires need a clear path to navigate company policies, team structures, and performance expectations. The ClickUp Human Resources Software makes this easier by centralizing everything in one place.
Keep onboarding structured
Onboarding involves multiple steps—granting access, setting up environments, reviewing documentation, and completing training sessions. Missing a single step can lead to unnecessary delays.
The ClickUp Onboarding Checklist Template keeps everything in order. Every task has a due date, assignee, and relevant resources. Managers can track completion in real time, while developers see exactly what they need to do next.
Let’s say a new backend developer joins the team. Their new hire checklist will include:
- Setting up local development environments
- Reviewing internal coding standards
- Accessing API documentation
- Completing a code review exercise
Each task links to relevant documentation and is assigned a priority level, preventing confusion and ensuring smooth progress.
Store and organize essential documentation
New developers often spend hours searching for information. Scattered onboarding documents, outdated guidelines, and multiple storage locations make it harder to find what they need.
ClickUp Docs
ClickUp Docs provides a single, structured space for everything—coding guidelines, API references, troubleshooting steps, and internal workflows. Information is searchable, collaborative, and updated in real time, so developers always have access to the latest resources.
For instance, a frontend developer needs to understand how the design system works. Instead of waiting for a teammate to explain, they open Docs and find:
- A style guide covering colors, typography, and component usage
- Sample code snippets for UI components
- A troubleshooting section for common issues
This allows them to start contributing faster while reducing interruptions for senior team members.
To make this even more powerful, ClickUp’s AI Knowledge Management helps new developers find answers instantly. Instead of asking around or digging through Slack threads, they can simply type a question like “What’s our API authentication method?” and get an instant response pulled from your company’s Docs, tasks, and knowledge base. It’s like having a smart onboarding assistant available 24/7—reducing dependency on teammates and keeping everyone unblocked.
🔍 Did You Know? Many companies track how quickly a new developer fixes their first bug as a sign of onboarding success. Faster resolutions often indicate a smoother onboarding process.
Assign tasks and track progress effortlessly
Onboarding also involves hands-on tasks that help developers understand workflows. Keeping track of these tasks manually can lead to confusion and delays.
ClickUp Tasks streamline this process.
Each task includes clear instructions, deadlines, and relevant resources. ClickUp Multiple Assignees ensures collaboration when multiple people need to be involved. ClickUp Custom Fields add details like complexity and required skills.
Let’s say a developer is assigned their first feature update. Their task includes:
- A link to relevant documentation
- ClickUp Task Checklist breaking down the steps
- ‘Complexity’ Custom Field indicating expected effort
- An assignee field tagging both the developer and their mentor
Automate reminders for key onboarding milestones
New hires have multiple deadlines—completing training, setting up accounts, and submitting their first pull request. Manually tracking all these can be time-consuming for managers.
ClickUp Automations remove the need for constant follow-ups, ensuring key steps happen on time without extra effort.
Let’s say a developer gets access to internal task management tools on their first day. ClickUp can automatically assign related tasks, like reviewing security guidelines and setting up their development environment.
If a training session is due within the first week, an automated reminder ensures they don’t miss it.
Keep conversations organized and actionable
Onboarding comes with a lot of questions—new developers need quick answers without digging through endless messages or switching between tools.
ClickUp Chat keeps everything in one place, so important discussions stay organized and easy to find.
Messages, tasks, and projects don’t just connect—they work together. Need to turn a chat into an action item? Assign FollowUps directly in Chat to ensure next steps are clear and nothing gets missed. Important updates can be shared as Posts, making them easy to find later without scrolling through endless threads.
Conversations also stay linked to tasks, so there’s no need to copy-paste details from a chat into a separate to-do list.
🔍 Did You Know? The original name for Python was inspired by comedy, not snakes. Guido van Rossum named it after Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
Make technical explanations more visual
Understanding workflows, system architecture, and development processes isn’t always easy—especially for new hires. Long text explanations aren’t always the best way to communicate complex ideas.
ClickUp Whiteboards allow teams to create diagrams, flowcharts, and visual explanations that simplify onboarding.
Let’s say a team is onboarding a new developer to a microservices-based system. A senior engineer creates a Whiteboard that includes:
- A diagram showing how services communicate
- Labels explaining each API endpoint
- An annotated flowchart of data movement
This makes it easier for the new hire to understand the system at a glance.
📖 Also Read: How Our Onboarding Team Uses ClickUp
Track onboarding progress and performance
A developer’s first few weeks set the foundation for their success.
ClickUp Dashboards
ClickUp Dashboards provide a high-level view of onboarding progress, displaying:
- Completed and pending tasks
- Participation in training sessions
- Feedback from mentors
Managers can track onboarding in real time, ensuring new hires receive the support they need. Performance review templates also help assess progress and set expectations for future growth.
For example, after the first month, a manager checks the Dashboard and sees that a developer has completed onboarding tasks, attended training sessions, and submitted their first pull request.
You can also try the ClickUp Performance Review Template to document achievements, highlight growth areas, and ensure every review is fair and thorough.
🔍 Did You Know? Only 52% of employees feel their onboarding experience meets their expectations, leaving nearly half feeling unprepared or unsupported in their new role.
Summarize this article for me pleaseTroubleshooting Onboarding Challenges
Even the best onboarding processes can face obstacles that slow down a developer’s progress. Here’s how to handle some of the biggest roadblocks when welcoming new hires.
Overwhelming information overload
Too much information at once can make onboarding stressful. New hires may struggle to retain important details when they’re bombarded with documentation, meetings, and training sessions.
🔧 Let’s debug: Break onboarding into manageable phases. Introduce essential information first, then gradually expand on complex topics. Provide self-paced learning materials so developers can revisit key concepts when needed.
Inefficient knowledge transfer
When critical information is scattered across documents, emails, and team chats, new developers waste time searching for answers. This slows productivity and increases frustration.
🔧 Let’s debug: Centralize key resources in an easily accessible knowledge base or onboarding software. Use internal wikis, recorded walkthroughs, and structured documentation to streamline knowledge transfer.
Lack of early hands-on experience
If developers spend too much time reading documentation without real tasks, they may struggle to apply their learning effectively. Theory alone doesn’t build confidence or problem-solving skills.
🔧 Let’s debug: Provide small, meaningful tasks within the first few days. Assign low-risk tickets, bug fixes, or internal projects to help new hires practice coding standards and workflows in a real-world setting.
🧠 Fun Fact: JavaScript was written in just 10 days. Brendan Eich created it in 1995 while working at Netscape, and it still powers much of the web today.
Cultural misalignment
Without proper onboarding, new developers may not fully understand company values, decision-making processes, or team dynamics. This can lead to misunderstandings and misalignment with business goals.
🔧 Let’s debug: Integrate culture-focused onboarding sessions covering company mission, leadership expectations, and team values. Encourage participation in informal team activities to foster a sense of belonging.
Inconsistent onboarding experiences
When different teams handle onboarding differently, some developers may receive thorough training while others are left to figure things out on their own. This creates gaps in understanding and skill development.
🔧 Let’s debug: Standardize the onboarding process across teams. Use onboarding templates, shared training sessions, and cross-team collaboration to create a consistent experience for all new hires.
Summarize this article for me pleaseEvaluating Onboarding Success
A great onboarding process doesn’t stop once a new developer settles in.
Checking what’s working—and what’s not—helps improve the experience for future hires. Here’s how to measure success and keep onboarding effective. 📐
📊 Collecting feedback from new hires
New developers have firsthand experience with the onboarding process, making their insights valuable for improvement. Without structured feedback, recurring issues may go unnoticed.
How to measure: Send feedback forms at key milestones, such as after the first week and first month, and schedule one-on-one check-ins to encourage open discussions. You can use ClickUp Forms to keep the entire workflow within the same workspace.
📊 Measuring impact on retention and performance
Onboarding plays a direct role in engagement, job satisfaction, and retention. If developers struggle early on, it can lead to higher turnover or delayed productivity.
How to measure: Track how many developers stay beyond their first six months or year. Compare onboarding completion data against performance metrics like project contributions, code quality, and collaboration within the team.
📈 Track developer growth with ClickUp Goals
ClickUp Goals allow you to set onboarding milestones and track developer progress over time—like completing documentation, submitting a first pull request, or leading a small feature update. You can break goals into measurable Targets and align them with larger team OKRs, so everyone’s working toward the same outcomes.
📊 Improving the onboarding process
Onboarding should evolve to match team growth, changing technologies, and new best practices. A static process can quickly become outdated.
How to refine: Analyze feedback trends and make necessary adjustments. Update training materials, restructure onboarding schedules if needed, and use onboarding email templates to keep communication clear and consistent.
Summarize this article for me pleaseClickUp, Because Onboarding Shouldn’t Feel Like a 404
Bringing new developers on board can feel overwhelming, but a structured approach makes all the difference. A clear onboarding process reduces friction, helps new hires ramp up faster, and sets them up for long-term success.
ClickUp simplifies every step. Pre-built onboarding checklists, task management tools, and collaboration features keep everything organized and running smoothly. No more scattered documents, forgotten tasks, or last-minute scrambling. With ClickUp, developer onboarding becomes efficient, repeatable, and stress-free.
Build a stronger team from day one. Sign up for ClickUp today! ✅
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