Onboarding checklist generator

What is an onboarding checklist?

An onboarding checklist is a list of the tasks, introductions and milestones that take a new person from their first login to working on their own. For a new employee it covers accounts, training and first goals; for a new customer it covers setup, a first result and where to get help. An onboarding checklist generator writes that first list from a role and a little context, so you edit a draft instead of starting from a blank page.

Checklists work because onboarding is many small tasks owned by different people. Written down, nothing depends on someone remembering it.

Employee vs customer onboarding checklists

The format is the same, but the goal and the owner are different. Pick the type in the generator and it writes for the right reader.

What to include in an employee onboarding checklist

• Before day one: contract signed, laptop shipped, accounts created and a welcome message with the first day’s plan.
• First day: meet the team, log in to every tool, learn where answers live and finish one small task.
• First week: training on the core processes, a buddy to ask, shadowing and a first real piece of work.
• Check-ins: scheduled one-to-ones with the manager and a clear point at which onboarding ends.

What to include in a customer onboarding checklist

• Setup: the few settings that must be right before anything works.
• First win: the one action that shows the product doing its job for them.
• Team: invite the colleagues who will use it every day.
• Help: where the guides, videos and support contact are.
• Check-in: a call or email after the first week to catch problems early.

How a 30-60-90 day plan fits in

A 30-60-90 day plan splits the first three months into three stages: learn in the first 30 days, contribute in the next 30 and own the work by day 90. Choose 30-60-90 days in the generator and the checklist is grouped into those stages, each with its own goals. It suits roles that take months to ramp up, such as sales, engineering or management. The first day or the first week is usually enough for simpler roles and for most customers.

A short example

From “Customer support agent, remote team using Zendesk, Slack and Notion”, a first-week checklist could start like this:

• Day 1: Log in to Zendesk, Slack and Notion and set up your profile.
• Day 1: Meet your buddy and read the support style guide.
• Day 2: Shadow a senior agent on live tickets for two hours.
• Day 3: Answer five simple tickets, each reviewed before sending.
• Day 5: Answer simple tickets on your own and review the week with your manager.

Tips for onboarding checklists that work

Give every item an owner and a day

“Set up laptop” gets done when someone owns it and knows when. Add the owner’s name and the day to each line.

Link to the how-to instead of describing it

A checklist item should be one line. How to do the task belongs in a guide or a short video the item links to, so the list stays easy to scan.

Ask new people what was missing

The last person you onboarded knows exactly where the gaps were. Ask them at the end and update the list.

Common onboarding checklist mistakes

• Putting everything into day one, so nothing sticks.
• Covering only paperwork and forgetting the actual work.
• Using one checklist for every role instead of a short one per role.
• Never updating it after the tools or the team change.

Treat the generated checklist as a first draft: adjust it to your team, your tools and your real timeline before you share it.