Member Onboarding is the process you design to help welcome new members to your Community.
Put yourself in your members’ shoes and design the onboarding process in a way that is welcoming and engaging.
Invite members in waves to allow each “wave” of members to get to know one another and have a more intimate and personable experience with the Community.
Member Onboarding is the process you design to help welcome new members to your Community.
First impressions can last a long time and significantly impact how something is perceived. Ask yourself: what kind of a first impression would you like to make on your new community members? A successful Community is one that members perceive as a place where it is safe to share your thoughts, and each member is welcomed, valued and respected. As you onboard new members, you want to be intentional about ensuring that there is a certain personal touch. This can make a significant difference in the way new members perceive the community: without a personal touch, new members may not feel safe or recognized, and they might decide not to engage. To visualize this, think of entering a room full of strangers: how would you feel if nobody acknowledged your presence? Would you be comfortable to start talking to people? Alternatively, how would you feel if someone welcomed you and facilitated introductions between you and the people in the room?
Why should you be intentional about Member Onboarding?
The importance of Member Onboarding is often overlooked. Onboarding new members - having a proper way to welcome them to your Community - is exceedingly important because it sets the tone for all future interactions and invariably influences their levels of participation. Furthermore, if the onboarding experience is poor and new members leave, it is very difficult to get them back.
How do you onboard new members to your Community?
Two approaches can help you create an effective and memorable Member Onboarding experience.
First, invite members in waves: each wave can include between 10 and 25 people. Allow three to six weeks in between waves. Advantages of onboarding new members in waves include:
Creates a more personal and intimate experience
Makes new members feel special
Demonstrates that new members are joining an active Community
Facilitates relationship building (it is much easier to meet and build relationships with ten or twenty other members versus with fifty or more)
Helps you get to know each member personally, enabling you to more effectively facilitate their induction into the Community
Second, carefully design and orchestrate an intentional ‘member journey’:
Put yourself in your members’ shoes: if they are new to your Community and don’t know anyone, how would they feel? What do you need to do to make them feel welcome and special?
Think of onboarding as a journey rather than a single event such as clicking a “join” button on your Community platform.
Test the onboarding journey with a group of “beta testers” (could be members of your Core Group, or if you don’t have one, other enthusiastic prospective members), before the first wave comes in.
Include calls to action to ensure the onboarding journey is active. Encourage and make it easy for new members to do something meaningful rather than just receiving information. This could be achieved, for example, through a welcome email offering a list of concrete things a member can do in the community, and basic instructions on how to do them.
Experiment, reflect, and iterate! Document and analyze how new members respond to the onboarding journey, and use any insights to continuously tweak and improve your process to increase member engagement.
Blog » Onboarding New Members
Onboarding New Members
Summary:
Resources:
What is Member Onboarding?
Member Onboarding is the process you design to help welcome new members to your Community.
First impressions can last a long time and significantly impact how something is perceived. Ask yourself: what kind of a first impression would you like to make on your new community members? A successful Community is one that members perceive as a place where it is safe to share your thoughts, and each member is welcomed, valued and respected. As you onboard new members, you want to be intentional about ensuring that there is a certain personal touch. This can make a significant difference in the way new members perceive the community: without a personal touch, new members may not feel safe or recognized, and they might decide not to engage. To visualize this, think of entering a room full of strangers: how would you feel if nobody acknowledged your presence? Would you be comfortable to start talking to people? Alternatively, how would you feel if someone welcomed you and facilitated introductions between you and the people in the room?
Why should you be intentional about Member Onboarding?
The importance of Member Onboarding is often overlooked. Onboarding new members - having a proper way to welcome them to your Community - is exceedingly important because it sets the tone for all future interactions and invariably influences their levels of participation. Furthermore, if the onboarding experience is poor and new members leave, it is very difficult to get them back.
How do you onboard new members to your Community?
Two approaches can help you create an effective and memorable Member Onboarding experience.
First, invite members in waves: each wave can include between 10 and 25 people. Allow three to six weeks in between waves. Advantages of onboarding new members in waves include:
Second, carefully design and orchestrate an intentional ‘member journey’:
This article is part of the WBG Communities of Practice Toolkit licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The toolkit features practical resources to help you develop impactful Communities of Practice. 📖 Learn more about the Toolkit. ▶ Access the Toolkit.