All The World's a Stage...

As I have been working through an "onboarding" process for a new employee in my department, I found the book "Onboarding" by George Bradt and Mary Vonnegut to be an excellent resource for understanding and creating a process that will take full advantage of an important teachable moment in the life of a new employee and the team.

Working through the process over the last month, I have also found that there are great applications for ChurchWorld. Previous posts here and here have covered some of the basics. Today, I want to recap the excellent analogy used by the authors of a theater production to explain the process. Since my son and daughter-in-law are both in the theater, and I have developed a new appreciation for what it takes to pull off a production, the images really make sense!

Imagine your role as leader within the analogy of putting on a theater production, and your new team members are actors. At different times, you are:

• The Producer - while preparing for success and recruiting, think of yourself as the show's producer, assembling resources for the show.
• Then, the Director - while giving you new team member a big head start before day one, think of yourself as the show's director. You will co-create the plan, make introductions, announce the show, and generally get things ready.
• Finally, the Stage Manager - after your new team member walks out on stage, you will continue to Encourage - Align - Solve - End (Ease) their way by managing context and the things happening around them.

This should be a helpful analogy because it gets you off the new team member's stage. You can't recite their lines for them. You can't hit their marks. You can't make entrances and exits for them.

Your job is offstage.

The curtain is rising on your new team member's role - have you done all you can to make them the next star on your team?