Leader onboarding

Last updated May 11, 2026File: content/operations/onboarding.mdx

The standard flow for bringing a new leader onto the MDplus team. Targeting 30 days from accepted offer to full autonomy.

Day 0 — Offer accepted

  • Send welcome email with first-week schedule
  • Add to leadership Slack channels (#leadership-general, #leadership-ops)
  • Add to the leadership Google Group (leadership@mdplus.community)
  • Create or invite GitHub account to the org if they’ll be touching code

Week 1 — Orientation

  • 1:1 with Executive Director
  • 1:1 with Chief of Staff
  • Read this entire wiki end-to-end (~45 minutes)
  • Read the 501(c)3 charter
  • Shadow one community lead Slack channel

Week 2 — Embedding

  • Sit in on the leadership weekly sync
  • Pick one ongoing project to co-own
  • Add yourself to the Leadership roster

Week 3 — First contribution

  • Publish a Slack intro in #announcements
  • Take ownership of an SOP — either write one or refresh one
  • First proposal or memo to the leadership team

Week 4 — Full autonomy

  • Final check-in with Executive Director
  • Onboarding retrospective — what worked, what didn’t
  • Update this page with anything that was unclear
Pair them with an onboarding buddy

Every new leader is assigned a buddy from the existing leadership team. The buddy is the ‘dumb question’ channel — first stop for anything the new leader doesn’t want to ask in a group setting.