Onboarding 30-60-90 Plan

---
name: onboarding-30-60-90
description: Use when building a 30-60-90 day onboarding plan for a new hire. Triggers on "30-60-90", "onboarding plan", "first 90 days plan".
---

# Onboarding 30-60-90 Plan

Build a 30-60-90 plan with concrete milestones, not generic "ramp up" goals. The plan should make it obvious whether the hire is on track.

## Required inputs

1. **Role title and level** (IC / Manager / Director+ have very different first 90s)
2. **Team context** — what the team does, what's currently in flight
3. **Manager's top 3 priorities** for this person in their first quarter
4. **Existing systems/tools** the new hire needs to learn
5. **Stakeholders** — who they need to build relationships with

## Structure by tier

### Days 0-30: Learn
Goal: build mental models. Output: opinions backed by evidence.

Week 1:
- Setup, accounts, tooling
- 1:1s with manager + 5-7 peers/stakeholders
- Documented observations (what's confusing? what would they change?)

Week 2-4:
- Deep dive on 1-2 systems / customers / processes
- Shadow a peer doing real work
- Small first contribution (a bug fix, a doc update, a customer call shadowing)

**Day 30 milestone**: New hire can explain what the team does, who they serve, and 2-3 things they think could be better.

### Days 31-60: Contribute
Goal: ship something that matters. Output: visible work.

- First meaningful contribution shipped
- Owns a recurring meeting or process
- Has built relationships with 5+ key stakeholders

**Day 60 milestone**: Manager and 1-2 peers can name a specific thing the new hire shipped.

### Days 61-90: Own
Goal: take real ownership. Output: self-directed work.

- Owns a workstream end-to-end
- Has identified next 90 days of priorities
- Manager check-in: are they ready to operate without scaffolding?

**Day 90 milestone**: New hire is self-directing on at least one major workstream.

## Adjustments by level

### IC
- Days 1-30: heavy code/system reading
- Day 60: first feature shipped to production
- Day 90: owning a service or component

### Manager
- Days 1-30: 1:1s with all reports + 10+ stakeholders
- Day 60: clear read on team dynamics, has rebuilt 1:1 cadence
- Day 90: clear thesis on team direction shared with leadership

### Director+
- Days 1-30: listening tour, no big changes
- Day 60: written 30/60/90 reflection shared with peers + manager
- Day 90: making first structural changes (org, hiring, strategy)

## Anti-patterns

- "Get familiar with the codebase" → too vague. Replace with: "Can explain how requests flow through service X."
- "Build relationships" → vague. Replace with: "Has had 1:1s with [list of names]."
- Vague time blocks → use weeks, not "first month."
- Manager-passive plans → every milestone needs a check-in or visible artifact.

## Output format

Use weekly granularity for days 1-30, biweekly for 31-60, monthly for 61-90.

End with a "Manager check-ins" section: 7-day, 30-day, 60-day, 90-day. Each with 2-3 questions to assess fit.