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An onboarding buddy is the colleague a new starter can ask the small questions: where things are, how people actually do things here, who to talk to. When it works, new people settle faster and managers get fewer interruptions. When it doesn't, the buddy is either a name on a welcome email who never gets asked anything, or the person who ends up answering every question for three months.
This article covers how to set up a buddy program that holds up: what the role is, how much time to set aside, and a clear split between what the buddy answers and what should already be written down. It isn't about planning the first 30 days of training or about handling repeated questions in general. Examples are illustrative, with placeholder names.
Define the role in one paragraph
Write down what the buddy is for before you pick anyone. A version you can adapt:
The buddy helps the new starter find their way around in the first few weeks: introductions, everyday how-we-do-it questions, and pointing to the right document or person. The buddy is not the new starter's manager or trainer, and doesn't assess their work. (illustrative)
That last sentence matters. If the role isn't separated from training and management, the buddy ends up doing all three.
Choosing a buddy
- Not the manager. New people ask different questions when the person can't judge them.
- Been here long enough to know where things are, but close enough to the new starter's work to be useful.
- Willing. Ask, don't assign. A reluctant buddy is worse than none.
- Has the time. Agree it with their manager, so it isn't squeezed into lunch breaks.
Set the time explicitly
A buddy program fails quietly when nobody budgets the time. Agree on a rough shape up front, for example (illustrative):
| Period | Buddy time |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | A short check-in each day |
| Weeks 2–4 | Two check-ins a week |
| Weeks 5–8 | One check-in a week, then end |
Put an end date on it. It gives both people permission to stop, and it's a natural point to ask what worked.
What the buddy answers, and what they don't
This split is the core of the program. Write it as a short table and give it to both people on day one.
| Question type | Who answers | Example (illustrative) |
|---|---|---|
| Where is something / who do I ask | Buddy, then point to the document | "Where are the expense forms?" |
| How do people usually do this here | Buddy | "Do people book meeting rooms or just use them?" |
| Rules, policies, procedures | The written document; buddy shows where it is | "What's the approval step for purchases?" |
| How to do my actual job | Manager or trainer | "How do I prepare the weekly report?" |
| Anything about workload, priorities or personal matters | Manager |
The buddy's most useful habit is "let me show you where that's written", not "here's the answer". Each time they point to a document, the new starter learns where to look next time. Each time they answer from memory, the knowledge stays in their head.
A buddy checklist
Give the buddy a one-page list (illustrative):
- [ ] Day 1: introduce the new starter to the people they'll work with most
- [ ] Day 1: show where the team's shared documents and procedures live
- [ ] Week 1: lunch or coffee, no agenda
- [ ] Week 2: ask what they've had trouble finding
- [ ] Week 4: ask which questions they've asked more than once
- [ ] End: pass the list of repeated questions to the manager
Turn repeated questions into documents
The last item on that checklist is where a buddy program pays off beyond one person. If a new starter asked the same thing twice, or the buddy answered it from memory, the answer probably isn't written down anywhere obvious. The manager decides whether to add it to the onboarding documents. The next new starter then finds it without asking.
Common pitfalls
- Buddy becomes trainer. Keep the split table visible.
- No end date. The relationship drifts and neither person knows if it's still on.
- Buddy is the only source. If every answer comes from one person, nothing gets written down.
- No feedback. Ask both people at the end what they'd change.
Wrap-up
A buddy program works when the role is narrow, the time is agreed, and the buddy points to documents rather than replacing them. Set those three things up and the program helps the next new starter too, not just this one.
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