We've all had that experience of being overwhelmed on Day 1, and wishing we could fast-track to knowing everyone and everything. One of the best things you can do for new hires is to ensure they're meeting everyone they need to know — but it's really hard to think about and make those introductions for everyone coming in the door.

Enter a connections buddy, a special kind of buddy assigned just to assess who the new person needs to know, and to make those relevant introductions during their onboarding period. A connections buddy isn't a new hire buddy for onboarding or a lunch pal — their sole responsibility is giving the new hire opportunities to build their network internally.

💡Internal studies at Google found that making meaningful connections was one of the most important aspects of the new hire onboarding process.

How to Set Up a Connections Buddy Program in Donut

If your team isn't yet enabled for Premium:

  1. If your team isn't yet enabled for Premium, start your 14-day free trial.
  2. Follow the Wizard prompts to create your first template.
  3. Once your template has been created, open it and go to Building Blocks in the upper right hand corner.
  4. Select Connections Buddy Program to preview the content, and then add it to your template. 
  5. Review the messages in your template, and make any customizations you'd like.
  6. If you have any questions, we have more info on Onboarding and templates right this way!

If your team is already enabled for Premium:

  1. Log into your account, and select Building Blocks in the left nav.
  2. Select Connections Buddy Program, and hit the purple Start button. You'll be prompted to select a template.
  3. Review the messages in your template, and make any customizations you'd like.

Either Way:

Be sure to customize your settings for how the connections buddy is chosen. You can assign the connections buddy yourself, you can prompt a manager or another point person to select the connections buddy via direct message in Slack, or you can choose a buddy randomly from a dedicated Slack channel.

Don't forget to add new hires via the New Hires tab so that your buddy system can start working its magic!


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