Onboarding

Onboarding is one of the most important jobs for a coordinator

Your role is to manage a vibrant community.

  1. Where do those people come from?
  2. Did you find them or did they find you?
  3. Now that you have found each other, how do you convert them into an active and supported Timebanker?

In the sales/marketing manuals they often say that there are seven touchpoints needed to convert a lead. What are the seven touchpoints involved for Timebank?

The process of generating a relationship has been closely studied in sales and marketing. Timebanks may not have the same motivation but we want the same broad outcomes. The clear message from all of the marketing advice is that developing a relationship with people in your community is a process. It requires a lot of input from you and you need to nurture your new members.

Establishing Identity and Trust

Engaging with people as they navigate this process can be the key to building an active community.

Your group leaders will have to decide how much scrutiny to place on people who want to join your timebank. In the New Zealand context that may involve asking for a Ministry of Justice background check, personal references, or personal identity documents.

These processes can take time and energy for everyone involved. They also have the potential to deter people from joining. Many social platforms only require users to provide an active email address and a “good faith” verification that they meet the entry requirements for that group. In contrast, a lengthy process can leave people by the wayside. They can lose interest and may not be energetically committed.

Requirements for CW3

The administrator will have selected some options for the sign-in form. When joining, the email, first name, last name and password fields are required. All other fields are optional.

Requirements for your Community

Managing the Process

Placing requirements on new members increases your responsibility to manage the process that entails. At the very least you will need to have a clear idea of what you are asking and what is involved in meeting your request. Especially as you will very likely need to assist someone who is having to do as you have asked.

Being Organised

Think about what you need to do to manage this process.

  1. Who is involved?
  2. How do you find them?
  3. How do you keep track?
  4. How frequently do you contact them?
  5. How much support can you provide?
  6. How long do you expect it to take?
  7. How much time can you give?

Software

If your group only has a small number of new memberships occurring at any time you may be able to manage the onboarding process in your head or with a notebook/diary. (No - we’re not kidding). Once your needs go beyond what you can easily handle you will benefit from having some assistance. This can be in the form of more people engaged in the administration effort. Do that by all means. But also consider using software to facilitate these tasks.

What is your Sign-up Procedure?

CW3 has user account tools built-in. They allow people to register and login. This is perfect if your timebank does not require any validation or identity checking. This is the option with the least barriers to entry.

TIP

If your timebank does not have any restriction on who becomes a member then you can use the CW3 registration tools. Do this by checking the “Allow anyone to sign up” checkbox in the config area. It’s on by default.

Many timebanks will ask joining members for some form of identification, such as photo ID. Others may want proof of good character (references), or a background check from the Police or Ministry of Justice. Having requirements for social validation can help to ensure the timebank members are honest and can be trusted. A barrier of this sort has a strong social purpose but it introduces a responsibility and a need for timebank coordinators to manage this process.

If you have any restrictions or requirements for new members then you may want to control the signup process yourself. This will enable you to inform your prospective members of the information that they need to supply and provide a way for them to begin the process.

TIP

If you have a custom sign up form, you want the option “allow anyone to signup” to be OFF

TIP

Redirect users to your sign up form. You can use a “Special Page” that is pinned to your home page. In that page you can direct users to your form.

Custom Sign-up Procedures

There are many ways to present potential users with a different sign-up form. The office suites from Google, Microsoft and Zoho that we discuss all offer the ability to generate online forms.

There are also services that use forms as their reason for being.

All of these, the office tools and the specialist tools, can be integrated with other services.

Airtable Free Tier Unlimited bases, 1,200 records per base, 2GB of attachments per base
Jotform Free Tier 5 Forms, 100 submissions per month
Survey Monkey Basic plan ( free ) is crippled
Type Form Free Tier 10 questions per form, 10 submissions per month