Office Manager onboarding plan
Office managers keep many small things running. Onboarding should hand over suppliers, recurring tasks and budgets explicitly, because most of this knowledge is undocumented.
What good onboarding achieves
Run the office and its suppliers smoothly, within budget, and support new-starter logistics and team events.
Week one example
- Day 1: Building access, key systems and meet the team.
- Day 2: Supplier list: cleaning, catering, IT hardware, facilities.
- Day 3: Recurring tasks calendar and budget.
- Day 4: Visitor, security and emergency procedures.
- Day 5: New-starter logistics: desks, equipment and welcome.
30/60/90 progression
- Day 30: Owns supplier relationships and recurring tasks.
- Day 60: Manages the office budget and new-starter logistics.
- Day 90: Has improved one process, such as equipment ordering.
People to meet (examples)
- Their manager
- Previous office manager, if available
- Key suppliers
- IT contact
- HR contact
Systems to learn (examples)
- Expense or purchasing tool
- Building access system
- Shared calendar
- Supplier contracts folder
Manager checkpoints
- Week 1: supplier handover
- Day 30: recurring tasks owned
- Day 60: budget review
- Day 90: improvement
Common mistakes
- No written list of suppliers and contracts
- Recurring tasks discovered when they're missed
- Unclear spending authority
- Not connecting with HR on new starters
Checklist
- Building access set up
- Supplier list handed over
- Contracts located
- Recurring task calendar shared
- Budget and spending limits explained
- Emergency procedures known
- New-starter process explained
- IT contact introduced