Introduction
Starting a new job is a lot to take in. Activity-based onboarding helps you spread the work out over time and present it in a way that feels manageable and welcoming.
Instead of one long checklist, the new hire sees their onboarding journey organized into stages. Each stage holds a handful of activities — a meeting to attend, something to read and learn, a buddy to meet, or a short survey to fill in. The new hire opens each activity, works through it, and marks it as done.
For you, this means:
A repeatable structure. Build a template once and reuse it for every new hire in a role.
The right thing at the right time. Activities are grouped by when they should happen, from before day one through the first few months.
Clear ownership. Each activity can name a point of contact — the manager, an onboarding buddy, or a specific colleague.
Visible progress. You can see at a glance how far along each new hire is.
Getting started: setting up an onboarding journey
You'll find everything under Onboarding in the top navigation. The sidebar gives you Overview, All onboardings, Templates, Checklists, and Settings.
The Overview page is your dashboard. It shows how many onboardings are active, who might need a nudge, who's starting soon, and the average completion rate — plus a per-person action completion grid across the first weeks and months.
Step 1: Start a new hire's onboarding
From anywhere in the onboarding module, click on the "+"-sign to start an onboarding. This will prompt you to:
Pick the employee
Confirm the position their onboarding to
Select an onboarding buddy
From here you have two options:
Pick a template — start from a reusable template you've already built.
Start from scratch — begin with the default empty stages and add your own activities.
Step 2: Choose a template (optional but recommended)
Clicking Pick a template opens the template chooser. Search for a template by name, then preview its full journey — every stage and the activities inside it — on the right before you commit.
When you've found the right one, click Use template. Aboard copies the template's stages and activities onto this onboarding and automatically assigns points of contact (for example, "Manager" becomes the new hire's actual manager).
Step 3: Add a checklist for internal tasks
Use the Checklist tab for practical tasks your team needs to complete around the onboarding, but that don’t need to appear as activities in the new hire’s stage-by-stage journey.
Checklists are great for behind-the-scenes to-dos like:
Setting up a laptop or system access
Preparing documents
Scheduling internal introductions
Reminding the manager or onboarding buddy to follow up
Making sure everything is ready before the first day
Click Checklist at the top of the onboarding, then click Add checklist. Choose the checklist you want to use and click Add.
Each task is assigned to the manager, onboarding buddy, or a specific person, with a due date based on the new hire’s first day.
You can also add individual tasks or sections directly from the Checklist tab using New task or Add section.
Tip: Use Checklist for the internal tasks that help your team prepare, coordinate, and follow up.
Step 4: Review and adjust the journey
After having picked a template, your onboarding now shows as a board of stages, left to right: Preboarding, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Month 2, Month 3. Each stage lists its activities as cards, showing the emoji, title, point of contact, and a colored format badge.
You can drag cards to reorder them within a stage, and use the number next to each stage name to see how many activities it holds.
Step 5: Add or edit activities
Click Add at the bottom of any stage to add one of three things:
Action — a step the new hire completes (read something, attend a meeting, meet their buddy).
Message — a message that's sent automatically.
Form — a form or survey that's sent automatically. Pick from forms you've built in the Forms-module of Aboard.
Click any activity card to edit it. For an Action you can set:
Title and an emoji
Stage — which part of the journey it belongs to
Format — Live meeting, Buddy up, Self learning, Training, or Survey
Point of contact — the manager, the onboarding buddy, or a specific person
Content — rich text with the details the new hire needs
Step 6: Start the onboarding
When the journey looks right, click Start onboarding in the top right. This activates the journey, sends any scheduled messages or forms that are due, and gives the new hire access to their portal. You can still edit activities afterward.
The the ⋯-button also lets you copy the onboarding link to share with the new hire, jump to their Profile page, and later Mark as complete or Archive the onboarding.
How it works for the new hire
When the onboarding starts, the new hire signs in to their own onboarding portal using their email address and a one-time code sent to their inbox. The first time in, they confirm a few profile details (name, photo, birthday).
The welcome page
They land on a warm welcome screen that greets them by name, points them to a good place to start, and surfaces the first activities of their journey.
The onboarding journey
Selecting View all (or Stages) opens the Onboarding journey — the full path, stage by stage. A subtitle tells them which stage they're on now: "You are currently on preboarding. Pick what feels right today."
Each stage lists its activities with an emoji, a title, and a format badge. When they've worked through a stage, they can use Mark as complete to close it out.
Working through an activity
Clicking an activity opens its detail page, with the full content, the format, and the point of contact they can reach out to. Previous/Next arrows and breadcrumbs make it easy to move through the journey.
When they're ready, they use the Mark as button to set the activity's status:
Not started
In progress
Done
Skipped
As activities are completed, stages roll up automatically — finishing all the visible activities in a stage completes it, and finishing all stages completes the onboarding. That progress flows straight back to your Overview dashboard.
Best practices and tips
Build a template per role. Sales hires and engineers need different journeys. Create a template for each common role so you're not rebuilding every time.
Keep activities small. One clear action per activity is easier to follow than a single card with ten things buried in it.
Use formats honestly. The format badge sets expectations — Live meeting signals "block time with someone," while Self learning signals "do this on your own."
Front-load Preboarding lightly. Use the Preboarding stage for warm, welcoming items before day one — not heavy training.
Spread the journey out. Lean on the later stages (Month 2, Month 3) so onboarding doesn't end after week one.
FAQ and troubleshooting
What's the difference between an Action, a Message, and a Form?
An Action is something the new hire does and marks complete in their journey. A Form is a survey sent to them to fill in. A Message is an automatic email — it's an admin tool and does not appear as an activity in the new hire's journey.
What's the difference between a template and a checklist?
A template is the new hire’s onboarding journey. It includes the stages and activities they’ll go through, such as messages, forms, meetings, and learning tasks. A checklist is for the internal work around the onboarding. It helps your team keep track of practical tasks, like preparing equipment, setting up access, booking meetings, or following up.
Why doesn't my message show up in the new hire's journey?
That's expected. Messages are delivered as email and are never shown as activities in the portal.
Can I edit the journey after it's started?
Yes. You can add, edit, reorder, and remove activities after clicking Start onboarding.
Why is the Start onboarding button greyed out?
A journey needs at least one stage with activities before it can start. Pick a template or add activities first.
How does the new hire log in?
They enter their email on the onboarding sign-in page and receive a one-time code by email. The link is also available from the Onboarding actions → Copy onboarding link.
What do the stages mean?
They're time windows relative to the start date: Preboarding (before day one), then Week 1–4, then Month 2 and Month 3.
How do I track progress?
The Overview dashboard shows active onboardings, who needs a nudge, average completion, and a per-person completion grid. Each onboarding also shows its own progress percentage.
Who can set up onboardings?
Managers and admins build and manage onboarding journeys and templates. New hires only ever see their own portal.