A Simple IT Checklist for Onboarding New Staff
New starter on Monday? Here's everything you need to get sorted so they can hit the ground running from day one.
There’s nothing worse than a new starter showing up on Monday morning and sitting around because nobody sorted their IT. It looks unprofessional, wastes their time, and wastes yours. I see it happen far too often with businesses across Ireland.
Here’s the checklist I run through for every new starter:
Email account. Set up their Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace account. Include them in the right distribution lists and shared mailboxes from day one. Nobody wants to spend their first week chasing access.
Teams or Chat access. Add them to the relevant Teams channels or Google Chat spaces. This is how they’ll ask questions without feeling like they’re interrupting everyone.
Shared drives and files. Give them access to the folders and documents they need. Nothing more, nothing less. They can always request more later.
Hardware. Laptop, monitors, keyboard, mouse — have it ready and set up before they walk in the door. Nobody wants to spend day one watching Windows updates crawl along.
Software. Whatever tools they need for their job — accounting software, CRM, design tools. Installed and configured before they arrive.
Passwords and security. Set up their initial password, walk them through MFA, show them how to use a password manager. Security from day one.
Printer and network. Connect them to the office Wi-Fi and printers. Small thing, but it’s genuinely frustrating when you can’t print a document on your first day.
The whole process takes me about 90 minutes if I have the new starter’s details a few days in advance. Send me their name and role by Wednesday, and they’ll walk in Monday morning with everything ready to go.
Security from day one matters — make sure MFA is set up for every new account. And if you’re not sure what else your business needs, here’s the full breakdown. I handle new starter setups for businesses across Galway and Mayo.
