🔎 Onboarding Scavenger Hunt

How to Play

The Onboarding Scavenger Hunt transforms the overwhelming flood of first-week information into a self-directed exploration game. Instead of being told where everything is, new hires receive prompts like 'Find the team handbook,' 'Find where meeting notes are stored,' or 'Find the support contact for IT questions.' Each prompt leads to genuinely useful workplace knowledge. The hunt can be done individually or in small groups, and the pace is entirely self-determined — new hires complete items as they naturally encounter them throughout their first days.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Create a list of 8-12 scavenger hunt prompts customized for your workplace.
2. Give each new hire the list and explain that they can complete items at their own pace.
3. Encourage new hires to ask colleagues for help finding things — the asking is part of the learning.
4. Check progress after the first week. Ask what was easy to find and what was challenging.
5. Use the challenging items as feedback for improving your onboarding documentation.

Tips for Hosts

• Customize the prompts for your specific workplace. Generic prompts like 'Find the HR portal' are less engaging than real ones.
• Set a relaxed timeframe. This is a first-week or first-month activity, not a race.
• Let the difficulty of finding things inform your onboarding process. If everyone struggles to find something, fix the discovery path.
• Pair with a buddy so new hires can ask for hints when stuck.

Best Use Cases

• Structured onboarding programs: The definitive use case — replace passive information dumps with active discovery.
• Remote onboarding: Especially valuable for remote hires who cannot wander the office asking questions.
• Team-specific onboarding: Create a hunt for each department with team-specific resources.
• Intern onboarding: Helps interns quickly become self-sufficient in navigating the organization.

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