# Onboard new users

## **Setting Up for Success**

Once your data is connected and initial documentation is in place, think about the primary users of Secoda. This guide helps you determine the initial rollout group and outlines steps for effective onboarding.

## **Organizing the Workspace**

Before adding new users, it's crucial to organize your workspace by building out Teams. This customization ensures a tailored user experience. For guidance, explore our documentation on [best-practices-for-setting-up-your-workspace](https://docs.secoda.co/best-practices/best-practices-for-setting-up-your-workspace "mention").

## **Choosing Your Rollout Group**

The approach varies by organization. While some may want universal access, others prefer starting with a smaller, more controlled group. Consider starting with a focus group of knowledgeable individuals who can provide valuable feedback and help refine documentation.

#### Questions to Identify Target Users:

* Who is the most knowledgable about the different data across your organization?
* Whose workflows could be improved and automated with a tool like Secoda?

These insights can help form a core group of champion editors within Secoda.

## Best Practices for Onboarding

There are many different ways that our users go about onboarding their teammates into Secoda. Here are some steps that we suggest as best practices.

* [ ] **Outline Internal Policies:** Before onboarding new editors, outline policies so that users know their responsibilities while working in the tool. Tip: These can be documented within Secoda in an "Onboarding" [Collection](https://docs.secoda.co/features/collections-1) so that they can always reference them. Some examples:
  * What does Ownership mean (i.e. Owners must stay up to date on documenting data; Owners must notify other users of any changes)
  * Documentation guidelines and expectations (i.e. What information *must* be included in definitions; How do you use certain Tags)
* [ ] **Introduction:** Use our [onboarding-email-templates](https://docs.secoda.co/readme/secoda-as-an-admin/onboarding-new-users/onboarding-email-templates "mention") to introduce new users to Secoda.
* [ ] **Training Sessions:** Organize training tailored to different user roles—Viewers and Editors.
  * [ ] Check out our [training-session-guide](https://docs.secoda.co/readme/secoda-as-an-admin/onboarding-new-users/training-session-guide "mention") for tips on what to cover.
  * [ ] Share relevant pre-reads ahead of the session to prepare users for an engaging discussion:[secoda-as-a-viewer](https://docs.secoda.co/readme/secoda-as-a-viewer "mention") [secoda-as-an-editor](https://docs.secoda.co/readme/secoda-as-an-editor "mention").
* [ ] **Workspace Invitation:** Add users to designated [Groups](https://docs.secoda.co/user-management/groups) and [Teams](https://docs.secoda.co/user-management/teams). If necessary, create new ones.
* [ ] **Follow-up:** Send a recap email with next steps and useful links, such as the [Introduction to Secoda guide](https://secoda.notion.site/Secoda-Intro-Guide-277512fb0c224b8a920fa0b099a26810) and answers to session queries.

### Encourage Engagement

* [ ] **Slack** **Channel:** If you have a dedicated Secoda or data-related Slack channel, invite and encourage users to ask questions and share feedback.
  * [ ] Make sure to share this feedback with our team as we are always looking for ways to improve the product!
* [ ] **User Engagement:** Check our guide on [user-engagement-and-adoption](https://docs.secoda.co/readme/secoda-as-an-admin/user-engagement-and-adoption "mention") for tips to excite users about Secoda.

## **Workshops to Enhance Documentation**

Once you've onboarded your initial rollout group, you might find it helpful to host workshop sessions to get the documentation flowing. Here are some ideas you might consider:

* **Teams Workshops:** Regular sessions can help teams decide how to structure their resources, assign ownership, and adopt [custom-tags](https://docs.secoda.co/resource-and-metadata-management/tags/custom-tags "mention").
* **Dictionary Workshop:** Compile a list of frequently used terms to populate the Dictionary.
* **Documentation Days:** Establish dedicated workshop times for users to update and refine existing documentation.

By following these steps, you can ensure a smooth and effective rollout of Secoda, enhancing data governance and collaboration across your organization.