DAO Essentials: 6 Key Onboarding Practices

Design new member onboarding with contributors in mind

As these DAOs grow in size, they’re taking different approaches to scale these 1:1 conversations:Mentor/buddy system: Each new member is paired with a currently active member of the communityCohort-based onboarding: Each new cohort is a part of a “class” and accomplishes projects or tasks together as a form of bonding

Communicating a shared purpose helps to set expectations for participation and fosters organizational health. As opposed to being everything to everyone, a DAO needs to understand what drives its community and serve that community well in accordance with its mission. This first step lays the foundation for a strong community ethos, which facilitate... See more

Regardless of the exact structure, many agree that:

Task checklists: Each new member must complete a small list of tasks (eg. introducing themselves, joining a community call, completing a bounty, and/or messaging a core contributor)

Joining a DAO can be overwhelming; a constant struggle for DAOs bringing on new members is providing context around who is doing what. A direct 1:1 conversation with a current team member provides a space for new members to ask questions, share their interests, and discuss what it would mean to get involved. This tailored onboarding is especially h... See more

Facilitate 1:1 connections, especially early onInvest in education and resourcesAccommodate for different levels of knowledge and experiencePreempt scalability challenges, especially pertaining to quality of work and “offboarding” 

Members should stay educated and updated on important and relevant information. However, it’s up to the DAO to make sure that this process is as frictionless as possible. Depending on the DAO’s structure, the DAO can facilitate this by identifying the right cadence of information-sharing, both synchronously (recurring calls) and asynchronously (mes... See more

Ways to contribute should be made clear to all membersExpectations for contribution should be clearly communicatedThere should be low-stakes ways to contributeMany of these DAOs find that there are a lot of people interested in stepping up and contributing, but they are not sure how and where―it’s a problem of both education and fit. Ways to addres... See more