Employee onboarding software built around real team questions
As a department lead, you keep answering where a new hire should start, how to request access and which process to follow. HR, IT and experienced colleagues repeat their parts of the introduction while the new employee gathers links. ChatDocument brings those questions into a shared company workspace. Department onboarding paths provide sourced answers to the questions people ask first, and managers can see progress through the path.
Start from the guidance your department already uses
Connect the employee handbook, department introduction, role guidance, access instructions and working procedures. Google Drive, SharePoint and OneDrive, Confluence, Notion and Dropbox can supply existing documents. You can also upload your team's guides and connect documented knowledge from Slack.
Keep maintaining the originals. New and edited connected documents are picked up automatically, so the onboarding material draws from the same sources colleagues use in daily work. Include the practical instructions that explain what to do next, such as where to request access and who reviews an initial handoff. The table gives examples of documents to supply for a department path.
Build the path around questions people actually ask
Tailor the questions to the department. A sales hire needs proposal guidance, while an operations hire needs the vendor and handoff rules relevant to the role. Both can ask shared company policies within their existing access.
| Typical employee question | Document to connect |
|---|---|
| "Where should I start learning how this department works?" | Department introduction and onboarding guide |
| "What responsibilities belong to my role?" | Role guide and responsibility overview |
| "How do I request the tools my role needs?" | Application access request guide |
| "Who reviews my work before I hand it over?" | Department review and handoff SOP |
| "Where do I find the policy for remote work?" | Employee handbook and remote work policy |
| "What should I do when I cannot resolve a customer issue?" | Support escalation guide |
| "Who can help when a process document does not cover my question?" | Department ownership and escalation guide |
Introduce the team without opening every document
Create a department space with a named owner for the path and its source material. Make shared employee guidance available in the appropriate spaces. Keep sensitive HR records, legal matters and restricted department material in private spaces. Organize responsibility with admin, space owner, member and reader roles.
ChatDocument inherits source permissions, so a new hire only gets answers from documents they can already open. Space membership determines which department knowledge they can use. Review access as part of your onboarding process, and keep access request instructions available when the underlying operational documents are restricted. See how permissions apply to answers.
- Read the support handbook
- How do I escalate a priority one ticket?
- Which refunds need approval?
- Where do I find the export runbook?
- Who owns the customer data policy?
Let the same assistant handle the next question
Onboarding paths are included on Business and Scale, alongside the Slack and Microsoft Teams bot. New hires can use the browser, message the bot directly, mention it in a channel or receive automatic replies in a help channel. The same source permissions apply, and answers link to the supporting documents.
This gives new employees a continuing place to ask after the introduction. When the documents cannot answer, ChatDocument says "not in your documents" and shows the closest passages. A person can take the handoff and help the new colleague understand the missing step.
Use new hire questions to improve the next introduction
Verify recurring answers about department responsibilities, review steps and access requests. Each verified answer carries an owner, review date and version history. Saved answers let the team reuse the guidance and keep the underlying documents easy to inspect.
Business and Scale group unanswered questions for the right owner and flag conflicting or outdated documents. If a new hire finds that the department guide and a handoff SOP disagree, the owner has a specific correction to make. Department analytics and leadership reports reveal topics that keep returning. Use them alongside path progress to decide which guidance needs clarification and where a manager should follow up.
FAQ
Can departments have different onboarding paths?
Yes. Business and Scale include department onboarding paths, with starter questions, sourced answers and progress visible to the manager. Each department can use the documentation relevant to its work.
Can new hires ask outside the path?
Yes. They can ask across the spaces and documents they are allowed to access. The assistant remains useful as their responsibilities develop and new questions arise.
Does progress show that someone has mastered the role?
Progress shows who has gone through the onboarding path. Managers use that information alongside conversations and their existing review process to decide what support a new colleague needs.
Give new hires a place to start and keep asking
Connect your department guides, choose a plan with onboarding paths and invite the team. See pricing for Business and Scale.