WPF development, as well as hiring the right software engineers, is in demand. Currently, many existing enterprise applications written in WPF are functioning stably. In addition, WPF is often chosen for developing desktop solutions from scratch due to its performance, customization options, and advanced graphics options. Therefore, when a company wants to hire a WPF developer to its team, one of the most important steps is to smoothly onboard the engineer to the project for their further productive work and maximum return. In this article, our team will cover the topics related to successful onboarding, its important stages, and significance.

 

Main Steps of the Onboarding Process

 

Onboarding is an important part of joining a project and team, which is why it is important to understand its main stages. Among them:

 

Step 1. Preboarding Preparation

 

From the company’s side, everything needs to be prepared before the first day of the onboarding process. This includes preparing the workplace, planning, and other aspects, including:

 

Assign a mentor or coach who can introduce the hired WPF developer to the project and be open to any questions from the new employee

 

Prepare accounts and provide access to the systems that the expert will work with. This includes, for example, access to project management systems Jira, or others, credentials to repositories, documentation, and collaboration tools

 

It is necessary to collect and provide access to documentation related to the project: for example, a knowledge base, guidelines, architectural descriptions, etc.

 

It is also necessary to make sure that the development environment is ready

 

Step 2. Getting to Know the Company and Team

 

An important aspect when onboarding a new employee is communication, so it is important to do the following:

 

Tell them about the company in more detail; if it is an onsite WPF developer who will work from the office, it is worth giving a tour of the office and showing them where everything is located

 

You need to get to know the team: the main team and other people involved in the project

 

It is worth talking about processes and roles. Each company already has its own established dev processes, so you need to explain information about environments, sprints, releases, etc.

 

Step 3. Technical Part of the Onboarding

 

The hired WPF developer needs to be told and shown the technical features of the project during the onboarding period. Onboarding is the phase when the specialist gets acquainted with the project and its concepts for effective work in the future. This phase includes:

 

Setting up the dev environment and checking that everything works and compiles properly

 

Getting acquainted with the code, its architecture. The functionality of the application, its features, and its main goals

 

Getting acquainted with the WPF concepts used in the desktop application

 

It is important to introduce other aspects, such as explaining the code review process, releases, talking about AI tools used on the project to speed up development efforts, etc.

 

Introduce security topics and regulatory compliance

 

Step 4. Assigning the First Task on the Project

 

Usually, a WPF developer who is just starting to work on a project is given a simpler task. This is done so that the software engineer can practically implement their knowledge and be more involved in the project. Usually, this can be a task to fix a bug, mini-refactoring, writing unit tests, or something else. Later, when the developer smoothly enters the project, he will move on to more difficult and complex tasks.

 

Step 5. Feedback and Communication

 

At this stage, it is important to hear feedback from the manager, as well as from the hired WPF developer himself. Why is this needed? From the management point of view, you can see what is worth paying attention to and how satisfied the manager is with the new employee. From the employee’s point of view, you can find out his impressions of working on the project, hear about potential difficulties, and other things. Proper communication allows you to find a good approach and speed up the onboarding process.

 

Step 6. Constant Support and Communication

 

Support and communication with the developer involved in the project is an important part of a WPF development project. In the first weeks of work, the specialist may have questions, and colleagues on the team should be open to cooperation and help.

 

What a Bad Onboarding Process Can Lead To

 

Lack of onboarding or poorly structured onboarding for attracting a new WPF developer can have negative consequences for the business. These include:

 

Slow task completion time, when there is no complete and clear understanding of the project. In such cases, a lot of time is spent by a person trying to figure out and complete the task.

 

Demotivation of the expert, his low interest in the project results, and potential dismissal in search of another project

 

Increased number of errors and technical debt. If the developer does not understand the project as a whole, then he solves problems locally without taking into account the potential impact of fixes on other parts of the desktop application

 

Constant distraction of other team members. If the specialist did not have time for questions during onboarding, he may start to contact colleagues constantly during work and distract them from other tasks

 

That is why a structured onboarding process for a hired WPF developer must take place. If a software developer clearly understands the project, its specifics, and architecture, and also has an understanding of general processes, then such work becomes effective and brings benefits to the business.

 

Conclusion

 

Companies specializing in WPF development services have clearly structured onboarding processes for developers, which we have clearly described in this article. A hired WPF developer is more likely to stay working for a software development company where he feels comfortable, has the opportunity to smoothly enter the project, and produce results. Our team can say from our experience that successful hiring is not the end of the process. Onboarding also plays a key role, where the developer can either stay or decide to leave. Therefore, an effective onboarding process for a WPF developer is a key aspect.