Team Onboarding Checklist

This checklist guides you through onboarding an entire team to AI-DLC. It's designed for tech leads and engineering managers.

Prerequisites

Before starting team onboarding:

Champion Readiness

Champion identified (experienced AI-DLC user)
Champion has completed 5+ units personally
Champion has used multiple workflow types
Champion can answer common questions
Champion has time allocated for supporting team

Team Readiness

All team members have Claude Code access
Team has capacity for learning curve (not in crunch)
Management supports the adoption
Team is aware AI-DLC is coming

Project Readiness

Identified first project for team adoption
Project is low-risk (not critical path)
Project has clear requirements
Project is appropriately sized (2-4 sprints)

Phase 1: Setup (Pre-Introduction)

Documentation Preparation

AI-DLC documentation shared with team
Team conventions document drafted
Example intent prepared (from team's domain)
FAQ document ready (anticipate questions)

Tooling Setup

All team members can install the plugin
Any team-specific configuration documented
Slack channel or communication channel for AI-DLC questions

Scheduling

Team introduction session scheduled (60-90 min)
Pair programming sessions scheduled with each team member
Check-in meetings scheduled (weekly for first sprint)

Phase 2: Team Introduction

The Introduction Session

Agenda (60 minutes):

Post-Introduction

Recording shared (if applicable)
Documentation links sent
Questions from session addressed in writing
Pair programming schedule confirmed

Phase 3: Pair Programming

For each team member:

Session Preparation

Task selected for pair session
Task is appropriate size (1-2 hours)
Champion has prepared context
Team member has environment ready

During the Session

Champion drives first, team member observes
Explain each hat transition
Point out key decision moments
Answer questions as they arise
Switch roles - team member drives
Champion provides guidance as needed
Let team member make decisions
Correct gently when off-track

After the Session

Debrief: What went well? What was confusing?
Schedule follow-up if needed
Team member has clear next step

Pair Programming Tracker

Team Member	Session Scheduled	Session Complete	Independent Ready
__________	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
__________	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
__________	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
__________	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
__________	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]

Phase 4: Independent Work

Establishing Independence

For each team member's first independent unit:

Task assigned
Team member starts independently
Champion available but not watching
Team member completes first unit
Champion reviews completed unit

First Sprint Checkpoints

End of first week:

All team members have completed at least one independent unit
Common questions documented
No major blockers outstanding

End of first sprint:

Team is using AI-DLC consistently
Conventions are being followed
Quality metrics baseline established

Support Structure

Slack channel active with questions
Champion doing regular check-ins
Weekly team sync includes AI-DLC discussion
Issues being documented for improvement

Phase 5: Conventions

Convention Documentation

Document and share team agreements:

File Organization:

Intent file location: ______________
Unit naming convention: ______________
Directory structure: ______________

Workflow Selection:

When to use Default: ______________
When to use TDD: ______________
When to use Adversarial: ______________
When to use Hypothesis: ______________

Git/PR Integration:

Commit message format: ______________
PR description template: ______________
How units map to commits: ______________

Quality Gates:

Required gates for all units: ______________
Team-specific requirements: ______________

Convention Review

Conventions documented
Team has reviewed conventions
Conventions committed to repo
New members know where to find them

Phase 6: Integration

Process Integration

Daily Standups:

Format updated to include unit status
Sample: "Working on unit-02, Builder hat, no blockers"
Team is using new format

Sprint Planning:

Features broken into intents during planning
Unit estimation replacing/supplementing story points
Dependencies captured in planning

Pull Requests:

PR template includes intent/unit reference
Reviewers checking criteria were met
Link to unit files in PR description

Retrospectives:

AI-DLC discussed in retros
Feedback being collected
Improvements being made

Tool Integration (If Applicable)

CI/CD aware of quality gates
Dashboards track unit completion
Metrics collection automated

Phase 7: Metrics

Baseline Metrics (Before AI-DLC)

Document current state for comparison:

Metric	Current Value	Date
Bug rate (per sprint)	_____	_____
PR revision rounds	_____	_____
Test coverage	_____	_____
Rework percentage	_____	_____

Tracking Metrics (After AI-DLC)

Track these during and after adoption:

Adoption Metrics:

Participation rate tracking
Unit completion tracking
Workflow variety tracking

Quality Metrics:

Bug rate comparison
PR revision comparison
Test coverage comparison

Satisfaction Metrics:

Developer survey planned
Survey completed
Results analyzed

Metrics Review

Metrics reviewed at end of pilot period
Comparison to baseline documented
Decision made on continuing/expanding

Phase 8: Support

Ongoing Support Structure

Champion continues availability
Office hours scheduled (weekly or bi-weekly)
Documentation kept up to date
New learnings shared with team

Handling Issues

Common Issues Checklist:

"Too much overhead" → Review conventions, simplify where possible
"Criteria unclear" → Run criteria writing workshop
"Hat transitions awkward" → More practice, pair sessions
"Quality not improving" → Review gate enforcement

Escalation Path

Champion handles most questions
Tech lead handles process issues
Manager handles resource/priority issues
External community for hard problems

Success Criteria

Phase Completion Checklist

Phase 1-2 (Setup & Introduction) Complete:

All team members attended introduction
Documentation available to all
Pair sessions scheduled

Phase 3-4 (Training & Independence) Complete:

All team members completed pair session
All team members completed independent unit
Support structure working

Phase 5-6 (Conventions & Integration) Complete:

Conventions documented and followed
Process integration complete
Team using AI-DLC consistently

Phase 7-8 (Metrics & Support) Complete:

Metrics showing positive or neutral impact
Support structure sustainable
Team operating independently

Team Onboarding Complete When:

100% of team has completed at least 3 independent units
Team conventions documented and followed
AI-DLC integrated with daily processes
Quality metrics maintained or improved
Positive developer feedback (>70%)
Champion support no longer needed daily

Templates

Team Introduction Email

Subject: AI-DLC Introduction Session - [Date]

Team,

We're introducing AI-DLC, a structured methodology for AI-assisted development.

**What:** Team introduction session
**When:** [Date/Time]
**Where:** [Location/Link]
**Duration:** 60 minutes

Before the session:
- Read: [Link to AI-DLC docs]
- Install: Claude Code (if not already)

What to expect:
- Why we're adopting AI-DLC
- Live demo from [Champion]
- Q&A
- Next steps

See you there!

Weekly Check-In Agenda

## AI-DLC Weekly Check-In

### Wins
- What went well this week?

### Challenges
- What was difficult?
- Any blockers?

### Questions
- Open questions needing answers

### Conventions
- Any conventions that need adjustment?

### Action Items
- [Who] [What] [By when]

Developer Feedback Survey

## AI-DLC Feedback Survey

1. How comfortable are you with AI-DLC? (1-5)
2. Is AI-DLC improving your work quality? (Yes/No/Too early)
3. What's working well?
4. What's frustrating?
5. Would you recommend AI-DLC to another team? (1-10)
6. What would make AI-DLC better for you?

Next Steps After Onboarding

Schedule retrospective on adoption process
Document lessons learned
Plan for new team member onboarding
Consider expanding to other teams
Share success stories