Library/Leak 09

Onboarding done from memory

Onboarding a new client or hire happens ad hoc, from the owner's memory, undocumented.

VestStandardizeManual workC–D · a quarter to six months

How you know you have it

“When a new client or hire starts, what happens, and is any of it written down?”

What kind of leak it is

A touch leak — it costs interruptions of you

Does it need your judgment?

Usually yes — this is a decision, not a chore.

A touch that needs judgment is a delegation candidate: someone has to decide, and it does not have to be you.

How to measure it

owner time per onboarding × onboardings per year

Annualized the same way everywhere: duration × frequency × people × 52.

Typical range — illustrative

20–80 hrs/yr per onboarding cycle, plus the inconsistency cost

An order of magnitude to prime your eye, not a statistic and not a claim about anyone's result. The only number that matters is the one you measure.

The move — Standardize

One onboarding checklist.

Where it lands in a Time P&L

Manual work

How long a fix takes

C–D · a quarter to six months

What to do about it

Tools that fix this

No tool names this category on its own yet. The two below apply to all twenty.

And across everything

On paper

This category and the other nineteen on one page, to tick off against a normal week: The 20 Time Leaks.