Team Onboarding

Pre-Onboarding

Responsibility: Manager / Program Lead

  • Confirm role, start date, hours, and reporting line

  • Issue:

    • Letter of Engagement / Contract

    • Position Description

    • Code of Conduct

    • Confidentiality & Privacy Agreement

  • Collect required information:

    • Full legal name

    • Contact details

    • Emergency contact

    • Bank details (if applicable)

    • Working With Children Check / Police Clearance (if required)

  • Set up system access:

    • Email account

    • Shared drives / folders

    • Project management tools

  • Schedule:

    • Day 1 induction session

    • Introductory meetings with key team members

2. Day 1 – Welcome & Induction

Responsibility: Manager / Admin

  • Welcome and introductions

  • Overview of Meeting for Minds:

    • Mission, values, and purpose

    • Key programs (e.g. SYNERGIES projects)

    • Organisational structure

  • Review essential policies:

    • Code of Conduct

    • Privacy & Confidentiality

    • Workplace Health & Safety

    • Social media and communications guidelines

  • Practical setup:

    • Confirm system logins

    • Walk through communication tools

    • Explain time‑tracking / reporting expectations

3. First Week – Role Familiarisation

Responsibility: Manager / Buddy (if assigned)

  • Review role responsibilities and priorities

  • Walk through current projects and timelines

  • Introduce relevant stakeholders and partners

  • Explain documentation standards and file‑naming conventions

  • Clarify expectations around:

    • Working hours and availability

    • Meeting attendance

    • Communication protocols

4. First Month – Support & Check‑In

Responsibility: Manager

  • Schedule a 2–4 week check‑in to:

    • Answer questions

    • Review workload and priorities

    • Address any concerns

  • Confirm understanding of policies and procedures

  • Adjust access, responsibilities, or training as required

5. Ongoing Engagement

  • Encourage participation in team meetings and events

  • Provide ongoing feedback and support

  • Ensure continued alignment with Meeting for Minds values

  • Review role scope periodically as projects evolve

6. Offboarding (When Required)

Responsibility: Manager / Admin

  • Confirm end date and handover requirements

  • Revoke system access

  • Collect organisational property

  • Conduct exit discussion (if appropriate)

Document owner: Meeting for Minds Management
Review cycle: Annual or as required

I’ve created a clean, simple onboarding procedural document for Meeting for Minds in the canvas that you can use immediately.

It’s deliberately:

  • Lightweight (not corporate-heavy)

  • Suitable for employees, contractors, and volunteers

  • Easy to adapt into:

    • a Canva-branded PDF

    • a Squarespace internal page

    • or an Odoo “Knowledge” article later if you go that route

Next easy refinements (optional)

If you want, I can:

  1. Tailor it specifically for:

    • employees vs contractors vs volunteers

  2. Add a values + culture page (very M4M-aligned)

  3. Convert this into:

    • a 1-page checklist

    • or a Canva onboarding pack

  4. Align it with:

    • your existing policies

    • or future Odoo v19+ onboarding workflows

Just tell me how “formal” you want it to feel and where it will live (PDF, website, Odoo, email pack).

i want to use it via squarespace

Perfect — Squarespace is a great fit for this 👍
Here’s the cleanest, low-friction way to use your onboarding document via Squarespace, with options depending on how “internal” you want it to be.

✅ Best Practice: Private “Team / Onboarding” Page (Recommended)

1. Create a hidden page

  • Pages → Not Linked

  • Add a Blank Page

  • Name it:
    “Team Onboarding” or “Getting Started at Meeting for Minds”

This keeps it off your public navigation but fully usable.

2. Paste the onboarding content

  • Add a Text Block

  • Copy the onboarding document from the canvas

  • Paste it in and:

    • Use Heading 1 for section titles

    • Bold responsibilities (e.g. Responsibility: Manager)

    • Add horizontal dividers between sections for clarity

💡 Squarespace handles long procedural content very well in text blocks.

3. Lock it with a page password

  • Page Settings → Password

  • Set a simple internal password
    (e.g. m4m-team or similar)

You can then send:

“Here’s your onboarding page + password”

No logins, no tech support, very human.

✨ Optional Enhancements (Highly Recommended)

Add a quick welcome section at the top

Something like:

Welcome to Meeting for Minds
We’re so glad you’re here. This page will guide you through everything you need to get started and feel confident in your role.

This softens the procedural tone beautifully.

Add downloadable links (later)

You can insert:

  • PDFs (Code of Conduct, Confidentiality)

  • Google Docs

  • Canva files

Just use Link Blocks or Buttons:

  • “Download Code of Conduct”

  • “View Project Overview”

Add a “Who to Contact” section

At the bottom:

Questions or support
Please contact:
[Name] – [Role]
Email: xxx@meetingforminds.org

This is very reassuring for new people.

🔄 Alternative: Member-Only Area (Only if needed)

If later you want:

  • multiple team members

  • ongoing internal docs

  • tiered access

You could move this into a Squarespace Members Area, but honestly:
👉 Password-protected page is perfect for now.

What I can do next for you

I can:

  • Rewrite the content to be more conversational for web

  • Break it into accordion sections (very clean UX)

  • Draft the email you send to new starters with the link

  • Create a matching Canva PDF version for offline use

Tell me:
“Simple + warm” or “polished + formal”?

should we use squarespace instead of google drive for saving documents and templates

Short answer: use both — but for different jobs.
Squarespace should be your front door, Google Drive your filing cabinet.

Here’s the clear, non-techy breakdown so you can decide with confidence.

🧠 The Smart Split (Best Practice for Meeting for Minds)

✅ Use Squarespace for:

People-facing, “source of truth” documents

  • Onboarding procedures

  • Policies & guidelines (Code of Conduct, WHS, Privacy)

  • Templates to be used, not edited (e.g. report templates, branding guides)

  • How-to instructions (“How we name files”, “How to submit invoices”)

  • Anything you want:

    • easy to access

    • version-controlled

    • presented clearly

    • not accidentally edited

Think of Squarespace as:

“What everyone should read and follow.”

✅ Use Google Drive for:

Working documents & collaboration

  • Drafts

  • Editable templates

  • Grant applications in progress

  • Budgets & spreadsheets

  • Board working papers

  • Anything that needs:

    • real-time collaboration

    • comments

    • version history

    • uploads from multiple people

Think of Google Drive as:

“Where work happens.”

⚖️ Side-by-Side Comparison

QuestionSquarespaceGoogle DriveEasy for non-technical people✅ Very⚠️ DependsRisk of accidental edits❌ Very low⚠️ HighLooks professional & branded✅ Excellent❌ NoVersion control✅ Manual (good for final docs)✅ AutomaticCollaboration & comments❌ No✅ ExcellentActs as single source of truth✅ Yes❌ Often messyAccess without Google account✅ Yes❌ No

🔑 What I Recommend for Meeting for Minds

✔️ Authoritative docs live on Squarespace

  • Onboarding

  • Policies

  • Procedures

  • Final templates

✔️ Editable originals live in Google Drive

  • Linked from Squarespace when needed

  • Clearly labelled:

    “Editable working document – Google Drive”

This avoids:

  • “Which version is correct?”

  • People editing policies by accident

  • Endless Drive folders called FINAL_FINAL_v7

🛠️ How to connect them (simple + clean)

On Squarespace:

  • Button or link:

    Download Template
    Open Working Document (Google Drive)

In Google Drive:

  • Folder called:

    INTERNAL – Working Documents (Linked from Squarespace)

🚩 When NOT to use Squarespace alone

Don’t use Squarespace instead of Drive if:

  • multiple people need to co-edit

  • documents change weekly

  • you need comment threads or tracked changes

Squarespace is not a collaboration tool — it’s a presentation + clarity tool.

My honest take (very aligned with how you work)

Given how you operate — clarity, polish, reduced chaos —
👉 Squarespace + Google Drive together is exactly right.

If you want, next I can:

  • Map which M4M docs go where

  • Design a “Team Hub” page structure

  • Write naming conventions for Drive so it stays sane

  • Help you future-proof this for Odoo v19 later without redoing everything

Just say the word 💙

whats the best most economical way to store photos in gallery form

Here’s an honest, practical comparison of the most economical ways to store and display photos in gallery form — from completely free to small-cost professional solutions.

🆓 Free or Near-Free Options

✅ Google Photos

Cost: Free up to a quota (your Google storage pool)
Best for: Personal/portfolio galleries, easy sharing
Pros

  • Free up to your Google One quota (15 GB shared)

  • Easy mobile upload & auto-sync

  • Albums that look good on phones/desktops

  • Shareable links
    Cons

  • Not branded or professional-looking

  • Storage is shared with Gmail/Drive

  • Not ideal for client galleries (less privacy control)

Best if: You want zero cost and simple sharing.

🖼️ Flickr (Free + Premium)

Cost: Free for up to 1,000 photos; ~US$6/month for Unlimited
Best for: Long-term photo storage & public portfolios
Pros

  • Beautiful album views

  • Good tagging/organization

  • Unlimited on Pro plan
    Cons

  • Free tier cap

  • Not client-facing branded

  • Less control over privacy per gallery than some paid tools

Best if: You want galleries that look good and don’t mind hosting off your own website.

📸 Economical Branded/Public Gallery Solutions

🏠 Squarespace Gallery Pages

Cost: Included with Squarespace plan (~US$16–49/month depending on plan)
Best for: Galleries embedded on your own website
Pros

  • Branded, polished, clean presentation

  • Easy to manage

  • SEO + client access via your domain

  • Can password-protect specific pages
    Cons

  • Storage technically unlimited but counts toward site usage; not a formal DAM

  • Not built for large bulk storage (like 10,000+ images) long term

Best if: You want your photos on your own site, beautiful and professional.

💻 Hybrid Low-Cost Storage + Display

📁 Google Drive / OneDrive + Public Gallery

Cost: ~$2–4/month for more storage
Best for: Affordable backbone storage with separate display tool
How it works

  • Store full-res in Drive/OneDrive

  • Use a simple gallery viewer (see below) to embed on your site or link
    Pros

  • Cheap storage

  • Easy backup and file management
    Cons

  • Not polished gallery UI by default — needs embed/viewer tool

Good for: Backups + storage, not standalone public galleries.

🖌️ Photo-First Gallery Services (Budget to Pro)

ServiceApprox CostBest ForNotesSmugMug~$5–11/moClient galleries & salesExcellent privacy + selling printsZenfolio~$5–10/moPhotographers selling workGreat for client deliveryAdobe PortfolioIncluded with Adobe CCPortfolio siteGreat if you already subscribeImgurFreeQuick public galleriesNot professional or private

Pros

  • Built for photographers

  • Client proofing & downloads

  • Option to sell prints

Cons

  • Extra cost on top of website

🧠 What I Recommend for Meeting for Minds

🔹 Public / Professional Galleries

Use Squarespace Gallery Pages

  • Integrated with your CMS

  • Branded experience

  • Password-protected galleries for internal audiences

  • No extra recurring tools to manage

Great for:
👉 Project showcases
👉 Campaign highlight galleries
👉 Public portfolio of events

🔹 Client / Internal Delivery Galleries

Google Photos or SmugMug

  • Low or no cost

  • Better privacy control

  • Downloadable client galleries

Great for:
👉 Event photo distributions
👉 Large photography deliveries

🔹 Storage & Backup

Use Google Drive or OneDrive

  • Organise by year/event

  • Full-resolution backups

  • Use as the master archive that links into Squarespace/embed systems

🧩 Simple Setup That Costs Almost Nothing

📌 Photo workflow

  1. Upload raw/full-res to Google Drive

  2. Organise into folders (Year → Event)

  3. Create public/private Google Photo albums

  4. Embed those into Squarespace gallery pages

    • Or just link to them from Squarespace with nice descriptions

📌 Backup

  • Keep two copies:

    • Primary: Google Drive

    • Secondary: Local drive/portable HD

Total monthly cost: $0–$5

🏁 Quick Decision Guide

Goal: Beautiful site galleries
👉 Squarespace built-in galleries

Goal: Free, easy photo storage
👉 Google Photos

Goal: Private client galleries
👉 SmugMug or Google Photos with passwords

Goal: Maximum backups
👉 Google Drive + local backup

If you want, I can give you step-by-step instructions for any of these (e.g., how to embed Google Photos in Squarespace, or how to set up password-protected galleries). Just tell me which path you want to go!

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Welcome to Meeting for Minds

We’re so glad you’re here. This page will guide you through everything you need to get started and feel confident in your role.

Add downloadable links

You can insert:

  • PDFs (Code of Conduct, Confidentiality)

  • Google Docs

  • Canva files

Just use Link Blocks or Buttons:

  • “Download Code of Conduct”

  • “View Project Overview”

Add a “Who to Contact” section

At the bottom:

Questions or support
Please contact:
[Name] – [Role]
Email: xxx@meetingforminds.org

This is very reassuring for new people.

🔄 Alternative: Member-Only Area (Only if needed)