First steps when introducing Notion to a new teammate

You already know how powerful Notion can be for wikis, project management, docs, notes, and more. But your new teammate? They’re not quite there...yet.

Luckily, we can help. By giving them a few basics and places to experiment in Notion, they’ll be collaborating, using comments and mentions, and contributing to your company’s single source of truth in no time.

If you’re already a Notion user and want to help others on your team unlock the full power of Notion, use these tips to get your teammates up to speed.

If you use Notion for onboarding, create a page as part of that process that compiles all these resources, tips, and steps for new teammates. You can even add it to an onboarding template if you're using one. This gives new users one place to access everything they’ll need to get started with Notion.

If not, try duplicating the Notion Onboarding Template into your workspace.

We suggest encouraging members of your team to get to know and love the private page section of their sidebar. Think of private pages as their playground. Here, they can take notes, experiment with block types, and learn about Notion without fear of mucking up any shared pages or databases.

As part of creating a private page, have them check out the Notion Essentials 101 playlist. Here, they’ll learn how to add and edit content, set up a workspace, and collaborate with teammates.

Once they're familiar with the basics, here's what you can tell them to do next:

1. Get familiar with blocks: Learn how blocks work in Notion and experiment with adding different types of content to a page.

2. Learn the slash command: The slash command is the starting place for just about everything they'll do on a Notion page.

3. Embed some content: Whether it's dragging a photo in from the desktop, adding a video from YouTube, or including a code snippet, embedding different kinds of content into a Notion page is a key learning point. Have them explore the different types of embeds and how to use them.

4. Have a little fun styling the page: Experiment with headings, columns, colors, page icons, covers, and more. The customize and style your content guide covers the basics. Let your teammate bring their personal flair to the private page.

Once your new teammate is familiar with some of the on-page aspects of Notion, they'll want to start contributing publicly.

Make sure they understand how information is structured in your workspace by walking them through these components:

1. Start with the sidebar and how it's organized: They can watch this video about navigating with the sidebar, which covers top-level pages, toggling pages open and closed, and notifications. Be sure to also share anything unique to your team's space, like a meeting notes database or an operating system page.

2. Show them how to collaborate with teammates: Working with others is one of the things that makes Notion so powerful. Have your teammate tag you in a comment somewhere using the @ key on a block or page.

3. Teach them how to share pages: They can watch this video about sharing and publishing content in Notion. Remember that private page they were playing in? Have them share it with you, choose the right level of access, and watch it move to the Shared section of the sidebar.

4. Explain your team's working norms: At a more human level, it can help to explain how your organization works. How do teams like to receive documents? What timeline is reasonable for feedback? Understanding these norms can help a new user feel more at home in shared spaces.

Many teams store information in databases, so it's important that your new colleague understands how they work. Have them read this introduction to databases, then show them around some of your team's databases while giving them a breakdown of each component.

They should explore:

1. The different ways to add a database: This video about creating databases explains the different ways to create a database and add information to it.

2. Database properties: Show them the difference between Select and Multi-select, how to tag someone using a Person property, and how to set a deadline with a Date property.

3. Database views: Views allow your team to slice and surface information in different ways while using the same underlying data. Have your new teammate explore database views, then put their learning into action by creating a view of a shared database that shows just their projects.

4. Database pages and templates: Finally, show them that every item in a database opens into a full Notion page. If your team uses database templates, you can show those off too.

The Notion Template Gallery is a great place to find inspiration.

Users joining a team might not be setting up complex systems right away, but exploring templates can help them understand what's possible with databases and page structures in Notion.