How to Onboard New Team Members with the EOS Powered by Ninety Guide

The EOS Powered by Ninety Onboarding Guide is a 10-week program in the Knowledge Portal designed for new employees joining a company that already runs on the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS®). The guide teaches new team members the fundamentals of EOS, walks them through Ninety's tools, and shows how the platform supports their organization's goals. Each day's lesson takes fewer than five minutes.

All users can access the guide in Learn Mode. Owners, Admins, and Managers can assign the guide to new team members by creating To-Dos from the Knowledge Portal.

View the Guide

What the onboarding guide is

The onboarding guide is a self-paced learning path inside the Knowledge Portal. It's built for new hires at companies already running on EOS, not for leadership teams implementing EOS for the first time.

The guide is organized into 10 weekly topics. Each week pairs daily tasks in Ninety with recommended reading from What the Heck Is EOS? by Gino Wickman and Tom Bouwer, plus discussion questions for conversations with managers and teams.

Why use the onboarding guide

New team members use this guide to learn EOS fundamentals, get up to speed in Ninety, and show up ready to contribute to their team's weekly Level 10 Meeting® (sometimes called an “L10”), the operating heartbeat of every EOS company.

The guide also gives leaders a repeatable, trackable onboarding path. Instead of reinventing an EOS orientation for every new hire, Owners, Admins, and Managers can assign the same structured experience to every new team member and build shared vocabulary across the organization from day one.

What the guide covers

The guide is organized into 10 weekly topics. Each week includes daily tasks, recommended reading from What the Heck Is EOS?, and discussion questions.

• Week 1: An introduction to EOS powered by Ninety. Identify the Six Key Components® of the EOS Model, locate the tools in Ninety that support each component, and learn about your user role and permissions.
• Week 2: Understanding your organization's vision. Explore the Vision/Traction Organizer® (V/TO®) in Ninety, review your company's Core Values, and examine the 1-Year Plan.
• Week 3: Where you sit in the organization. Learn how The Accountability Chart® defines your seat, understand Right Person, Right Seat, and discover how GWC® (Get it, Want it, Capacity) is used to evaluate fit.
• Week 4: The basics of traction with quarterly Rocks®. Understand what Rocks (your 90-day priorities) are, review your team's current and archived Rocks in Ninety, and explore the Planning Board for future priorities.
• Week 5: The power of the EOS meeting rhythm. Learn the structure of the Level 10 Meeting® (L10™), explore your team's Ninety meeting schedule and agenda, and practice preparing for meetings.
• Week 6: Making data your superpower. Understand the purpose of the EOS Scorecard®, navigate Ninety's Scorecard tool, and learn how your seat connects to your Measurables.
• Week 7: Checking in on your onboarding journey. Dive deeper into the People Component® with The People Analyzer®, explore Quarterly Conversations, and learn how Ninety's 1-on-1 tool supports the review process.
• Week 8: Taking ownership of your role in making EOS work. Complete the EOS Organizational Checkup®, review your responsibilities across all Six Key Components, and prepare essential questions for your manager.
• Week 9: Solving problems that stay solved. Learn the Issues Component®, master the IDS® (Identify, Discuss, Solve) methodology, and understand how Issues and To-Dos work together in Ninety.
• Week 10: Your way forward. Explore the Process Component®, learn how to use the Knowledge Portal for processes and documentation, review all Six Key Components as an integrated system, and discover resources for continued learning.

By the end of the guide, new team members have working proficiency in Ninety, a foundational understanding of EOS, clarity on how Ninety supports their organization's EOS journey, and the confidence to contribute meaningfully in their team's weekly meeting.

How to assign the guide

Owners, Admins, and Managers can assign the onboarding guide to new team members directly from the Knowledge Portal. Assigning the guide creates To-Dos that give new hires a structured path through the material with clear deadlines and progress tracking.

Before assigning the guide, confirm the new hire has a seat on your account and is a member of the team whose Level 10 Meeting they'll eventually join.

To assign the guide to a new team member:

1. Click Knowledge from the left navigation to open the Knowledge Portal.
2. Navigate to the EOS Powered by Ninety Onboarding Guide. You can find the guide under the Ninety Learning Hub collection in the 90 Resources category, or use the search bar to locate it.
3. Click the ellipsis to the right of the Week 1 subtopic and select Create To-Do.
4. Assign the To-Do to the new user, select the relevant team, and set the due date to the Friday of their first week.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 for each remaining week (Week 2 through Week 10), setting each due date to the Friday of the corresponding week.

The assigned To-Dos will appear in the new hire's To-Do list and on their My 90 page.

For detailed instructions on creating To-Dos from the Knowledge Portal, including how to make To-Dos personal or assign them to multiple users, see assigning items from the Knowledge Portal.

Recommendations for leaders

Are you a leader or hiring manager? Here are some tips for successfully onboarding new team members:

• Assign the guide to every new team member joining your organization.
• Invite new hires to observe a Level 10 Meeting in their first week.
• Use your regular 1-on-1 as the venue for each week's discussion questions.
• Set each weekly To-Do due on Friday so the rhythm lines up with the workweek.

To learn more about how you can use the Knowledge Portal for onboarding, read our blog How to Onboard New Hires With EOS® and Ninety.

How to work through the guide

Anyone with access to the Knowledge Portal can work through the guide, whether your leader assigned it to you or you found it on your own. The Knowledge Portal tracks your progress and lets you move at a steady pace.

To access the guide:

1. Click Knowledge from the left navigation to open the Knowledge Portal.
2. Open the Ninety Learning Hub collection under the 90 Resources category.
3. Click the EOS Powered by Ninety Onboarding Guide topic to begin.
    

Track your progress

Mark each subtopic and task complete as you go by clicking the circle checkbox to the left of its name. The border of the topic's icon fills in as you make progress, giving you a visual indicator of how far along you are. Your progress is automatically saved, so you can pause and resume at any time.
 

Pace yourself

The guide is designed for one week per topic and roughly one task per day. Each week's topic page includes a "This Week's Tasks" list to help you plan your time. You can move faster or slower depending on your schedule and your manager's guidance.
 

Read What the Heck Is EOS? alongside the guide

The guide references What the Heck Is EOS? by Gino Wickman and Tom Bouwer throughout. Chapter-by-chapter reviews and discussion questions are built into the weekly tasks, starting in Week 1. Talk with your team leader about obtaining a copy to read alongside the guide.
 

Use the discussion questions

Each week includes two sets of discussion questions: questions for personal reflection and questions to discuss with your manager or team. These questions connect the EOS concepts you're learning to your specific role, responsibilities, and day-to-day work.

Plan to discuss the manager-and-team questions with your manager at the end of each week. 

What "done" looks like by the end of Week 10

Module completion is the path, but not the only goal. The real measure of a successful onboarding is becoming an active participant in how your team runs. By the end of Week 10, you should be able to check most of these off:

• Attending your team's weekly L10 consistently.
• Owning at least one Measurable on your team's Scorecard.
• Comfortable using IDS when an issue comes up in your area.
• Familiar with your company's V/TO and clear on how your seat connects to it.
• Confident navigating the Rocks, Issues, To-Dos, and Headlines tools in Ninety without needing to look up where things live.

If any of these still feel shaky at Week 10, raise them with your manager. These are the outcomes that matter.
 

Recommended reading

The EOS Powered by Ninety Onboarding Guide references several EOS books to help you deepen your understanding of the system your organization runs on.

• What the Heck Is EOS? by Gino Wickman and Tom Bouwer. The primary companion text for this guide. Written specifically for employees (not leadership teams) at companies running on EOS. The guide includes chapter-by-chapter reviews and discussion questions for this book.
• Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business® by Gino Wickman. The foundational EOS book for leadership teams. The guide references Chapter 6 (The Issues Component) in Week 9 for its detailed coverage of IDS.
   

Both books are widely available through bookstores, libraries, and online retailers. Your organization may already have copies available. Check with your manager or team leader.

Troubleshooting

Issue: I can't see the Create To-Do option when I click the ellipsis on a subtopic. Solution: Only Owners, Admins, and Managers can assign To-Dos from the Knowledge Portal. If you're a Team Member or Observer and need the guide assigned to you, ask your Owner, Admin, or Manager. If your role should allow To-Do creation, but the option is missing, contact support.

Issue: The onboarding guide doesn't appear in the Ninety Learning Hub. Solution: The guide lives under the Ninety Learning Hub collection in the 90 Resources category of the Knowledge Portal. It's possible that your organization removed Ninety's default content from the Knowledge Portal. If you don't see it:

1. Confirm you're looking under the 90 Resources category, not a company-specific category.
2. Use the Knowledge Portal search bar to search for "EOS Powered by Ninety Onboarding Guide."
3. If the guide still doesn't appear, contact support.
    

Issue: My progress isn't saving as I complete tasks. Solution: Progress saves automatically when you click the circle checkbox next to a subtopic or task. If your progress isn't sticking:

1. Refresh the page and confirm you're still logged in.
2. Check that you're clicking the circle checkbox, not just opening the subtopic.
3. If the issue persists, contact support.