What Should a Developer's First Week Look Like?

A retail company bringing on a new developer sent them access credentials and a GitHub link at 9am on Monday morning, then expected them to start pushing code by Wednesday. The developer spent three days trying to figure out which branch to work from, who to ask about the staging environment, and why the local build kept failing... while the project manager kept asking why progress was so slow. The problem was not the developer's ability but the complete absence of a proper first week structure.

The first week of a development project sets the tone for everything that follows, and yet it is the most commonly mishandled phase in the entire process

After working with development teams across dozens of projects over the past ten years, I have seen this pattern repeat itself more than I would like to admit. Companies hire talented developers or agencies bring new team members onto projects, then wonder why momentum stalls in those first few days. The truth is that a well-structured first week can save you weeks of confusion down the line, whilst a poorly planned one can derail timelines before development has properly begun.

What works is not complicated. A developer needs clear documentation, proper access, defined goals, and open communication channels before they write a single line of code. Whether you are onboarding a contractor, bringing an internal developer onto a new project, or starting work with an agency, the principles remain the same. This is not about coddling developers but about removing unnecessary friction so they can start delivering value quickly.

Setting Clear Expectations Before Day One

The best first weeks actually start before the first day arrives. When we bring developers onto projects at Glance, we send them a project pack at least 48 hours before they officially start. This includes technical documentation, access to project management tools, and a clear outline of what the first week will look like. The difference this makes is not subtle... developers arrive prepared rather than confused.

Your project pack should cover the basics that any developer needs to hit the ground running. What is the project trying to achieve? Who are the key stakeholders? What is the current state of the codebase? Where does this developer fit into the broader team structure? These questions might seem obvious but they get overlooked constantly, particularly when everyone assumes someone else has covered them. Understanding which onboarding steps set developers up for success can help you create a comprehensive approach that covers all the essential bases.

• Project overview document explaining the app's purpose and target users
• Technical architecture diagram showing how different systems connect
• Access credentials for repositories, staging environments, and communication tools
• List of key contacts with their roles and availability
• First week schedule with meetings and checkpoints clearly marked
• Link to design files and any brand guidelines
• Documentation about coding standards and testing requirements

The companies that do this well treat it like sending someone a map before they visit your office for the first time. You would not expect someone to find their way around a building they have never been to without any directions, yet developers get thrown into complex codebases with less guidance than that. Send the information early. Make it accessible. Check they have received it and can access everything before day one.

The First Day: Getting Your Bearings

The first day should not involve writing production code. I have watched projects where developers were expected to start building features on day one, and it never goes well. What you want instead is orientation... helping the developer understand the landscape before they start making changes to it.

Schedule a proper kickoff meeting for the first morning. This does not need to be long but it needs to cover specific ground. Walk through the project goals, introduce the team members and their roles, explain the current sprint or development phase, and clarify what success looks like for this first week. If you are working remotely then make this a video call, not an email or Slack message, because tone and context matter when you are establishing working relationships. For teams managing distributed developers, understanding how to manage a remote app development team effectively becomes crucial for setting the right foundation.

Set up a 30-minute one-on-one with whoever will be the developer's main point of contact, whether that is a project manager, tech lead, or another developer. Use this time to cover questions that might feel too basic for group meetings but are needed for smooth progress.

After the kickoff, give the developer time to explore the codebase without pressure. This means actually blocking out time in their calendar for reading code, understanding the file structure, and getting familiar with how things are organised. If your project includes existing apps, have them install and use them. There is no substitute for experiencing what users experience when it comes to understanding what you are building.

Understanding the Codebase and Technical Stack

Every codebase tells a story about the project it supports. Where things are organised, what libraries get used, how testing is structured... these decisions reveal priorities and constraints that are not always written down anywhere. A developer's job in the first few days includes learning to read that story so they can contribute to it sensibly.

We typically ask developers to spend their first two days doing what we call a codebase audit. This is not a formal review where they are looking for problems, but an exploration where they are building a mental map. Which folders contain which functionality? Where do API calls get made? How is state managed? What testing frameworks are in place? The goal is familiarity, not judgement.

Documentation Deep Dive

If your project has technical documentation then the first few days are when it gets read properly. README files, API documentation, database schemas, deployment procedures... all of this should be reviewed before the developer starts making changes. If documentation is missing or outdated then that is valuable information too, because it tells you where knowledge gaps exist that will need filling.

Running the App Locally

Getting the development environment working locally is a milestone that should happen on day one or two. This sounds basic but in projects with complex dependencies, multiple services, or particular environment requirements, it can take time to resolve. Better to discover configuration issues early when there is no pressure to deliver features than to hit them later when deadlines are looming. For modern mobile apps that rely on cloud infrastructure, understanding serverless architecture and whether you need it becomes part of this setup process.

Meeting the Team and Communication Protocols

Development work is rarely solo work, even when you are writing code alone. Understanding who does what and how communication flows makes the difference between smooth collaboration and constant friction. On projects where developers know exactly who to ask about design questions, who approves database changes, and who needs to review pull requests, things move faster.

Clear communication protocols remove the mental overhead of figuring out how to ask for help, which means developers spend less time hesitating and more time progressing

Introduce the developer to everyone they will be working with directly. If you have designers on the project then have them meet. If there is a product owner or stakeholder who will be reviewing work then make that introduction. If other developers will be reviewing code then set up time for them to connect. These do not need to be long meetings but they do need to happen, because putting names to roles makes asking questions much less awkward. When establishing code review processes with new team members, it's important to understand how remote teams handle code reviews effectively to maintain quality standards.

Explain how your team communicates. Some teams use Slack for quick questions, email for formal requests, and project management tools for task updates. Others have different conventions. What might seem obvious to people who have been on the project for months is completely opaque to someone new. Write it down if it is not documented already, because if one person needs to know then the next person will too.

Setting Up Development Environment and Tools

The technical setup phase is where theory meets practice. A developer might have credentials and documentation but until they can actually build the app locally, run tests, and push code, they cannot contribute meaningfully. This phase often takes longer than anyone expects, particularly on mature projects with lots of dependencies.

Start with version control. Make sure the developer has the right permissions for your GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket repositories. Walk them through your branching strategy because every team does this differently. Some use Git Flow with strict develop and main branches. Others work with feature branches off main. Still others use trunk-based development. There is no universal standard so you need to explain yours explicitly.

Then move to the development environment itself. If you are building native iOS apps then Xcode needs to be set up with the right certificates and provisioning profiles. For Android development, the correct SDK versions need installing. Cross-platform projects using React Native or Flutter have their own setup requirements. I have seen developers lose a full day to environment configuration issues, which is frustrating for everyone involved but particularly so when good documentation could have prevented it.

Give access to any third-party services your app uses. If you integrate Stripe for payments, Firebase for authentication, or Twilio for messaging, then the developer needs access to those dashboards or at minimum needs API keys for development environments. Same goes for analytics tools, crash reporting services, and backend admin panels. Setting up proper analytics from the start is crucial, so consider reviewing which app analytics tools you should choose for your project.

Week One Goals and Quick Wins

By midweek, a developer should be ready to make their first contribution. This does not mean building major features but rather finding something small and meaningful to complete. The psychological value of getting code merged in the first week is significant... it proves the setup works, the process makes sense, and progress is possible.

We usually identify a few good first tasks before a developer starts. These might be fixing minor bugs that have been sitting in the backlog, improving test coverage for an existing feature, or updating documentation that has become outdated. What matters is that these tasks are genuinely useful but not blocking other work, so if they take longer than expected it does not create problems. When evaluating a developer's approach to these initial tasks, you can assess what questions reveal a developer's problem-solving skills to understand their thought process.

Create a short list of small tasks labelled specifically for new developers. Having three or four options lets them choose something that matches their current understanding and confidence level, which reduces anxiety and increases the chance of early success.

Set clear goals for the end of week one. What should the developer have achieved? At Glance, our standard first week goals include having the local environment fully working, understanding the main user flows in the app, completing at least one small task, and feeling comfortable asking questions. These are not demanding expectations but they are specific enough that everyone knows whether they have been met.

Schedule a proper end-of-week review. This is a chance to discuss what went well, what was confusing, and what should be adjusted going forward. Treat this as a learning opportunity for your onboarding process, not just an evaluation of the developer. If something was unclear then it will probably be unclear for the next person too, which means fixing it now saves time later.

Common Mistakes in the First Week

The most common mistake is expecting too much too soon. When project timelines are tight and backlogs are long, there is pressure to get new developers productive immediately. This pressure usually backfires because rushing through the orientation phase creates confusion that slows things down for weeks afterwards. A properly structured first week is not wasted time but rather an investment that pays back in faster progress later.

Another frequent problem is assuming the developer will just figure things out. Some developers are comfortable asking lots of questions whilst others are more reserved. Some will speak up when they are stuck whilst others will struggle quietly. Relying on developers to proactively seek out information they do not know they need is a recipe for missed context and misunderstood requirements. Proactive information sharing beats reactive question answering. Understanding what red flags to watch for when interviewing developers can help you identify communication styles and potential challenges early.

Inadequate documentation catches teams out repeatedly. If your project lacks up-to-date technical documentation then the first week becomes about extracting knowledge from people's heads rather than reading it from organised sources. This is inefficient because it means whoever has that knowledge needs to stop their own work to share it. Write things down. Keep documentation current. Future you will be grateful when the next developer starts.

Poor tool access is surprisingly common. A developer shows up ready to work but they cannot access the staging environment, or the design files are in someone's personal Figma account they cannot share, or the API documentation lives in a Google Doc with restricted permissions. Sort out access before day one, not during it. Nothing kills momentum like spending half a day chasing login credentials. Being aware of the red flags of poor code review practices can also help you establish better processes from the beginning.

Conclusion

A well-structured first week creates momentum that carries through the entire project. When developers understand the codebase, know who to ask for help, have their environment working properly, and complete early wins, they become productive contributors far more quickly than those who have to figure everything out through trial and error.

The pattern I have seen work across dozens of projects is straightforward. Send information before day one. Spend the first day on orientation rather than output. Use days two and three for environment setup and codebase exploration. Get small wins completed by day four or five. Review progress at the end of the week. This is not revolutionary but it is reliable, which matters more than novelty when you are trying to start development projects successfully. When considering your overall approach to development resources, you might want to evaluate whether to hire a development team or individual freelancers based on your project needs and onboarding capacity.

Companies that treat developer onboarding as a proper process rather than an afterthought see faster ramp-up times, fewer early mistakes, and better retention. The cost is a few hours of planning and preparation. The benefit is weeks of smoother development. That is a trade worth making every single time.

If you are planning a mobile app project and want to work with a team that handles onboarding properly from day one, get in touch and we can talk about your requirements.

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