It is generally considered best practice for successful onboarding to designate a company contact (usually the corporate secretary) to lead the process. This onboarding leader is responsible for helping directors understand their duties, roles and responsibilities and ensuring meetings are scheduled, materials are available, and the onboarding process is adapted as appropriate and executed as expected. This leader will give a newly appointed director a sense of what it’s like to be on the board, help them build relationships with other members of the board and the management team and bring them up to speed with the major issues and current challenges that the board will be discussing in upcoming meetings. The following timeline and checklist of best practice action items is designed to ensure the successful integration of a new director.