Picture this: You’ve just joined a gaming studio’s supply-chain team. The company’s hit a growth spurt—doubling its portfolio of live games in less than a year. New vendors, new digital asset pipelines, and more cross-departmental partners need to sync quickly. But the onboarding process? It’s creaking under the pressure. Requests get lost, approvals stall, and new hires and vendors alike struggle to get the tools and access they need on time.

This situation is common in media-entertainment companies, especially gaming studios scaling rapidly. Onboarding isn’t just about welcoming new team members or suppliers—it’s a critical flow that impacts project timelines, product launches, and ultimately, player experiences.

Here’s how one mid-size gaming firm tackled onboarding flow improvement as they scaled—and what you can learn as an entry-level supply-chain professional facing the same challenges.

Understanding the Scaling Challenge in Onboarding

When your studio had just a handful of live games, onboarding new team members or suppliers might have been a straightforward, mostly manual process. A simple checklist, some emails, a few meetings. But scaling multiplies complexity:

• More people require more tools, software licenses, and access permissions.
• New types of vendors and freelancers mean varied onboarding needs.
• Increased volume strains communication and tracking.
• Manual steps cause bottlenecks and errors at a time when speed matters.

In 2024, a Forrester report found that media-entertainment firms scaling their live product lines experienced a 45% increase in onboarding delays when relying on manual processes. This led to average project launch delays of 2-4 weeks, an unacceptable gap in competitive gaming markets.

Approach: Automating and Streamlining Onboarding at a Growing Game Studio

The studio’s supply-chain team, where you now work, faced a backlog of onboarding requests. New contractors needed studio system access; vendors supplying art assets needed secure file transfer permissions; new team members required hardware and software setups—all while product launches loomed.

They tested several strategies to improve onboarding flow, focusing on aspects that could scale as the company grew, while keeping the process transparent for all stakeholders.

1. Mapping the Onboarding Journey End-to-End

The first step was creating a detailed onboarding map, covering everyone from new hires to external contractors.

They broke down onboarding into key phases:

• Request submission
• Verification and approvals
• Resource allocation (hardware/software/licenses)
• System access provisioning
• Training and orientation
• Feedback collection for continuous improvement

Visualizing bottlenecks helped pinpoint where delays happened. For example, the approval phase was a major choke point because requests piled up in an email inbox monitored by only one manager.

2. Introducing Automated Workflow Tools

To avoid piling requests and email overload, the studio implemented a low-code automation tool specifically designed for workflow approvals. This tool integrated with their existing Jira-based project management system.

Key benefits included:

• Automatic request routing to the right approvers based on request type
• Timely email and Slack notifications for pending approvals
• Tracking dashboards for visibility on the status of each onboarding request

One team within the studio saw onboarding request approval times drop from an average of 3 days to under 12 hours after implementing automation.

3. Creating Role-Based Onboarding Templates

Rather than configuring onboarding steps for every new team member or vendor manually, the team developed predefined onboarding templates based on roles.

For example:

This cut the setup time by automating the assignments of needed resources and eliminating guesswork.

4. Scaling Team Capacity Through Cross-Training

With rapid growth, the supply-chain team expanded from 3 to 10 members in six months. But onboarding volume increased even faster.

To avoid bottlenecks:

• They cross-trained team members on different onboarding processes.
• Introduced shared documentation and a centralized request tracking system.
• Scheduled weekly syncs to review outstanding requests and blockers.

This distributed workload reduced the risk of single points of failure and sped up response times.

5. Leveraging Feedback Tools Like Zigpoll for Continuous Refinement

The supply-chain team knew improvements needed ongoing input from new hires and vendors.

They deployed Zigpoll surveys post-onboarding to gather feedback on:

• Process clarity
• Time taken
• Support quality

Based on responses, they refined communication templates, clarified instructions, and added a simple FAQ portal.

Other tools like SurveyMonkey and Typeform were tested, but Zigpoll’s quick integration with the company’s Slack channels made it easier to reach respondents immediately after onboarding completion.

6. Monitoring and Reporting to Spot New Bottlenecks

Finally, the team created a weekly dashboard to monitor key onboarding metrics, including:

• Average time to complete onboarding per role
• Number of open requests by stage
• Common reasons for delays

This data-driven approach meant emerging issues were caught early. For example, a backlog in hardware provisioning triggered a collaboration with IT procurement to streamline order approvals.

Results: Faster Onboarding That Scales with Growth

Within six months of these changes:

• Overall onboarding time reduced by 60%, dropping from 10 days to 4 days on average
• Approval bottlenecks shrank, with request approvals now completed within 24 hours 85% of the time
• New contractor onboarding satisfaction scores improved by 35%, according to Zigpoll surveys
• The supply-chain team handled a 150% increase in onboarding volume without adding headcount beyond initial hires

This smoother onboarding flow helped the studio meet game update deadlines faster, supporting player retention and competitive advantage.

Lessons for Entry-Level Supply-Chain Professionals Managing Onboarding at Scale

1. Visualize the entire onboarding process before tweaking parts. Knowing every step reveals hidden bottlenecks.
2. Automation tools don’t need to be complex to add value. Even simple workflow automation reduces human error and speed delays.
3. Templates save time and reduce errors, especially when dealing with diverse roles like artists, developers, and external vendors.
4. Don’t rely on a few individuals. Cross-training builds team resilience and helps keep pace with growth.
5. Regular feedback from onboarded users is critical. Tools like Zigpoll make gathering and acting on feedback manageable.
6. Track metrics continuously. What worked last month might face new challenges as your studio scales further.

What Didn’t Work: Pitfalls to Avoid

• Initially, the team tried to centralize all onboarding requests through a single email alias. This created a backlog and frustration. Decentralizing with automated routing was key.
• Over-automating early without clear process mapping led to confusion—automation must follow a well-understood flow.
• Relying solely on post-onboarding surveys missed real-time feedback opportunities; combining surveys with direct team check-ins worked better.

Final Thoughts

Scaling onboarding flows in media-entertainment requires balancing speed, accuracy, and user experience. As an entry-level supply-chain professional, focusing on clear processes, smart automation, and continuous feedback sets the foundation to handle growth without losing control.

By applying these practical strategies, you can ensure new hires and vendors get what they need on time, helping your gaming projects hit their milestones and deliver thrilling player experiences.