All of that is different in an office vs. remote.
> All of this should be written down in the company manual, at least for a well-functioning org
Why not videos that a person can watch and follow along with? Why not 1:1 virtual meetings for some things in a remote company and 1:1 in-person meetings for (perhaps the same or different) things in a non-remote company? Why not quizzes that can be completed when the person wants to complete them rather than a meeting?
> Onboarding folks is literally communicating “this is how we do things around here”
Kind of. And the different definitions of "around here" can (should IMO) lead to different methods and approaches to communicating it.
I also think that onboarding is what things we do and why we do them, not just how things are done.
I think handing someone a manual can be an OK onboarding experience for some companies and some people but can generally be improved upon.