Discovery Report
Starting a new role comes with a lot of impressions, questions, and expectations. This Discovery Report template helps you document those early observations in a structured way, so important insights do not get lost. It is designed to guide reflection across the most important parts of the new-hire experience, including the company, onboarding, team, job, mentor, and manager. Instead of keeping feedback scattered or vague, you get one place to capture what feels aligned, what exceeded expectations, what felt unclear, and what could be improved. This template is especially useful for new employees who want to better process their first weeks, as well as for teams that value thoughtful onboarding feedback and continuous improvement.
Use the Template
What’s inside the template
Discovery Report is built to help you reflect on your first experience in a new role in a more structured and useful way.
Inside, you’ll find:
- A summary section
- Reflection prompts across key onboarding areas
- Sections for the company, onboarding, department, team, job, mentor, and manager
- Prompts for what matched expectations
- Prompts for positive surprises
- Prompts for disappointment or unmet expectations
- Prompts for confusion or unclear areas
- A place to capture suggestions and ideas
Why use it
The first days and weeks in a new role often shape long-term perception, but those impressions are easy to forget if they are not documented early.
This template helps turn early experiences into clear feedback that is easier to review, discuss, and learn from.
Who it’s for
This template is useful for:
- New hires
- Employees going through onboarding
- HR and people teams collecting structured feedback
- Managers who want to improve team onboarding experiences
The best onboarding feedback is not vague. It is specific, timely, and structured enough to turn experience into improvement.
What you can reflect on
With this template, you can organize thoughts around:
- The company
- The onboarding process
- The department
- The team
- The role itself
- Your mentor
- Your manager
- Areas that felt strong, confusing, or disappointing
- Practical suggestions for improvement
What makes it useful
Instead of writing random notes or relying on memory later, you get a clear framework that helps you process your experience while it is still fresh.
This makes your feedback more balanced, more actionable, and easier to communicate.
Extra value
The template is also useful as an internal improvement tool for companies that want to spot onboarding gaps, better understand early employee experience, and strengthen retention from the beginning.
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