Hello, If you're reading this it's likely that I am either your manager, or a prospective team member. This ReadMe should cover some of what to expect when working with me. It's been crafted by me but I've asked for feedback from the people I work with.
I care about (in no particular order):
- Making our product better
- Making our team better
- Making you better
- Making me better
If we aren't in a sustained cycle of learning, and making things better, let's change that. Talk to me. Help me. If you don't care about these things, then you will struggle to be successful on our team. Don't worry though, if you have the inclination we can turn things around.
I'm here to give you the help you need to do your job. This means:
- I gather information early -> to give you context to do your job.
- I observe team dynamics -> to see if we can work smarter.
- I analyse our systems -> to understand where opportunity lies
- I fill in the gaps -> to help when it is needed
- I work with you -> to achieve your goals.
I try and be as responsive as possible to any communication, although responses are typically ranked this way:
- Face to face
- Pager Duty
- Slack
- SMS/phone/none work related messaging platforms.
An email to me does not guarantee a timely response. I receive a lot of email and I treat it as an asynchronous medium.
I respect your free time and don't tend to message people outside of work hours. Most things can wait but if you really need to get a hold of me, slack/call/text me. It's cool.
I want to make these valuable but they are your meetings. If you have an agenda item please bring it up. This is your chance to talk. We will have scheduled 1:1s but if you want to talk ad-hoc, Slack me and I will find time.
Yes, if you are on my team, my default is to trust that you have the tools to do the job in hand. I trust you to keep our systems up and lift our team and products to new heights. If you need anything to help you achieve that goal, let's talk.
Which means I inevitably falter. I'd like to think I'm an honest, straightforward person and because of this I like to know when I'm working well with you and when there's friction. The things written above are part of my guiding principles. If you feel like I am not adhering to the words written above. Or if you don't feel like I am instilling these values in you, please give me that feedback.