A User Manual for working with me.
I'm happy in an open-plan office, as long as there are some quiet spaces and some spaces where people can go to chat. If possible, I like to work alongside my team's stakeholders, to make it easier to have conversations about any shared goals we have.
I prefer to pair program, whenever possible. I'm happy to mob or swarm on a task occasionally, although I prefer to work in groups of no more than three on a single task.
If I'm working on my own, I'll probably pop a pair of headphones in so I don't get distracted by any conversations or noise around me.
I prefer to start work a little later in the morning, from 9:30 onwards, but if I'm in a team of early starters I'm happy to adjust my hours to match the team.
However you like! Face-to-face, email, chat, telephone, whatever works best for you. I will monitor my email and chat (Google Chat, Discord, Slack, whatever service we're using) fairly closely throughout the day, so you can be confident that I'll get back to you promptly.
If you want to talk to me face-to-face, feel free to approach me any time, even if I'm working on my own and look like I'm in the middle of something. I'll let you know if I need some time to finish what I'm doing before we can talk.
I like to have some advanced notice if you want to talk about something in depth, so I can have a think about the question or topic and put my thoughts in order. For example, if you're inviting me to a meeting, I'd prefer if the meeting contains some outline of what you need from me or some other useful context.
As with any other communication, I don't mind whether this is face-to-face, in an email, etc. Ideally, I'd like you to follow up any constructive feedback you give me with an email to confirm the key points. If you don't, I'll probably email you, just to check that I've understood how I can improve, what I can do differently, etc.
If possible, prefer to receive feedback from the person themselves, rather than through a third-party.
In true British fashion, I'm fairly self-deprecating and find it a little embarassing to be praised or congratulated in front of large groups people. I'm trying to be better at accepting compliments, so if you'd prefer to give me some positive feedback in a team/group setting, go for it.
Clarity. I like to know why I'm doing something. If possible, I like to be able to see a problem in action before trying to solve it. Ideally, if it's something someone else has experienced, I'd like to spend time with them and hear in their own words what the problem is. If I'm working in a complex problem space, it also helps me to have access to good documentation that clearly explains the problem.
Visibility. I need an easy way to see what my team is working on. Whether that's a load of sticky notes on a wall, a spreadsheet, or a tool like Trello or Jira, I work better when I have a way of easily visualising what the team is working towards. Without this, I can struggle to feel part of the team or have an understanding of our goals.
I get to grips with new concepts best by hands on practice, supplemented with some reading. In order of most to least effective, here are the ways I learn:
- Kinesthetic (hands-on)
- Read/Write
- Visual (diagrams)
- Auditory (verbal)
Although a verbal explanation can provide helpful clarity for me, it's not the ideal way for me to pick up a new concept.
Ambiguity. I like to know how to measure success, in any given task, and not having a clear understanding of what that means up front is hard for me.
Collaborating. I enjoy working the most when I'm working with other people.
Documentation. It doesn't need to be War and Peace, but I like to keep a record of what I'm doing, why, and what I'll be doing next.
I'm from Newcastle, in the North East of England. People from Newcastle are known as Geordies and have a fairly distinctive accent. My accent isn't too strong, but if you have trouble understanding what I'm saying, please don't hesitate to ask me to repeat myself or to explain a turn of phrase that might be unfamiliar. Having lived most of my life in Newcastle, I don't always realise which idioms don't make sense outside of Newcastle.
I'm an avid reader, especially of science-fiction and fantasy. I love to play games of all kinds: video games, board games, and tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons.