Hi there. If you’re reading this, it’s likely because you’re new to my team or you want to know more about how to best work with me. First things first, welcome aboard!
This readme is an opportunity for you to learn a little bit more about what it’s like to work with me. It provides some cursory information about my job, what I value and the expectations I have from you as a member on my team.
You can learn more about me personally from my Team Introduction.
I’m an Engineering Manager and that means I facilitate the throughput, happiness, communication and success of engineering teams. You can think of me as a coach that is here to serve the company by making sure our engineers excel in their professional careers and deliver amazing results for our clients.
Here are a few services I will provide for you:
Expectation Setting: I’ll help make sure you know what is expected of you and how you’ll be measured so that you can align yourself for success.
Happiness: I’ll be your first line of defense in ensuring you are happy while working at Theorem.
Feedback: You’ll be receiving ongoing candid feedback delivered with care so that we can all continuously improve. Likewise, I’ll be looking for feedback from back from you so that I too can improve.
Transparency: You should always understand what’s going on the company and question the things you do not. I’ll continuously share information and provide a context for the work we do.
I value proactivity and initiative. Don’t wait for someone else to point out a flaw or an opportunity to improve code, process, communication or anything else that might impact the success and quality of a client engagement.
Having a clear and concise way of communicating and working is important to the efficiency and understanding of our work. For example, how can we best break up big problems into manageable chunks? How do we take an ambiguous and undefined problem and make sense of it all? The more clear we are in what we’re doing, the better the outcome.
We’re all different people with unique backgrounds and upbringings that have shaped how we view the world and our ability to be open with one another. I value creating an emotionally safe environment where you are free to make mistakes, be yourself, be vulnerable and feel safe to share your thoughts and ideas.
I value a healthy balance between the ideal versus the pragmatic. This could apply to everything from technical solutions to ways we can improve how we work at Theorem.
I believe there is an objective truth and that it is incumbent on us to discover and validate truth and act accordingly in all that we do. It is OK to challenge ideas presented as truth so long as there is objective reasoning behind the challenge.
The world, technical and otherwise, is constantly evolving and so must we. We should challenge ourselves to embrace the new and unknown so that we can quickly learn from those experiences.
I expect my teammates to embrace the following qualities in their day-to-day duties.
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Teamwork - While I may be your manager, we’re all on the same team. I see my role much like a coach of a sports team. You guys are the talent and the boots on the ground. I expect you to work closely with your teammates and find ways to leverage each other's strength so that we elevate each other to success.
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Initiative - Don’t wait to be told what to do. Ask questions and find ways to contribute. This includes helping other people on your team be more effective.
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Respect - treat everyone on your team with respect and dignity, especially during times of duress, disagreement or giving and receiving feedback.
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Expectation Setting - it’s OK if your projects or tasks aren’t shaping up the way we originally planned, but I expect you to identify changes or issues as early as possible and bring them to my attention. Have Fun - Let’s find a way to make our work fun whenever possible. Fun makes work not feel so much like work and we all need that from time-to-time.
These are just a few of the qualities I’d like you to adopt while you’re on my team.
I’m located in Los Angeles, CA which is in the Pacific (GMT -7) timezone. I always work Monday-Friday and my hours are typically 8am to 5pm.
Our primary means of communicating will likely be through Slack channels and 1-on-1 chats where I can both provide you ongoing feedback as well as answer any questions you might have for me.
Our 1-on-1s will be through video chat, using either Hangouts or Zoom.