This is a guide on how to work with me! Very strange but I believe we can create the best relationship through communication and understanding which overall will help in our growth together.
I started my career at an apprenticeship program at Sky which had lead me to a permanent position at Sky's child company "NowTV". I started my time at NowTV being a JavaScript FE developer that specifically was working in ReactJS. For my first team I was building the NowTV website which ranged in features from adding the video player to providing outage services for users. After some time I was moved to the device platform team. In this team we still built ReactJS app that had be wrapped in the clients/devices SDK. Each device had a different SDK with their own language or framework to learn. This included Andriod, IOS, Sony, Samsung Tizen, LG WebOS etc.
After spending 4 years at Sky and NowTV, I decided it was time for me to really dive into a new exciting project where I can have more of an impact. This is when I found GetGround. At the time, it was early days of GG with only Misrab and Moubin in the company. I joined as a FE engineer with the task of building the idea of GG from conception to production. Through my years at GG, I have moved from being a developer to being a Team Lead. My decision to go up the mountain of management is because my favourite parts of being here has been being part of strategising, improving workflows and helping others grow.
My role to you should be as clear as possible.
I am a team lead.
This means I am responsible for the frequent delievery of highly important features. For my team to develop these features, it is my responsibility that the information is incredibly clear and I have exposed all the needs/goals so we can get the job done effectively.
I am involved in producing quality code, reviewing, mentoring and guiding developers.
Also part of my responsiblities is to lead the team in terms of development, architecting/strategising features and finding improvments to work flows/processes that affect us daily.
However, more importantly to me, one of my responsiblities is the growth and development of the individuals of my team. That in the short and the long term, I help you reach your career goals to the point where you are satisified at your growth and you have been recognised to be at a higher level from when you have started.
I don't like the idea of "Managing" people. I tend to be more of a person that guides those into the right direction and provide them opportunites of ownership so they can grow in a way of knowledge and confidence.
I believe in Honest feedback. The best timing for feedback is as quickly as possible. There is no point in waiting till the next "catch up" to provide ideas of a better way of working. I will encourage my team to be open with feedback to each other and to me. Good feedback is as important as bad feedback. We should appreciate it when an individual approaches a situation well.
You will often hear me say "Team work makes the dream work". I say this a lot because it is incredibly true, without a strong collaboration of the team we start to slip into chaos where we are not sharing the same goals and adding a lot of friction to what could be a simple task when consumed together.
I am a massive fan of celebrating success. It builds confidence in the team that we worked well together and motivates us to take bigger and bolder tasks! We should always celebrate the team and other peers achievements.
We will make mistakes. This is the most sured thing to happen as a human. It is part of life to do things wrong, make the wrong decision or make a bug (well some people's lives). I believe that with every problem there is a solution and a lesson. We never go on a blame hunt however I do believe in getting the team together to attack the problem. This builds a stronger team, healthier environment, a gain in knowledge and optimistic mindsets.
Strong communication is incredibly important to every individual in a team. Constant feedback loops keep everyone on the same page and we are aware of what needs to be done so together we can drive to reach our goal. We are a team so let's talk to each other!
I believe 1:1s are incredibly important for both of us. The best type of 1:1s are ones that have a pre set agenda made up of points of discussion from the last session. I want you to be honest with me and then I can help you in whichever direction you need my guidance. Generally, these sessions would be lead by you so feel free to choose any topic of choice however I will have a set of questions to help you.
I am always striving to do any process better. I will ask for feedback on discussions, processes, work flows and overall my work itself. I encourage to give each other feedback and I will ask you to give me feedback at the end of 1:1s however you do not need to wait to give me feedback on anything!
I have a drive to do as much as I can and challenge myself highly. However, my choices ripple outside of me to my team. If you feel like the work is too much or I am taking on too much for the team please feel free to feedback to me and we can make it more managable.
I believe the closer the team the better the work day is and the better we approach tasks/issues. I love to hear peopls interests and learning from them. I believe building a friendship is key to being happy in your work enviroment. I like to joke and keep things light because at the end of the day I believe creating a happier enviroment even when we have issues is better for everyone and makes tense situations a lot more relaxed.
Suffering in silence is the hardest way to learn and slows down your onboarding process. We have a complicated product which still confuses me at times. Asking questions is the quickest way of gaining knowledge also might expose gaps in knowledge which could be key for both people! We are all super happy to help so don't be afraid to ask at anytime!
Take your time consuming the flows of the product and a grasp on patterns in the codebase. You will learn best from diving into the code and understanding the reasoning behind decisions. Moreover, reading tests is also a great way to understand the code!