# Adrià Vallès's Manager Readme

**Senior Engineering Manager at Factorial**

👋🏼  Hola! I’m Adrià.

## **What is this about**

The same way we have READMEs to learn how to use software, I’ve created a README about myself, so you can know what I’m like and how I aim to communicate with others. My goal with this is to improve our interactions, so we're both happy and effective!

This is primarily targeted to my direct reports in Factorial, the People Performance team, but I think it may also be useful for anyone else who interacts with me (like my other team, the group of Engineering Managers). This file is a Work In Progress (as I am) so I’m committed to keeping it updated. If you read something here that doesn’t match your perception of me, please tell me as soon as possible!

## **My role**

I’m here to make you and our team have fun while delivering great tech software as efficiently as possible. My job is primarily to serve you, so we are all successful.

That means, more formally, that my main responsibilities include:

- Manage a team of software engineers, being accountable for their performance and impact.
  - Hold regular one-on-one meetings with them to focus on their career growth and wellbeing.
  - Provide feedback to each other.
  - Deliver their performance reviews.

- Partner with the Product Designer and the Product Manager (Product Trio) to own the product strategy, making decisions on the ongoing discovery and delivery of the tech product.
- Enable my team to achieve success in areas I deem most valuable. This could involve:
  - Facilitate team ceremonies and processes.
  - Overseeing project delivery.
  - Influence stakeholders to get buy-in or remove blockers.

- Partner with the recruiting team to hire great talent for my team.
- Engage with other engineering managers to coordinate initiatives that impact several teams.

## **What I value**

- **Transparency and honesty**  I appreciate transparency and honesty when you communicate with me. Don’t hold back when you share opinions, feelings or information with me. In return, I’ll strive to react in a positive and constructive way.
- **Positivity**  I enjoy being surrounded by people who smile and see the bright side of life, spreading their good energy to everyone else.
- **Fairness**  I try to be fair in my decisions because I can't stand injustices.
- **Empathy**  I value seeing people who are empathetic and put themselves in others' shoes. I think this is key to working as a team.
- **Humility**  I like working with humble people who are able to keep their ego in check. And I try to do the same.

## **What I expect from you**

- To work as a  **team**. We’re all working to make Factorial successful, so I expect you to collaborate with everyone to achieve that.
- To give me constant, specific  **feedback**. I need it! If you think I’ve made a mistake, I expect you to tell me directly as soon as possible. If you don’t, it might happen again- and I don’t want it to.
- To  **think thoroughly**  about problems. And even come up with some possible solutions, before you come to me, so we can find the best solution together. I will do my best to help.
- To communicate and  **ask for help**  when you are having troubles to unblock your work.
- To connect to our meetings  **on time**. Synchronous meeting time is very precious!
- To  **be present**  when we are meeting. If you feel it’s not the best use of your time, please let me know.
- To  **be available**  when you are working, and be transparent with the team about your working hours.
- To spread  **good energy**  and enthusiasm to our team.
- I’ll probably expect more things from you that aren’t on the list. If I’m not communicating them to you clearly, please let me know.

## **How to approach me**

My working hours are usually Mon-Fri between 9:00am and 6:00pm, BCN (CEST) time. If you need to talk to me and:

- It’s urgent and cannot wait: send me a WhatsApp, Telegram or iMessage, or call me.
- It can wait a while: send me a Slack message.
- It can wait a few hours or days: email me.

Please don’t stop yourself from talking with me because you see I’m busy or on calls all the time. That doesn’t mean I don’t have time to talk to you. If you need anything from me, tell me, and I’ll find the time.

When I’m outside my working hours, if it’s urgent, use any method you prefer (make sure to note that it’s urgent). If not, I prefer email or Slack: I read all the messages I receive, so I will answer you.

## **1:1s**

We will be doing weekly 1:1s and the main goal is to make them useful for you. I’ll expect you to be the one to lead them, not me; so we can use the time to make your day-to-day better. I’ve found Notion a great tool to plan the agenda, so I’ll be using it to add topics, although yours are first.

In addition to that, I will make sure the following subjects come up from time to time:

- Your motivation at Factorial.
- Exchange of mutual feedback.
- Your professional development.
- Relevant company info or context I want to share with you.

Don’t feel restricted by the weekly 1:1s. If you need more, Slack me, and we’ll chat whenever you want.

## **Personality quirks**

- I have a  **terrible memory** , so I try to write everything down: in a notebook, in a post-it, in my Notion.
- I enjoy  **informality**  and  **jokes**. But of course, if I happen to say something that bothers you, please tell me ASAP. There may also be cultural differences I may not be aware of yet.
- I consider myself an  **organized**  person: you may see me organizing meetings well in advance or re-arranging documents or Notion pages. Don’t worry, I don’t expect the same from others, although I feel more comfortable when things are organized.
- I also put effort into having my  **calendar organized and up-to-date**. I attend all the meetings I’ve accepted, and I reject (and delete) the ones I don’t. If you are having trouble scheduling some time with me, please let me know, and we will find a spot together.
- I try to be  **calm** , even in stressful situations (or in emergencies), so I usually don’t panic when something bad happens. It’s not that I don’t care, it’s just that I think the best approach is to reflect first and then react.
- I may struggle a little when I have to give  **tough feedback**  or when having difficult conversations. Please let me know if you feel I’m not being clear enough.
- I love  **emoji**  😬 and GIFs: in fact, I’m holding myself back so I don’t fill this doc with them. Did you know that there is an emoji for juggling? 🤹‍♂️ Amazing.
- I’m  **not a**   **sports**   **fan** , but I’d love to talk about traveling, TV series, cinema, parenting (I’m a proud father of a 3 years old) or photography!
- The correct pronunciation of my name is [ˈɑdriːə] / [AHd-ree-uh], and my pronouns are he/him.
- According to the  **16Personalities test** , I’m “The defender” (ISFJ-A): “These people tend to be warm and unassuming in their own steady way. They’re efficient and responsible, giving careful attention to practical details in their daily lives”. You can read the full personality profile here: [https://www.16personalities.com/isfj-personality](https://www.16personalities.com/isfj-personality).