# Mario Cuba's Manager Readme **Engineering Manager at Buildkite** # Hello! This document is meant to be a reference guide as to who I am, what you should expect from me, and what I will be expecting from you in one way or another. Just like all of us, this document will evolve as time goes on. If you see behaviours between me and this document that don’t match up, I expect you to call me out on them. I shall endeavour to clarify any mismatches, and update as necessary. # My role as a Manager In a nutshell: - **People**. I am responsible of my team's wellbeing at work, their relationship with work (like preventing burnout), and their career growth and development. I will ensure I dedicate as much time and attention to this as I am able. - **Systems**. I am accountable for the smooth operation, costs and risks of the systems my team and I own. I will do my best to take care of these areas with the support of my team and its Tech Lead. I will also take responsibility for when things go wrong, and work to reduce the likelihood of these things from happening again. - **Delivery**. I strive to maintain transparency and open lines of communications with all the people we work with, both inside and outside of the team. I want to ensure that the work that we do is well defined, properly broken down, and the processes surrounding it are unobtrusive and efficient. # My principles and values My thoughts and actions are guided by these points, and my perception of you will be filtered through these as well. - **Candour above all**. This will be my default way of engaging with you (and everyone else!), for I am one to think that this is fundamental for building trust between two people. - **People are human first, coworkers second**. Our work may be part of our identity, but it is not what define us as a whole. Get to know me as an individual. treat me like one and I’ll develop a huge amount of respect for you. - **Positivity is key**. Enthusiasm brings out the best out of me. Being excited and passionate about something is contagious, so my best work happens when I can feel this coming from you. The opposite is true as well. - **Follow through what you say**. Reliability is fundamental for healthy work relationships. - **Give the benefit of the doubt**. Trust that the people around you are doing their best. This may not always be the case, but don’t fall into that trap too quick. Be empathetic. # My style of Communication **I heavily lean towards building context whenever I can**. I believe that people, by default, will make the best decisions they can at the time with the information they have and the constraints they are subject to. Under this assumption, I aim to provide as much information as I can to help them in that regard. This may be perceived as over-communicating or repeating myself, but I prefer to be safe than sorry. I don’t want to be skipping over nuance because some may deem it irrelevant or obvious. **I am direct and honest. This doesn’t mean blunt or disrespectful**. I will always be as transparent as my role allows me to. I will try to give you all the facts I can, give you a clear understanding of what I am thinking and what I am observing, and I will try my best to not be rude or belliegerent about it. This does not mean I will avoid uncomfortable discussions, or refrain from providing constructive criticism; it means that I will try to share my perspective, and invite you to do the same. **If something isn’t confidential, I will default to public**. I don’t know all the answers, but the people around us might. The same people may also need some information you and I may have and we don’t know they do. Whatever the case is, we can prevent a game of Telephone if we stick to communicating publicly, since we’ve got nothing to hide (except, of course, if something is confidential). **I heavily rely on emojis as a replacement for social cues**. Some people may believe that the usage of emoji is unprofessional, but at the end of the day, a lot of the tone and feel is lost in writing. To supplement this, I use emoji constantly to give an indication to the reader of my tone, my intent, and my current frame of mind in _informal_ communication. I don’t expect you to do the same, but if you do, I think that’s 😗👌 **I favour asynchronous communication**. I find that having the time and space to think about what I want to say without the need of improvisation is the most effective way of preventing miscommunication. This does not mean however that I will avoid having face-to-face chats, so don't hesitate to suggest that if that suits you better. **I find analogies really helpful**. If I am having trouble explaining a concept to you, I will most likely resort to analogies. If I am not getting something, using an analogy will most definitely help me out. **I believe that, ultimately, miscommunication comes from the sender**. I have no control of what you perceive or understand, but I have full control of what I say, so I take as much time as possible to craft messages that leave no space for ambiguity and communicate what I mean. **[I think to talk](https://fractio.nl/2015/07/10/think-talk-leadership/)**. This may be infuriating or uncomfortable for some since conversations may feel slow or it may lead to “awkward” silences, but I am doing my very best to clearly articulate what I am thinking. You deserve the best information presented in the best way I possibly can, which may take some time for me to get there. **I am probably from a different background than yours, and I try to keep that in mind when communicating**. English isn’t my first language, and even if I do my absolute best not to, there’s a strong possibility that I'll say the wrong expression, miss important nuance, or address something in a specific way that might end up offending someone. Please understand that this may be ignorance, or a language / cultural barrier, and not malice. Let me know when this happens, so I can learn! **I acknowledge that we all communicate differently**. If something I do, or the way I go about something specific annoys you, let me know. I shall do my best to be accommodating. # My quirks There’s a few things that you should know about me that you may find weird, or uncomfortable. **If you’re talking to me, I may not look at you, and instead look at the distance or at the floor.** This is when I am concentrating about what you’re saying the most, and thinking deeply about it. This will undoubtedly look like I am not paying attention, but I can assure you, it is the exact opposite. **I have mild speech processing issues**. I may ask you to repeat yourself from time to time, even when you’re being clear. This doesn’t mean I am not paying attention. What this means is that, sometimes, my brain will literally just hear gibberish. This is specially problematic in a remote environment, where I may not be able to read your lips. For this reason, I am also unable to concentrate at all if there’s background noise, and avoid phone calls at all costs. **I will often ask hypothetical questions or voice stances I don't agree with to explore ideas in depth**. In my eyes, this promotes healthy debate and fosters collective understanding, as long as it is clear that this is the intent. I actively encourage you to do the same, so we can all prevent groupthink. This may feel unnecessarily contrarian or pedantic, and I’m sorry if I come across this way! I will do my best to bring you along for the ride, so we can all get to the best solutions together. **I ask an enormous amount of questions**. The purpose is two-fold: primarily, _for my own benefit_, as a way to learn, and has nothing to do with me not trusting your decision-making process, your expertise or your experience. Furthermore, I find the Socratic Method a brilliant way to align, unearth assumptions, and engage in critical thinking. I will often approach discussions this way. **I will empower you to collaborate on technical decisions together** , and will use my technical skills and background to ensure we’re not missing anything. I acknowledge that you are the subject matter expert, and I will trust your judgement. My role in this is to guide, facilitate, and navigate the complexities of delivering software, while ensuring that this aligns with the business’ values and interests. # My views on feedback This applies to both positive and constructive or negative feedback. **Feedback should be given immediately**. Fresh context keeps feedback unambiguous, and helps framing what should or shouldn’t be done moving forward. **Feedback should be specific**. I consider vague feedback to be [ruinously empathetic](https://www.radicalcandor.com/faq/what-is-ruinous-empathy/), and I feel terrible when I receive it because of how it can be perceived as disingenuous or low-effort. **Feedback should be kind**. No matter what it is, we’re human and we should be treated with empathy and respect. **The smaller things matter the most to me**. I aim to provide feedback on the big things, but I like to focus on the small things as well. I say this because I would hate for that to be perceived as “grasping at straws”. There will be many things to say about a multi-month initiative, but that shouldn’t drown how impactful and meaningful the small interactions are. The way you go about carefully sharing your thoughts on a retro, or the way you’ve articulated a problem to the team as impactful as the projects you deliver, if not more. **If I don’t hear regular feedback from you, I will assume one of two things** : either “everything is fine, keep doing what you’re doing”, or you’re not engaged enough with what I am doing to care. This is fine. I will ask for feedback frequently, but I invite you to provide some of it when you have anything to say in any way you desire. **I praise in public, and criticise in private**. The only exception I will make to this if I detect aggression, or blatant, wilful disrespect (like racism, sexism, etc.). I will _not_ tolerate that behaviour and I will call it out _immediately_, no matter the forum. **If you have constructive criticism or negative feedback for me, I expect all of these expectations to be met**. We all makes mistakes, and that includes me. These are opportunities to learn. However, I don’t take it kindly if this feedback happens in back channels or behind closed doors. Pass the feedback to me, or to my manager, meeting the criteria that I’ve already mentioned (prompt, specific, kind, private). This is the very best way to address issues. I take pride in my work, and I have very high standards about it, so if the negative feedback helps to increase the bar, then I will gladly take it without fear of retribution or punishment. **I understand that everyone likes to receive feedback their own way**. Some people don’t like public acknowledgement, some people don’t like it when it is face-to-face. I will be accommodating to whatever your needs are. I am not particularly picky about this, but if you feel comfortable to deliver it publicly or through an official channel (like Workday), I would appreciate that. # My 1:1s Among the most important time I spend at work, 1:1's are up there. If I bring topics to a 1:1, we’ll discuss them last. The reason for this is that I mainly want the things we talk about be decided by you. We will discuss anything and everything you want to first, then once we’re done, I shall discuss my points. I encourage you to always have something _you_ want to talk about in our 1:1’s. This can be reporting something about work, ask questions about initiatives, request context, or talk about cats. Whatever it is, take advantage of that time in a way that it serves your goals. If you ultimately don’t have anything in particular to talk about, that’s also OK. Don’t feel nervous about it. I’m happy to do schedule 1:1’s weekly or fortnightly. It’s up to you to decide the cadence, but at first, I would like to have them weekly to build a relationship and an understanding of each other as people. I’ll aim to have actions out of our 1:1’s. I expect them to be taken seriously from both sides. Call me out if I don’t. I am happy to reschedule 1:1’s. Cancelling them not so much. # TODO This document will never be finished, but will be continuously updated. If you have feedback about it, please let me know. Specifically: - What information you would like to see here - What’s useless in this document and should be deleted from existence Thanks!