# Hamilton Shu's Manager Readme

**Engineering Manager at WP Engine**

# Motivation for this document

**Simplifying my management philosophy and providing insight into my expectations and style.**

# My role

**I am here to facilitate product delivery and help grow engineers. My number one goal is to help you succeed at your goals. The engineers are my boss. I try to clear any impediments and answer any questions that you might have. I want to help you achieve the career you want and provide the guidance you need to reach those goals. I will also be as transparent as possible to provide you with any information I hear from our leaders.**

# What do I value most?

**Direct feedback and honesty. I want all teams I work with to feel emotionally safe. That means that everyone should feel free and safe to provide constructive feedback to anyone else on the team, including me and our development partners.**

**Straightforward communication between myself and you as well as within the team is important as well. In terms of importance, calling -\> texting -\> slack DM -\> slack mention -\> email is how to contact me. I prefer async communications in our WFH first office, but am always willing to jump on a zoom call if that's your preference.**

# My Expectations

**We're all adults. If you need to leave to go run an errand or if your child is sick, you don't have to message me, just let the team know you might be unreachable and then do it. I don't micromanage, I hated being micromanaged and I strive to macromanage. I trust the teams to act according. **  
  
**Equitability and accountability for myself and for decisions I make are crucial, so if I do something that you don't like or doesn't make sense, let me know and I can try and explain myself. This also means that you should be open to direct and potentially critical feedback as well, and you should feel safe to provide me with the same direct and critical feedback.**

**I'm not a mind reader. I don't know what you want to do with your career, so I'm expecting to hear from you. I will always try my best to find opportunities and direction to help you achieve those goals, but I need to know what it is to be able to help you.**

**You should feel a sense of ownership for your code. This doesn't mean everything needs to go through you when someone commits something in the same are, but instead, you should feel responsibility to maintain to code and to follow the old Baden-Powell quote, "_Leave this world a little better than you found it._".**

# 1:1s

**I try to have these bi-weekly in 30 minute intervals. During this time, I provide feedback, information from leadership or answer any questions. This is YOUR time, if you don't feel like you have topics, or you want the time back to focus on something, no worries, just let me know!**

# Personality quirks

**I'm a former debater and I regularly play Devil's Advocate. I don't do it out of contention, but just to provide an alternative point of view. I also try and solution so I have to make conscious efforts to curb the behavior and let the team focus on their own processes.**

# Where to focus on your first 90 days?

**In your first sprint, you should be attempting to familiarize yourself with the toolkit and the stack. By your second and third sprints, you should be immersing yourself in the codebase the team is responsible for. After that, the choice is up to you depending on what the team is working on. If there's a need, there are opportunities to familiarize yourself with the company overall, or if you want to dive deeper, we have numerous subject matter experts to pair with to dive deeper. By the end of the first 90 days, you should be familiar with the stack and the product the team is actively working on. You should also feel comfortable at that point to start providing your opinions and feedback during SCRUM ceremonies as well. Also start, looking around and let me know if you find opportunities that might interest you. **

# **TL;DR**

- **NO MICROMANAGING**
- **Communicate often and directly**
- **Call -\> Text -\> Slack DM -\> Slack mention -\> Email**
- **I will always be as transparent as I'm allowed to be**
- **Always open for a video call**
- **You should always feel comfortable to ask why**
- **Direct feedback is key**
- **Own your career path**
- **Own your work**
- **1:1s are your time**
- **My attempt at devil's advocacy isn't to tear down your arguments but to provide counterpoints**
- **Push yourself to try new things and continue to engage in learning**