# Jocelyn James's Manager Readme

**Engineering Manager at Bitly**

# Welcome!

This doc will tell you a bit about me as a person & manager, and the dynamic of the team as a whole. I'm glad you're here!

# My role

I am the Engineering Manager for the Squirrels and Llamas Teams. What does that mean? Well, I am a software engineer with a background in FE development, but as a manager I view my primary responsibility to be ensuring everyone feels supported, valued, and able to do their best work.

# What do I value most?

I really value open, honest, kind, \*constructive\* communication. You may have heard me say in the interview process that someone's communication skills are just as important to me as their technical abilities, and I absolutely mean it! 

Everyone's communication styles/preferences are slightly different, so please let me know what works best for you (Slack, email, video chat, etc). Also please let me know what you need from me-- more positive feedback? More specific instructions? Guidance with a particular process? I'm happy to adjust wherever I can to make sure the team is a positive environment for you.

# How to reach me

I am always available on Slack during work hours (for me, typically 9ish-5ish Eastern), and you should feel free to reach out there about anything that's on your mind. If you'd like to have a longer convo about something-- good, bad, in between-- reach out on Slack to set up a time, or just send me a calendar invite; I try to always keep my Google calendar up to date.

If it's urgent and outside work hours, feel free to send me a text.

# 1:1s

You will have your first 1-to-1 with me sometime within my/your first 2 weeks on the team; we will meet every week or every other week after that, depending on your preferred frequency. I am happy to meet more or less frequently according to your needs! Each 1-to-1 will be scheduled for 30 minutes, but can be longer or shorter as required.

1-to-1s are a great place to talk about whatever is on your mind: career goals, team dynamics, recent/current/future projects, feedback for me, etc. 

For our first 1-to-1, I will have some questions to start us off and get to know each other better; subsequent 1-to-1s will largely be guided by you and your priorities-- so think about what you'd like to discuss/bring up, and feel free to let me know in advance if it's something I'll need to research/prepare. 

# Personality quirks

I am obsessed with my dog-- talking about her, sending photos of her, having her say hi in meetings, etc. 

I am very much NOT a morning person; you will rarely see me on Slack before 9am. That being said, it's totally fine if you are! Feel free to set your own schedule, as long as there are some hours of overlap with the rest of the team, and you're able to attend team meetings.

Unexpected phone calls give me anxiety; I'm totally happy to have a call/video chat, just warn me first!

# Me

I have lived all over the world but currently (and maybe forever??) reside in NYC with my Italian greyhound Vivienne. We are both extroverted introverts who love being the center of attention but then need to go home and take a nap.