# Karen Inman's Manager Readme

**Software Engineering Manager at Kong Inc.**

# Motivation for this document

This README is public, but its primary audience is the team I work with. The better we understand each other, the better we'll work together. This document is meant to accelerate that understanding. It doesn't replace our 1-1s or other conversations; it augments those.

# My role

My job is to build and maintain an effective, functional team that reliably delivers features our customers request.  

# My values

_Assume best intent_

No one here is trying to undermine the organization, the team, or you. If someone's words or actions appear to contradict that, I try to ask them about it _in the moment_ and _in private_. I encourage you to do the same, even and especially if that someone is me.

_Iterate, don't obliterate_

Prefer incremental improvement over grand re-architecture. What's the smallest change we can make that will improve our product and deliver value to our customer? Do that. And then do it again. Going fast is good only if you're going in the right direction. You know when you are because your customer tells you when you're not.

# Our 1-1s

Our 1-1s are for you. Yeah, no one ever said that before. We have them weekly for 30-45 minutes depending on your preference, and we work from the agenda you set in our shared 1-1 doc. I also add topics from time-to-time. Once a month, we'll talk about your career goals and what I can do to advance them.

Occasionally I'll ask for your opinion of my performance, and I'll put that on our agenda in advance so you aren't caught by surprise. I really do want your feedback. Positive would be great, but constructive is more useful. I'll probably try to explain why I did / didn't do whatever you're telling me about. In my mind, I'm giving you perspective you don't have (mine), but I realize that comes off as defensive. So I'm trying not to do that. The more feedback you give me, the more chances I have to practice.

We have formal reviews twice yearly. Nothing in those reviews should come as a surprise to you because you are getting regular feedback in our 1-1s. If something _is  _a surprise, then our 1-1s are not effective, and we will discuss how to improve that going forward.

# My quirks

I'm not a big fan of "I don't know." On the other hand, I love, "I don't know yet, but here's what I'm going to try next." If you run out of things to try, you are Blocked™. Let me know.

I also bristle at poor calendar management. If you invite me to a meeting, tell me why. If I invite you, respond to the request so that I can coordinate with other attendees. Time is not a renewable resource!