# Matt's Manager Readme **Development Manager at Atlas Systems** # What is this Much like the README's we see for software projects, I am writing this to share how I usually work & what my expectations are. I hope that you use this to learn more about me, and it gives you insights into how I typically operate. I believe that these topics will make us work more efficiently together.  # My role My role is to help the development team succeed — all while building efficient, secure, and scalable applications, services, and platforms. I aim to develop a strong culture and foundation to facilitate productive teamwork.  I'm here for you and always available to assist. Ask me. I'm not perfect and want to improve just like you. Hold me accountable. Tell me what you're struggling with or what I may have failed you on. ## Tell me what you think About us, about the team, about the product, about anything that might improve our mutual work and team cooperation.  I won't be mad if you fail; I will be disappointed if you & the team don't learn from it. Show me how you are going to avoid the next fail.  # What do I value most I value honesty, respectfulness, and a drive to improve. If you're having a problem or need help, let me know. I believe that we should all be bringing our best self to work and that we should all be willing to help each other out. If you ever have anything you need to talk about, work-related or not, I'm here. # What our development team values mean to me A few years ago at a development team retreat, we took a deep dive into our strengths and weaknesses. At the end of 2 days, we boiled everything down to 6 core tenets that we all value. We all may have some different interpretations of these, but this is how I see them. I'm happy to talk with you about your perceptions of the team values and if you think they are still valid and if we should be re-evaluating them.  ## Trust - We each _trust_ each other to be making the best decisions based on what we know and understand at any given time. ## Collaboration - We do our best to _collaborate _with others in the team, company, partners, and customers to achieve the best possible solution. - We seek ways to _collaborate _with others on the team since we can learn more about working with others. ## Flexibility - We sometimes have to shift priorities. We do our best to handle these context-shifts. ## Professionalism - We are coming in to work prepared to work, learn, and do the best that we can. - We are treating everyone with respect. - We are honest and transparent and addressing and raising issues as soon as possible. ## Forward-thinking - We are continually working to improve ourselves and our processes. - We are looking for ways to be more efficient and productive. ## Customer-centric - We are empathetic and understand that the ways we implement functionality directly impact our customers and support teams. We are considering their user needs and behaviors when developing. # My Expectations My fundamental expectation for people is that you're honest, transparent, and respectful. This manifests itself in lots of ways, from always being on time to meetings to providing feedback to letting me know if you need any support. I value learning and improving. I like to brag about our achievements, but we all make mistakes. I ask that you are accountable for it and that we talk about it openly and honestly. We need to learn from our failures, not simply learn to fail. You should ask "what could have gone better?" or "how could you prevent this in the future?". I may have ideas, but I'll try to keep them to myself so that you can learn, grow and move along your own path. ## Ask and you shall receive - I am not always the best at giving feedback at the moment and I don't like to tell you how to do things, but I will never shirk a direct request for feedback. - If you are unhappy about anything, talk to me about it and we will find solutions together. ## Share with me - I'll always make time for you if you ask  **"** _Do you have a minute. . ._ **"** - Don't shy away from the  **"** _Oops, I think I messed up_ **"**. . . phrase. I want to hear about it right away. I'm not interested in scolding but working with you to resolve it and learn from it. - If you're open and honest with me, I will be able to support you and go to bat for you when you need it. # 1:1s Our one-on-ones are held, at most, every week for 30-minutes. These meetings are for you. They are intended to discuss anything on your mind, ranging from essential topics to informal conversations, at your discretion. They are not for status updates.  - **Come prepared**  - Think about what you want to talk about before the meeting. - If either of us is on vacation for the week, we'll skip. If you are out for one or two days and will miss the 1:1, you should reschedule with me. If I am out for a day or two, I'll work with you to reschedule. If either of us is traveling for work, we'll do our best to reschedule. - If it's urgent, don't wait for the next 1-on-1.  **Ask me on the same day!** # Personality quirks - If you're in a meeting, you should be  **in the meeting** , participating and not working on other things on your laptop or cell phone.  - I sometimes work at strange hours, I  **don't**  expect you to be working at those same hours.  - Work-life balance is important. Work hard but take your earned vacation time.  **Don't burn yourself out**! - If I have forgotten something we agreed I'd take on, please  **challenge me**  on it. - 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 and you're stuck, let me know. - I see different communication channels as having different immediacy needs. _Email_ (where I'm CC'd  **\<**  _Email_ (where I'm addressed in the To line)  **\<**  _Slack_  **\<**  _Text Message_ or _Face2Face_