# Stefan Khan-Kernahan's Manager Readme

**Director of Engineering at Slalom Build**

# new phone, who dis?

Hi, I'm Stefan, a people manager, with a mix of technical and operational experience. More than anything, I'm looking forward to getting to know you. After you read this, hopefully you'll have got to know a bit more about me and can use this to start a conversation with me.

Being a manager is one aspect of me as a person, and it's the one largely addressed by the remainder of this document. There are many other sides to me, some of which may naturally surface as we build a rapport. I say this because likely, you're reading this as an engineer, but I know there's a lot more to who you are than just your job, and I'm really looking forward to knowing who you are, as a person.

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# so... "management"

ie. how I can help you. The role as I see it is best summarized as:

**Providing Context: ** most of my day is spent collecting, filtering and sharing context/information from across the organization. I’ll try to push information to you as much as I can but feel free to ask about anything else.

**Technical Oversight:**  use me as an extra set of ears and eyes, to bounce ideas off of, and if needed, to get additional tools and resources. If I have a thought that I want broken down, I'll let you know. I likely won't be in the day-to-day of writing code with you, but I need to be confident in the technical direction we take, and to vouch for and advocate for the yours and the team's decisions.

**Support and Cheerleading** : I love to celebrate my employees and their successes, and I want to be part of ensuring that you're getting wins, and being recognized

**Firefighting:**  Sometimes, things just don't go according to plan - mistakes, surprises - doesn't matter. My role is to help coordinate all resources and processes at this time, and ensure you have an environment where, when we do have our backs against the wall, that you feel 100% supported.

One of the most important lessons I have learnt is that it's okay to have strong opinions, so long as they are loosely held. I may have an opinion, but I want to hear your thoughts, and have you walk me (and the team!) through the lens with which you view our projects. My role is not to direct individuals, but rather, to help individuals feel comfortable in coming together and voicing the direction we feel most confident we should next take. I strongly believe that, given the opportunity, most teams want to find the best way to get through whatever task/project they have at hand - they don't want to just be told what to do.

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# performance expectations

**I operate at a default high level of trust**. More than anything I ask that you use good judgement, and don't rush decisions. There are some assumptions in this:

**I assume you’re very good at your job.** If it feels like I’m questioning you it’s because I’m either trying to gather context, or I'm trying to be a sounding board.

**I assume that I’m not good at your job.** I’ll provide necessary context and ask questions to help you vet your ideas but I won’t override you - I believe you know best.

Always, I will give you feedback on how you're doing, usually in our one-on-ones. If I'm worried about your performance, I will let you know. If you worry that I'm worried about your performance, please let me know.

_"Measure twice, cut once" - mom, ma, many teachers, me! ;)_

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# professional expectations

Expectations are largely people specific, so I'll let you know those as we get to know each other.

**Provide open, honest and frequent communication**

**Do amazing work.**  Let me know if there is something preventing you from accomplishing this.

**Disagree with me.**  Remember - strong opinions, loosely held. The best solutions come from a healthy level of debate. We need to be able to separate our ideas from our egos.

**Tell me when I screw up.** This is very important. I screw up more often than I would like to admit, and sometimes I don’t notice. I need to know or I’ll likely do it again.

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# personal values

**Honesty. ** Life happens. Mistakes happen. Surprises happen. All along the way, I need to be able to support you, and vouch for you, and the only way that is going to be hindered from happening is if I'm vouching for something that isn't so. ** **

**Intentionality**. We have too much to do for any of it to be random. Intentionality is important to make sure we get the results we want.

**Empathy.** Connecting with your user's emotions is incredibly important to building the best product that we can. Having empathy for your co-workers will help us to build strong teams.

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# finding a time to meet

**_Urgent matters should not wait for a 1:1. Slack me, text me (my # is in my Slack profile), or email me with "URGENT"._**

When it comes to booking me, be it for one-on-ones, team meetings, or you just need a sounding board, I try to make myself bookable for the engineering team for an hour immediately after daily standup, and for the rest of the day after lunch, everyday except Wednesday, which we've delegated as meeting day. This is a work in progress, and I am more than happy to switch it up to accommodate different working structures (e.g. if you are on a 4-day work week, or are working remotely, I can meet you in what would be off-time for someone else)

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# 1:1s

**One on One's are critical to ensuring we are always on the same page with each other.**

Firstly, and most importantly - as your manager, your well-being is my number one priority. If you have anything that is bothering you, no matter how busy or packed my calendar looks, reach out to me and let me know you want to check-in with me, I will clear time.

More often than not, I want you to lead. The format of the meeting is "your agenda, my agenda, job function review, everything else". Use the time for yourself, put your needs first. I need to know that I am hearing and understanding the issues that are most important to you.

Please note, this meeting does not need to include work updates, I use the daily stand for that. But if you want to include an update, it's your meeting, do so.

A good habit to get prepared for your 1:1 is to keep a very brief daily journal or interactions and emotions - what was good or bad that jumped out to you. Then, on the day of your 1:1, take a bit of time to reflect on which of these you want to bring up.

As we go through 1:1s, you should feel that:

- you are heard, and understood

- our 1:1 is a safe space - _if this isn't the case, please provide that feedback to my manager_

- your professional needs and career growth are understood and being met

- you have a clear idea of how you are performing

One last note about one-on-one's - I prefer to do these in-person, if permitting. I'm more than happy to swap things up to meet you in person if you are planning to work from home on the day of the 1:1, just let me know if you can. I know this is a "nice to have on my part", and I'm learning to be more effective with 1:1s remotely now that COVID has given me a reason to level up, so I'll update this accordingly.

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# quirks

- I'm from the Caribbean (Trinidad & Tobago), and when surprised/emotional, my accent comes out 🇹🇹

- If you "just have one more thing to do, but it's really small", it's not done, who knows what can happen 🤷‍♂️

- Don't assume other's intentions.. It's much easier to lead with a question, and almost always eliminates the drama 🧐

- Please don't give credence to rumours. If you've heard something that needs clarification, please come to me. 🤫

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# hey... there's a caveat

Take this document with a grain of salt: I wrote it! I have never experienced having me as a manager. If I'm your manager and something here seems off, bring it up to me in one-on-one or over Slack 😬