Published: Tue 07 April 2020
By Seth Buntin
In Development .
tags: management
Hey, we are glad you are here. Take a couple of deep breaths, this will be fun. What you are about to experience in this place
will be different from any place you've worked before. There will be highs and there will be lows (there always is). But most
importantly, we are going to have fun. And you will help us make it great.
While you are here you will work with great people. Seriously, the people here are some of the best all around people you will get
an opportunity to be around. You will learn how we communicate, how we collaborate and how we build a product. All of this will take
time and we are here to provide that learning opportunity.
Before we get started we need to really define one thing well. That is, our relationship. While my title has the word "Manager" in
it I hope to show you my take on that word. Hopefully you will see that the managers on TV and in the movies aren't what we are in
reality. In reality my job is to make you the best you you can be. I'm your helper. I'm your guide. I'm your coach. Below
is sort of a guide to me. The things I find important and the things I value. I hope it helps you understand me.
Without further ado, buckle up and enjoy the ride.
Our Average week
We will for the first little bit of time meet 1:1 weekly. This meeting will change over time but for the first 3 or so months
we will focus heavily on our product and answering any questions you might have. After this period of time and when you have
developed a deeper understanding of Campaign Monitor we will switch to bi-weekly 1:1s.
Some weeks we have team meetings and some weeks we don't (see Principles below for more information on meetings). We have weekly
Engineering All Hands meetings that are a good place hear what is going on in the Engineering organization and various global
announcements. There will even be brand staff meetings that I encourage all of my teammates to attend.
You can Slack me whenever you want. I normally turn off notifications past 6 p.m. but if you feel I need to know you can notify
me anyways. I don't mind at all.
I sometimes work at weird hours. That is my choice. I do not expect you to work weird hours .
I take vacations and use my time-off. You should too. Being refreshed is one of the best ways to do our best job.
My role
My role mainly consists of three parts: People, Team, Technology. In that order.
People
Like I stated above my first responsibility is to enable you to be the best you you can be. But I can't do it without you .
I am dependent on you telling me what you want to do and then I get the opportunity to navigate all the situations we find
ourselves in and help you piece the puzzle together. This is one of my favorite things to do. Not because it is easy but because
we do this together.
As you've experienced I'm also in charge of hiring. This is another favorite thing to do. It is hard and tiring but in the end it
is rewarding.
I'm also active in compensation, promotions, reviews and all the "managery" things you might think of. These things come with
my role and I am eager to help where and how I can you navigate these conversations and situations.
Team
I get to be involved in a little bit of the day to day activities of the team. My main focus it to ensure that you all are able to
do you job and do it effectively together. I help coordinate conversations and collaboration. I help coach for the best outcome.
You will some times hear me say "We win and lose as a team." This is true, we can't do this without each other. The people that
sit with you and around you are your best allies. The analogy I like to use here is that of Steve Kerr, the head coach for the Golden
State Warriors. If you watch him during a game you'll notice that he is most often sitting comfortably on the bench letting the
team play. He may step up and adjust during the game but his actions show that the team is at work. I believe that the best coaching
happens through our 1:1 conversations and various team meetings and that the time for the team to shine is during the sprint. I may
help adjust along the way but this is game time for a product engineering team.
This is where process happens. One note about process and who I am at my core. I obviously care about process in that I have created
this document that details all of the things that mean something to me and I want to consistantly be communicating and enacting. But,
when it comes to the team I want the team to decide the tools and artifacts we use to help us be successful. I don't want that kind
of decision coming solely from me. I have opinions and will gladly share them but a process will never work if it doesn't have buy-in
from everyone. So we will decide process together.
Technology
I have had the opportunity over the years to be exposed to many problems that we face each day. This exposure enables me to help
where I can with some of the implementation. I've learned over the past couple of years what this actually looks like. For me
it looks a lot like 20 Questions. While I might have an idea or direction I tend to help you and the team navigate to the implementation.
This was hard at first but has become more and more fulfilling.
Principles I care about
I hold to a set of guiding principles. These principles are by far not perfect but I have found and seen a lot of success when
we as a team hold to them together. These principles are not my own. I intend to stand on the shoulders of giants who have done
this before and learn from their successes and failures.
The 10 Commandments of Egoless programming
Understand and accept that you will make mistakes.
You are not your code.
No matter how much "karate" you know, someone else will always know more.
Don't rewrite code without consultation.
Treat people who know less than you with respect, deference, and patience.
The only constant in the world is change.
The only true authority stems from knowledge, not from position.
Fight for what you believe, but gracefully accept defeat.
Don't be "the guy or gal in the room."
Critique code instead of people – be kind to the coder, not to the code.
General
Facts over fear
Perfect is the enemy of Progress
A program that sells and makes money is better than one that doesn't
It is important to not stop questioning
Be introspective. If something goes wrong adapt the process that got you there.
Proactive is better than reactive
Respect goes a long way
Cinnamon Toast Crunch is the best cereal
Meetings
To some this is a sore subject and if you were to survey a group of managers on what they think about meetings you will likely get
many differing responses. My care for meetings revolve around communication. I feel when teams are communicating well outside
of a meeting room there really is no need to go into a meeting room to communicate. This isn't always the case so sometimes a meeting
is the right place for certain conversations. I do my best to keep meetings on point and intentional. If you ever feel like a
meeting was a waste of time then let me know. Your time is the last thing I want to waste.
My Expectations
My main expectation is that when we are all doing our part the team runs like a well oiled machine. When we aren't we know it.
Conversation is my main reaction to when things aren't working well.
I also expect to have fun. We are here 8 hours a day. It isn't worth investing all that time when you can't have fun while doing it.