A manual on working with Jorge.
This guide is a work in process.
The reason I wrote this guide, and keep updating it, was to have a place where I can point colleagues to so they can get some insights on how I operate and what it looks like to work with me.
These notes are not only what I have observed but also what I gathered from received feedbacks.
I usually start my day very early and from home. After a couple of hours I might go to the gym and then to the office. Work from home days are communicated on Slack.
I don’t expect anyone in the team to follow this schedule and I try to schedule my communications to happen in regular work hours.
It is not my habit to work outside of regular work hours. I believe that these extra hours hurt more than help. These “extra hours” tend t make one sloppy in prioritising what actually needs to be done.
Talking about being ruthless, here’s what you can expect if you work with me.
There are a few things that I try to live as my “work-mantras” and these mantras guide how I organise and execute on my work. These are:
Start with the end in mind. Plan and then execute. Avoid mixing the two.
Planning and executing are two completely different tasks, that require different thinking styles, tools and mindsets and I would very much like to keep them separate as much as possible. That is not to say that I blindly execute. There is often lots of replanning throughout the execution process but that is simply a factor of getting wiser during the process.
No customer ever benefited from my in progress pull request. Or my draft presentation. Or my in review designs.
If something is worth starting, then it should definitely be worth finishing as well. So plan accordingly when we work together. I will be pushing for that as much as it is reasonable.
Nobody ever complained about having too much context. EVER.
When we work together, make your thought process explicit and available. Write and share things. Add descriptions to the PR or the ticket or story. I will try my best to do the same so we are always on the same page whenever needed.
With that said, however, don’t expect me to react to each of your messages. If you make info available I will consume whenever it works for me. In a pull style instead of push.
If i am blocking your progress in any way, say so and I will act immediately.
I care deeply about product, strategy and tech. If you are making decisions or considerations that impacts my work in one of these areas I would very much like to be involved and be involved early.
In this case, early means when the idea is started, not after it is fully formed.
With that said, there is a chance that I will simply let you run with it after the initial discussion.
In this regard the worse that can happen is when I am presented with a “final thought” and am asked about my opinion. When it is this late in the process I feel like the time for my best contribution has long passed. And that, paired with my aversion of slow things down can create some frustration.
After we had an agreement on how to go about things, I don’t feel the need to be updated on every move unless something significant changes or you need my help.
No need to “keep me informed” when I am not needed to make things move.
Most workplaces under-communicate and I think that is a catastrophe. I put a very high price on good, frequent and timely communication. That is from a belief that timely good communication prevents the creation of many problems.
Because of that, I try to frequently write out to the teams I work with statuses, write-ups, debriefings, etc. Even when we have already talked in person.
I really believe in keeping records that can be consulted afterwards and have information available so the team can consume it as it suits each individual.
I try to communicate as precisely and clearly as possible. I do not communicate in-between the lines. I am aware that I sometimes get in trouble when someone ‘over analyses’ something I said.
I ask why. A lot! The most important bit is: I am not implying anything. When I ask why, that literally means I want to know why. It does not mean I disagree, it does not mean I think it is wrong. It means I’d like to understand better. Don’t read too much into it.
My tendency is to not weigh in on all topics. I will try to do whenever I feel my opinion matters or where I feel I have something to contribute. It is common for me to be engaged in a discussion even though I am mostly listening and asking questions.
I value written and thought-through communication. You will not get many emails from me. Slack is my go to. Please use threading :D
Written communication is just as valuable to me as face to face. So don’t wait until we meet in order to communicate. Write it up.
Give me the main point first. The background afterwards. Building up to the conclusion only works well in books. 😂
Think through your points... or make it explicit that you are thinking out loud. I love to engage on some ideation but only when I know that this is what is going on. However, if you want to bring up a suggestion or a point, think it through so we can have a proper debate around it.
I love debating.
Please disagree with me and argue your point.
Before forming an opinion on something I like to know what are:
With that, I am typically comfortable with moving forward even if there is no clear best option. That is from a belief that quick decision making outweighs everything else for most decisions.