human_user_guide.md

bethanyj28 Human User Guide

About me

What are some honest, unfiltered things about you?

• I struggle with anxiety, especially social anxiety. I've been going to therapy and recently started meds which has helped a lot!
• I'm an over/under thinker. My brain takes up a lot of energy overthinking things to the point that I underthink other things. A lot of this stems from my anxiety, but it is something I'm working on.
• I am extremely jazzed that I get to do software engineering for a living. I found out that I love to code through a series of events in college and for a while was discouraged that I wouldn't be able to wedge myself into this industry without a degree in CS. I still get excited telling people I'm a software engineer even if they don't find it as interesting as I do!
• Go is my favorite programming language ❤️

What drives you nuts?

• Process for the sake of process.
• Unwillingness to learn or put effort into understanding something.
• Requesting Changes on a PR without specific criteria for what should change.
• Dichotomous reasoning.
• Putting down others chosen tooling/processes.

What are your quirks?

• When making decisions, I love a good pros/cons list (or in more technical contexts, an ADR). This helps me visualize the options better and forces me to think about things I might've not considered previously.
• I'm from North Carolina but both sides of my family are midwestern, which is definitely reflected in my personality.
• I use exclamations a lot! Sorry!! (I also apologize a lot!)

What are some things that people might misunderstand about you that you should clarify?

• People think I'm judgemental since I tend to be on the quieter side in large group settings. I actually think I'm a fairly empathetic person, but get embarrassed when people assume they know what I'm thinking. I just usually take time to think on things which makes group conversations tougher.
• People tend to assume I'm very young and inexperienced. I would prefer if people gave me the benefit of the doubt first.
• I think people assume I'm sensitive and don't default to giving me feedback. I very much thrive on feedback and would like to think I can reflect on it without being offended.

About my colleagues

What qualities do you particularly value in your colleagues?

• Fun! I love when we can have fun and laugh together.
• Curiosity and challenging assumptions. I appreciate different perspectives and insights into problems!
• Empathy. I think being able to empathize with other viewpoints and perspectives that aren't your own is so important for working with others.
• Trust. I align a lot with the value of "trust by default", I believe that the majority of people are trying the best with what their current situation allows.
• Collaboration. A willingness to work together in whatever form (pairing, discussion, questions) makes everything better.
• Inclusion and ensuring access to information that might help others do their job better.
• Promoting an environment of psychological safety.

What do you wish colleagues didn’t do?

• Gatekeep opportunities and information.
• Roast code. While at the end of the day code is cheap and easy to change, there is a human that wrote it and better ways to deliver feedback.
• "Got a second?" or dropping a Zoom link with no context.

How can people earn an extra gold star with you?

• Come to book club and learn together!
• Coach me by letting me think through a problem and attempt to get experience solving it rather than just giving me the answer.
• Let their personalities shine through their work and interactions.
• Encourage work-life balance and model healthy behavior.

About my interactions

How do you coach people to do their best work and develop their talents?

• I was a Supplemental Instruction leader in college and that experience has heavily influenced my approach to mentorship and collaboration. I believe the best way to teach is by providing an environment that faciliates learning and growth in a collaborative manner.
• For example, when a mentee asks me a question I will either give enough information to help them get unstuck or coach them through searching for the answer. If there are multiple people I'm coaching, I like to redirect and see if anyone else knows the answer to give them experience answering questions.

What’s the best way to communicate with you?

• I prefer less rigid communication structures like Slack that enable async conversation to happen in a more natural form.
• I like Zoom/video calls to get face-to-face time, but as an introvert I have a limit to how much I can do.
• I do keep tabs on my email, but I'll always default to Slack.

What’s the best way to convince you to do something?

• I very much subscribe to the opinion of "Strong opinions, loosely held". I believe there's usually more than one correct way to do something. My experiences have informed my perspective but I don't think that invalidates other perspectives.
• I think context matters with this as well. If we are in the planning phase of something I am very open to any and all thoughts and ideas for the direction and shape of the work. However, if I'm trying to execute on something, I prefer to keep the scope as minimal as possible (it doesn't mean I'm completely unwilling, just understand it might not be a now thing).
• Data and concrete examples are always helpful. I think it's important to fully understand the "why" behind any ask.

How do you like to give feedback?

• If it's something I feel emotional about, I like to take at least a day to make sure that there is no emotion associated with my feedback and that it is as constructive to the person's growth as possible.
• I feel very strongly about approaching feedback with empathy and trying to put myself in someone else's shoes first. I think there's typically a reason someone does something and usually they're trying their best.
• I prefer to give feedback async and discuss sync if necessary, but also will always try to keep preferences in mind.

How do you like to get feedback?

• I thrive on feedback. I don't have a big preference on format, whether it's a discussion, PR, Slack, 1:1, etc. I do prefer it to be as immediate as possible. That doesn't necessarily mean right away (as I don't like to give feedback right away), just that I don't enjoy learning feedback during bi-annual reviews when something could've been worked on a lot sooner.
• I think empathy is the biggest thing I appreciate for feedback. Trust that I'm doing my best and have a desire to learn and grow!
• I prefer feedback to be constructive, but I also don't think this is something to agonize over. I thought The Software Engineer's Guidebook phrased this well:

  Feedback is a gift, both when given and received. Poorly delivered feedback is also a gift, but some work is needed to turn it into something useful you can act on!