Note #001: Being a Kind Engineer
A Short Guide to Building Positive Relationships in Tech
Introduction
In the fast-paced world of technology, it can be easy to forget the importance of kindness and collaboration in the workplace. However, as engineers, it is crucial to prioritize these values to cultivate positive relationships with colleagues and contribute to a supportive and inclusive workplace culture. This is especially important in remote work environments where face-to-face interactions are limited.
I recently watched an interesting talk by Evan Smith about the concept of Kind Engineering. Afterward, I started questioning whether I practice Kind Engineering at all and, if so, how I manifest it.
This blog post expands on the above-mentioned talk (highly recommend watching it) and explores additional practical ways to apply the Kind Engineering principles to your day-to-day job so you can build positive relationships with your colleagues, become a more effective team player, and ultimately contribute to a more supportive and inclusive workplace culture.
Consider others' schedules.
As an engineer, you are part of a larger team, and your success is closely tied to the success of your colleagues (read that again). Collaboration is key in any team, and it is important to keep the lines of communication open and work together towards a common goal. One way to do this is to take other people's schedules into consideration when planning your own work. By being mindful of deadlines and milestones, you can ensure that you are not working in isolation and that everyone is on the same page.
For example: if the deadline for an important task that a co-worker is working on is approaching, and you have a manageable workload, prioritize helping him/her to complete and ship the work on time. This can be done by helping them get unstuck from a specific issue they are experiencing, making sure their PRs are promptly reviewed or simply answering their questions.
Additionally, taking into account the availability of your team members can help prevent bottlenecks and ensure that work is distributed evenly across the team. This can lead to increased efficiency and better outcomes for everyone involved.
Practical tip(s):
be aware of team priorities without being focused only on your own tasks/tickets
be aware of upcoming PTOs
Be a flexible reviewer
Regardless of being Pull Requests (PRs) or Design Docs, when it comes to review other people work, being mindful of your colleagues' time zones is key to ensuring an efficient workflow (on top of all the things Evan discussed in his talk).
In a highly distributed team, doing reviews can have different impact based on the time of the day you decide to do them.
Waking up and have the PR you opened the night before already reviewed is a good way to start the day 🙂.
If little overlapping time exist between you and your coworkers (like if you are based in EU and they are based in California), strictly allocating time for PR and Design Docs reviews at the beginning or end of the day (which is a fairly common practice) has the result of potentially slowing down a lot the feedback loop, without the possibility to exchange more back-and-forth on a given feedback.
On the other hand, being flexible allows for more back-and-forth, which in the end allows to reach agreement faster. This not only allows for a more seamless collaboration but also shows that you respect their time.
Practical tip(s):
whenever possible, avoid setting hard time limits for when you perform reviews
whenever possible, when in a distributed team, get your reviews ready before your co-workers wake up
Be Aware of Timezone
In a global team, being aware of time zones is key to successful collaboration. This can make communication harder if some basic rules are not agreed and followed.
When communicating with colleagues in different time zones, it's good practice to avoid messaging them outside of their working hours, especially if they don’t have snoozed notifications on their phones. Instead, consider using scheduled messages, e-mails or simply sending messages during their working hours. The latter works well under the assumption that is clear what working hours are for a specific person: for example, I have colleagues that prefer to chat when it’s 6am their local time and other that start working later and disconnect at 11pm.
For those of us responsible for production services, being On Call is part of our job. It's not uncommon for "noisy" alerts to be triggered during the night while being On Call. It can be frustrating to jump onto the laptop only to realize that the alert was a false alarm. As a Kind Engineer on our working hours, one option we have is to temporarily overwrite the On-Call schedule for team members who are currently sleeping, so they aren't disturbed by notifications while we deal with a faulty alert or a small problem we know how to solve.
Practical tip(s):
be aware of what “working hours” are for other people
make use of scheduled messages
e-mails are your friend
overwrite On Call duties if needed/possible
Say "Thanks" a Lot
Taking the time to say "thanks" and express gratitude for your colleagues' hard work can go a long way in fostering positive relationships and building a supportive workplace culture. Whether it's a simple "thank you" message or a shoutout during a team meeting, expressing gratitude can boost morale and motivate your colleagues to continue doing great work.
Practical tip(s):
pay attention to what people around you do and do not be shy to say thanks
Take Accountability for Issues
As an engineer, it's essential to take accountability for any issues that arise during a project. Whether it's a bug in your code or a miscommunication with a colleague, owning up to your mistakes and taking responsibility for resolving the issue can build trust and respect with your team members. Additionally, it's important to follow through on your commitments and keep your promises to maintain a reliable and trustworthy reputation.
Practical tip(s):
keep it honest, always 😛
Conclusion
Being a Kind Engineer isn't just a feel-good concept; it's a practical approach to building positive relationships and contributing to a supportive workplace culture.
Since we spend a good portion of our days at work, and cumulatively a good portion of our life, being mindful of how you behave in your day-to-day work and noticing the little act of kindness you receive from others can open up to a more grateful and less-stressed life overall.
