Our Code of Conduct is designed to help all of us build a pleasant, productive, and accomplished team. It is not meant to burden the team with a bunch of needless rules, or to punish our valued employees for past behaviors. Rather, we are striving every day to make a hospitable environment for our great engineering team, especially for those who have faced more adverse working environments in the past.
We strive to build a culture of inclusivity, honesty, and integrity. As a team, we can ensure every employee feels heard and respected. Teamwork is a must. We’re all here together to make great products for our customers, and more importantly, a pleasant work environment for our colleagues.
It's important that everyone in the team are part of creating a learning environment. Every employee is valued equally. Teamwork is valued above all else. Understand that others might not have the same information you have, and be willing to help when asked.
Being patient and helpful will boost trust among your colleagues and will help creating an environment where you and your colleagues won't feel insecure, embarrassed and afraid to ask questions when in need of help.
It’s inevitable that we’ll all need help on occasion. By greeting each other with helpfulness and courtesy, we can have a productive workspace and a happy team.
When people ask questions, often due to lack of knowledge, try to be proactive and use their existing knowledge to draw the information from them, or to point them in the right direction. If you tell someone to do something they are less likely to remember this in the future, so helping the person to identify a solution to their problems using questions can be a great way to teach your colleagues in techniques they aren't quite familiar with. Think about using leading, directed questions "What would you do if..." or "How would you do...." instead of "Do it like this....". Use the tell method only to reinforce their ideas with additional information. If your colleague needs help understanding a task, take the time to walk them through it. Show them how the task is performed so that they’ll be able to perform it next time. Have the mindset of teaching not telling.
Interjecting, without being fully engaged, can be very disruptive. While you are encouraged to join conversations, take time to understand everything that’s being said so that you may assess the situation before providing help.
Be respectful of others peoples time. When you need help, ask. But first, ask your colleague if they have time to help you with a problem. Be patient when waiting for responses.
You’re responsible for keeping track of your work schedule. This means being on time to meetings, and providing advance notice if you’re unable to attend or will be arriving late.
Keep things efficient by saving particular questions for meetings, or Slack conversations, so as to cut down on disrupting your colleagues during work hours.
Give constructive feedback without being judgmental or impatient. When helping a colleague, take time to show them how to perform a task, and answer questions. A positive attitude and proactive response will create a hospitable learning environment that benefits everyone.
If you find a behavior to be problematic, then try to work with the other party to fix the situation. A mistake is a chance to learn and teach. Use the opportunity to better the company and team. Openness to change is crucial to a productive workplace.
Enforcement of the Code of Conduct is essential. Individuals should feel empowered to call out violations publicly or privately. For repeated, more severe, or unresolved violations that cannot be resolved, upper management should be consulted.
For most conflicts, the following resolution order will apply:
- In person with the party in question
- With the team
- With the team Leader
- With HR or upward management
Honesty, integrity, and attentiveness to the team are every bit as vital as the work itself.