How to work with me

As a part of onboarding at Binti, new hires are expected to work on a "user guide", a short document that offers guidance on how each person likes to work. It includes things like communication styles, preferences about feedback, and a little about them as a whole person.

I had never done this before. I loved this exercise, so I thought I'd share.

Tim Cheadle

• Pronouns: he/him/his
• Pronouncing my name: CHEE-dul, like Don Cheadle
• Location: Charlotte, NC
• Regular Working Hours: 9am - 5pm Eastern Time
• Preferred method of contact: Slack – call or text if urgent

How I prefer to work & How to best work with me:

• I work best when there are clear expectations and priorities. In fact, sometimes it's helpful for me to document what decisions are mine, which are yours, and which ones we need to make together. This especially applies for my lead or my direct reports.
• I have ADHD and can sometimes attempt to solve too much at once. Often it's helpful if I can reach out to my lead with a list of options and work with them to prioritize a few at a time.
• I work really hard to adapt to others and meet them where they are rather than making everyone adapt to me. If I miss the mark, please don't hesitate to let me know.
• I'm pretty easy going, and I prefer to keep things fairly low key. You'll often find me overusing emoji or responding with GIFs to try and keep things light, and I love being social. Of course, when it gets serious, I don't do all that. Please call me out if I get this wrong and you want to have a serious discussion.
• I wear my emotions openly, and I'm typically a very empathetic person. I feel that leaning into vulnerability is a sign of strength, but also understand that vulnerability is earned through trust. I may call out explicitly when our trust battery is low, and feel free to do the same.
• At times, I can tend to absorb the feelings of others and want to help them fix things. I'm working on that, as it's not useful to center myself in the problems of others. Please let me know if you see me doing this; you won't hurt my feelings, I'll appreciate it.
• I can have a hard time keeping up with Slack, especially while I'm learning the rhythms of Binti and how I work best here. Please @ me for anything you want me to look at, and don't assume I'll see it otherwise.
• I treat Slack as primarily async. I'll explicitly tell you if something is urgent (and also if it is NOT urgent). I like it when others do the same.

Feedback + Gratitude Preferences:

• I prefer direct feedback, relatively quickly. No one is perfect, and I appreciate when others call out how I'm falling short. Please be patient with me as I work to improve whatever it is I need to work on.
• Before I give feedback, I try to ask if you're in a place to receive it. I appreciate when others do the same for me. Sometimes we're just having a bad day and that's ok.
• Feedback is a gift, but we don't get gifts every day. Sometimes too much feedback can make me feel like I'm on probation or not trusted.
• I don't need lots of praise, but as an engineer it can often feel like we're unseen until things break. It's really nice to have someone celebrate my/our wins.
• I try to practice Positive Discipline, a key of which is to assume positive intent.

What Motivates Me:

• Shipping quality work that improves the lives of other humans
• Making good decisions quickly
• Helping someone navigate a tough moment in their career
• A healthy combination of celebration, patience, grace, and nudges to do better
• Dance music
• Chocolate chip cookies and coffee

Outside of work:

• Food is probably my favorite thing ever. I love cooking, finding and sharing restaurants, and traveling to do both of those things. I am more than happy to chat about food!
• My second favorite thing is travel. I am forever in wanderlust. Next up, I really want to visit Japan, do a motorbike tour of Vietnam and Cambodia, and I want to tour Colombia and Argentina (never been to South America)
• I'm the kind of person that goes deep when I'm interested in something, so I tend to totally geek out.
• What do I geek out about?
  • Coffee
  • Music (especially hip hop, electronic music, and jazz)
  • Whiskey
  • Sneakers
  • Basketball (NBA and college)
• I'm very into fitness but somehow without nerding out about it. I try to work out 4 times a week, primarily strength and conditioning work. I built that habit around 2018 and continue mostly because it makes me feel good.
• I used to play tennis every day as a kid, and I played ice hockey for years. I miss tennis. Hockey would probably injure me these days.

Have you written one of these? I'd love to read it, please share!