…how bad was the incident?

…how bad was the incident?

In the beginning, I wrote an R package for myself.

What went wrong?

• Inaccurate and inadequate documentation
• Lack of communication
• Mismatched priorities

Could my manager have prevented this?

There is an “I” in “Team”

When you have a new colleague

Its your responsibility to bring them on board, too!

Peer onboarding

1. Make the implicit explicit
2. All knowledge is valid and valuable
3. Document (aka, make life easier for your friends)

Don’t deny that water exists

• Everyone has their pet peeves and preferences.
• Every team has a culture.
• Don’t give your new coworker the task of defining water in addition to evaluating if the water is right for them.

Define your water

• What does your weekly schedule look like?
• What tools do you use daily? Why?
• What expectations does your work group have around email/message response times?

No one is an empty vessel

All the knowledge the new person brings is valuable.

• No matter where they are coming from
• Even if it seems unrelated

Give your new colleague grace

• Patience will prove best.
• You are on probation, too!
• Don’t rely on catch-all assumptions: ask for specifics.

Documentation is the bowl

Data science is a creative field: there are many ways to solve a problem .

A matter of investment

• Invest in tools that encourage documentation and lower cognitive load.
• Invest in the time it takes to document/clean up/organize your work.
• Invest in strong social relationships.

Documentation == Communication

Good communication requires knowing your audience!

Work doesn’t always feel like work

• Schedule time to build connections and trust.
• Social gatherings (virtual or in person!) are just as valuable as focus time.
• Try making every other team meeting a casual hang out.

There is an “I” in “Team”

• Teams are made up of individuals, and its not only the manager’s job to make it work.
• Onboarding is a unique and critical time.
• I’ve grown immensely from working with my colleagues.