This onboarding guide will help you get up to speed on what we do, where we’re headed, and how we got where we are today. More importantly, it’ll pave the way for you to bring your ideas to life while making your own mark on Netlify and its community.
One of the first things you’ll probably want to know is how we work together as a team. With dozens of employees spread across different time zones, it’s ideal if you default to working in the open and writing things down. We’re a Slack-heavy team, with lots of ideas flying fast across several channels. But when it comes time to take action, open a GitHub issue or Pull Request to keep track of your project.
We’re not too big on meetings, but spending face time with your team helps keep it real (are the kids still saying that?). Take time to connect 1:1 or in small groups, whether it’s for brainstorming, working through potential conflicts, or just taking a mental break from a tough project. On that note, now’s probably a good time to give your job description some review. You’re sure to get questions about what you’ll be working on, and it’ll help you ground the conversations.
We’re all human, so there will certainly be times when we’re not our best selves. But when we are, we try and live up to a few golden rules:
- There are no stupid questions. Okay, that one might seem like a cliche, but we mean it. Everyone on this team has something unique to offer — and everyone has something to learn. We believe in sharing knowledge unselfishly and without judgement. If you don’t know something, it’s always safe to ask.
- There’s no technical or non-technical. There’s just you. As early members of Netlify, everyone on the team has the potential to make massive impact. That’s true whether you’re writing code or content, building infrastructure or sales relationships, or making sure the office runs as a well-oiled machine. We all benefit from knowing and understanding our users, whether we do it through conversations, commits, or queries.
- Take a minute and celebrate your work. We move really fast around here. It’s easy to go full speed into a new project without celebrating what you’ve achieved. Take a beat and acknowledge your work, reflect on learnings, and move forward with ease into what’s next.
- Focus on impact, not output. Being a high-value member of the team is a careful balance of speed, quality, and output. But if we had to choose just one thing to focus on, it’s impact. What’s the expected result of your work? How will it help us achieve our goals? If you’re feeling overwhelmed, unsure about the scope of a project, or generally unsure about why you’re working on a project — talk to your team and manager! Often those questions are what lead to a focus on the right work at the right time.
Lastly, be kind to yourself these next few weeks. You’re surrounded by wicked smart, talented, capable people who also happen to be pretty awesome. It’s not unusual to worry that you’re not contributing fast enough, or making enough impact. But you’re here for a reason. Afterall, you’re one of those awesome people, too.