Glenn Roberts's README

Glenn Roberts’s README

Glenn Roberts (CTO) This page is intended to help others understand what it might be like to work with me, especially people who haven’t worked with me before.

It’s also a well-intentioned effort at building some trust by being intentionally vulnerable, and to share my ideas of a good working relationship to reduce the anxiety of people who might be on my team.

Please feel free to contribute to this page by opening a merge request.

About me

I’m a Bramble co-founder and CTO. My day to day is product development + a little bit of design + a lot of coding.

I live on the Sunshine Coast in QLD with my wife and my two kids. I’m Australian, originally from QLD.

I’ve spent a lot of time living and working overseas including a 5 year stint in Cape Town, ZA (where my wife hails from). Other places I’ve lived include Macedonia, Sweden, India and Ireland.

I’ve worked for some 21+ years in tech - starting in telecoms for about 6-7 years, and then pivoted into to web/apps. In my free time (which I have very little) I like surfing, cricket, soccer, climbing and gaming #pcmr.

How you can help me

Operate using Bramble’s values as your guide.
Provide Bramble with thoughtful, good work. Tell me if there’s something preventing you from this, and we’ll work together on fixing it.
Be public by default. Default to GitLab issues and merge requests, as this creates searchable order in a discussion.
Have a bias for action. Instead of waiting, move problems forward with a merge request or issue by default.
Document relentlessly. If you have a tip, suggestion, or are moving a conversation forward, either document in real-time or immediately after so the information isn’t weakened by time.
Connect the dots. Relate issues and merge requests to each other where applicable. Communicate using low-context, and add the most detail possible. Write things down as if the audience has never heard of a given project before, and has no historical background to pull from. If you feel like you don’t have time for this, you likely have too many commitments. Do fewer things with higher quality.
Communicate. If there’s a problem or you’re blocked on something, please bring it up. I’ll generally interpret silence as “everything’s fine”.
- Don’t save urgent matters for a 1-on-1. Please bring them to my attention on Slack.
- Generally try to avoid Slack and email. Most takeaways in email need to be translated into a GitLab issue or merge request, so start there if at all possible.
- Please avoid fragmenting conversations. Keep discussions going in a GitLab issue or merge request. Resist the urge to break off into email, Slack, or other mediums such as carrier pigeons.
I like explicit asks. I’m better at helping when I have a good idea of what you need. “Take a look” is less helpful than “I’m looking for feedback on X and Y, by end of month”.
I like knowing what you’ve already tried. Explain what you’ve already searched for on your own, and what assumptions have been challenge

My working style

My personality type is Commander (ENTJ-t)

What I assume about others

You’re good at your job
You know the team priorities and how they fit in with your personal priorities
You will ask for help if you need it
You feel safe pushing back
We’ll tell each other if there’s something we could have done better

Communicating with me

I prefer asynchronous communication, and I turn notifications off on almost all of applications.

I like to get my emails/meetings out of the way before 10am which allows me to do focused work for the bulk of the day.

Not urgent? Mention me on a GitLab issue, or email me.
- I check these about once a day
Needs an answer within a few hours - ping me on Slack.
- I check Slack several times during the day.
Urgent or time sensitive? Call me (on Signal)
- I’ll usually hear and answer Signal calls.

Glenn Roberts's README