- Usually a quiet space with little distraction.
- A space with enough (sun)light (I use light themes in my IDE from time to time! 😱).
- Working from home works well for me, since I have all the space and equipment I need, and I can balance it with family life.
- I generally work in these time blocks; 8:30-12:30 and 13:30-17:30 CET. I can be flexible with these times to accommodate different time zones.
- I'm in a co-parenting situation, where my two daughters are with me every other week. In these weeks I'd like to avoid meetings around dinner time.
- When there are meeting-heavy days, I prefer meetings grouped in one part of the day to focus on other (real? 😬) work in the other part of the day.
- Async usually works best for me. If you have a question, ask the full question and provide as much context as possible, so I can respond with an answer when I'm available. See nohello.net.
- If you need me to respond quickly, send me a WhatsApp/text message (or call if something is on fire 🔥).
- I don't like email 🚫📧. I check it once or twice a day unless I expect something important.
- When longer sync time is beneficial, I'm happy to jump on a video call, discuss the problem and possible solutions, and work together to create awesome things 🚀.
- I really welcome and appreciate direct and constructive feedback.
- A one-on-one meeting is best for difficult conversations. Preferably in person but otherwise, at least with video.
- Working with kind people who are open to learning from one another.
- Transparency & fairness in processes & decision making.
- A good understanding of the problem/situation to help you realize your goal. Everything has a context. I need to be aware of that context to help you the best way I can. I want to understand the Why before we come to the Who & What.
- Open discussions and reviews to reflect on my work & performance.
- Meetings without a clear goal and lack of decisiveness & actions.
- People who are polarizing in discussions and have little empathy for others.
- People who think they know everything and use every possible occasion to highlight this.
- Getting to know co-workers beyond their role in a team (have everyone write a user manual such as this one 😉).
- Helping out colleagues, and in general, people in the developer community. I like sharing knowledge, facilitating workshops, co-hosting, and/or organizing events.
- I have many creative outlets, such as; making pixel art, creating 'music' with my modular synth, and creative coding. I love to get in contact with other creative people.
- I enjoy listening to music frequently, mostly synthwave these days 🎹🌊.
- I drink coffee and lots of it ☕☕☕.
- I like cookies & cakes way too much 🍪.
- I'm Dutch, live in the Netherlands, in a medium-sized city halfway between Amsterdam and Rotterdam. If you're from another country or culture and think I'm doing or saying weird things, let me know ASAP.
- I'm an ambivert.
- I believe technology is not neutral. It's political.
* This manual is a reflection of my situation in life at this moment. Things are constantly changing, and so will this manual 😄.
Marc Duiker