| Tags | skill/starting_umuzi_basics |
For the next couple of weeks you are expected to behave like this is your full-time gig. It’s going to be hard work!
You will be expected to read and understand a lot of different things.
Be a professional. Do all your reading.
This takes a bit of self-discipline and focus.
We are looking for self-disciplined people who can focus.
We’ve given you a lot of stuff to get through. For some of you it will be WAY too much. Just do your best and focus on understanding. If you don’t finish all the work it’s alright. Just take them one at a time and do your best.
If something has a deadline:
When you complete a piece of work then please make sure you understand what you did. Professionals get asked to do some pretty complicated things sometimes, so you need to make sure you are a ninja when it comes to the foundational skills.
This isn’t like high-school, memorizing stuff and getting hints isn’t the way to go, understanding is golden.
If you are a coder: You’re going to be invited to collaborate on a bunch of code repositories as time goes by (we use a platform called Github). It is CRITICAL that you accept those invites. Otherwise you wont be able to do the required work.
Be responsive: If someone sends you a message, make sure they know when you have read it. Don’t ignore people. If talking to you feels like talking to a brick wall then you won’t fit in here.
Be clear: Whenever you send someone a message, read over it before you press send. Think about it from the perspective of the person who is reading it. Will they understand you? Are you giving them enough information?
Example of bad communication:
learner: Hello
staff member: Hello?
learner: How are you?
staff member: Great. How can I help you?
learner: I have a problem
staff member: What is your problem?
learner: the code wont run
staff member: Is there an error message?
learner: here is a shaky, blurry video of my computer: [attachment: suuuuucks.zip]
staff member: Please send me the error text as actual text
learner: here it is: [one tiny useless part of the error message chosen at random]
staff member: Sometimes I wonder how we got this far as a species
Example of good communication:
learner: Hi. I'm struggling to get my code to work. I'm working on this project [link to project]. When I do [X] then [Y] happens. I expected [Z]. It's giving me the following error message: [The full error message as text]
staff member: Here is an explanation [explanation], and here are some resources so you can learn more [resources]. And... I love you (+2 to faith in humanity)
Be Kind Be polite. We aren’t rigid and formal here, but we do expect you to act respectfully towards the staff and your colleagues. No form of abuse will be tolerated. We are about helping each other to grow.
The ideal: If you are invited to a meeting or interaction then don’t be late. And if you are given a deadline then make sure you meet it.
Life is messy sometimes and being perfect isn’t always possible. That’s ok, we’re all human and we can understand when things are hard. But it is on YOU to communicate effectively.
I’m sure you see the pattern…
Professionals are expected to seek out help when they need it. So be a pro! You’ll also be given opportunities to be expected to help each other. The best professionals know how to support their peers.
If you get stuck: Don’t suffer in silence. Ask for help. Be a team player.
If you help someone, don’t just give them code to use, don’t do each other’s homework. They need to understand how to solve the problems themselves for real. If we catch people copying each other or encouraging copying then those people will be removed from our programme.
If you ask someone for help, don’t just ask them for answers. You need to understand how to solve the problems yourself.
Ok, this is a bit heavy. But it’s really important that you understand this stuff.
If we catch you copying each other’s work, we’ll immediately take you off the program. Why? Because we need to train professionals who can actually do work and add value.
When you get a job as a professional you’ll be asked to build things that nobody has ever built, there will be nobody to copy from. If all you can do is copy, then you won’t have a career.
If you are disrespectful or abusive towards any of your peers or staff members and we see it, you’re out. We don’t expect you to be super formal or anything, just be kind to each other.
If you don’t make a plan to show up for events you are invited to, then we won’t be keen to work with you. With that said, we are reasonable people so if you need to reschedule something or you have a problem, let us know so we can make a plan.
If you suck up to staff members or try to bribe anyone, you’re out.
Everyone Respect people’s time. There was one learner who somehow got the CTO’s personal phone number and thought it was okay to send midnight messages asking for help with code. That kind of thing is inappropriate. You need to respect the boundaries of staff members and of your peers.
Please start at the top of your backlog and work your way down. Try to minimize multi-tasking, it will slow you down.
If you are given feedback: Look at it as soon as you can. Deal with the feedback and learn from it so you don’t make the same mistakes. If a staff member reviews your work and asks you to fix three things, then you need to fix all three. Not just one or two things but everything.
When looking at a Kanban board, an easy prioritization hack is: the closer something is to “complete” the more you should prioritize it.