Mentoring and integrating newer tech people on teams (and benefiting from fresh energy)
Mentoring and integrating newer tech people on teams (and benefiting from fresh energy)
How do we get people who don't have privileges/resources to encourage/allow participation?
Want to work with others but not sure I have energy/focus to offer mentoring etc
Struggling to integrate remotely or out of context
onboarding or orienting new folks is harder/requires more intention when working remotely
when i see newer people frustrated with the lack of structure/training/orientation/documentation/resources, i naturally gravitate to fill the gap, document, communicate etc
power dynamics when team is partially remote
Plan for longevity - this won't be an overnight process. Can take over a year before you're ready to provide tech support on the front lines on your own
expecting you to have sufficient knowledge when you walk in the door vs old school training someone & lifting them up
"Management is labor"
Don't want to be the person who's impatient with the pace of newer workers
organizing framework: "building a movement", burning them out
free laptops handed out requires training and encouragement to stick around
How do you keep people involved in the movement - promote longevity? (I also want to be OK with interns moving on to elsewhere/other good projects)
How do you gracefully deal with a schism?
Need to think about how people learn, and how you can adapt your teaching style.
A lot of the mechanisms we use for picking up how people are doing - observing from across the room, backchannel gossip - don't translate well to remote work.
Need to break down silos between organizers & tech folks in social justice orgs atomized hierarchy never worked, now it's more alienating, less opportunity to cross pollinate, mentor
engagement ladder matrix of skills
creating simple problems for people to sink their teeth in then moving on to more complex problems you already have knowledge about that you can dove in together and guide them through
expect turnover and view the positive aspect of it
lot of technical resources available now, stack overflow etc.. more collaboration tools, git, etc...
tools can be a double edged sword , can be good for solving small problems collaboratively but sometimes we expect the tools to solve things that are better solved with well facilitated meetings
framework-itis: how to we get this code ready, how can we deploy, how can we support, how do i train a new person on the process/philosophy up til now (in 2 months, i won't remember how this works)
meetings - keep them short- keep them relevant so people can show up and not check out
teaching new people how to source resources, how to learn, git
coming into a tech space as intimidating coz of demographics or fear of failure, permission to make mistakere here not here. avoiding jargon
is there a sandbox/test space for people to learn/develop? giving them a manageable project as a starting spot
tech onboarding is easy but also easiest for people to fall thru the cracks. abandoning people orgs:
are people modelling asking questions, looking for help etc