Every member of the product team is expected to work hard, be considerate of their colleagues across the company, and contribute to a collaborative, positive, and healthy environment in which we can all succeed.

Be supportive of your colleagues, both proactively and responsively. Offer to help if you see someone struggling or otherwise in need of assistance (taking care not to be patronizing or disrespectful). If someone approaches you looking for help, be generous with your time; if you’re under a deadline, direct them to someone else who may be of assistance. Go out of your way to include people in team jokes or memes, recognizing that we want to build an environment free of cliques.

Be collaborative. Involve your colleagues in brainstorms, sketching sessions, code reviews, planning documents, and the like. It’s not only okay to ask for help or feedback often, it’s unacceptable not to do so. Don’t succumb to either impostor syndrome (believing that you don’t deserve to be here) or blowhard syndrome (believing you can do no wrong). Recognize that in addition to asking for feedback, you are similarly obligated to give it.

Be generous and kind in both giving and accepting critique. Critique is a natural and important part of our culture. Good critiques are kind, respectful, clear, and constructive, focused on goals and requirements rather than personal preferences. You are expected to give and receive criticism with grace.

Be respectful toward remote and IRL interactions alike. Every member of our team is remote at least some of the time. And with two main offices and several smaller offices, even those of us who work in an office nearly every day are routinely remote to others. Adopt habits that are inclusive and productive for team members wherever they are: make liberal use of video hangouts, document meetings and decisions thoroughly, and pay attention to timezones when scheduling events.

Be humane. Be polite and friendly in all forms of communication, especially remote communication, where opportunities for misunderstanding are greater. Use sarcasm carefully. Tone is hard to decipher online; make judicious use of emoji to aid in communication. Use video hangouts and IRL meetings when it makes sense; face-to-face discussion benefits from all kinds of social cues that may go missing in other forms of communication.