Trigger

Every year, either at the beginning or end of the year.

Duration

A few hours spread over the course of a few days.

Steps

• Review year according to various facets
• Plan the next year according to the same facets

Notes

• I use a mind map software to do my yearly review and plan.

References

• https://alexvermeer.com/8760hours/
• https://chrisguillebeau.com/how-to-conduct-your-own-annual-review
• https://www.anthonyjcampbell.com/blog/8760-hours

Trigger

Every month, either at the beginning or end of the month.

Duration

30 minutes.

Steps

• Review what was planned for the month
• Provide feedback related to the plan
• Review yearly plan and align
• Plan next month

In this article I define a 1-5 rating scale for books in order to be consistent across my evaluations. Given that rating books is somewhat subjective, introducing some amount of standardization on how I rate them should help with managing my reading.

Format of presentation:

Score (from 1 to 5) Representative emoji

• Satisfaction
• Words expressing the level of satisfaction
• Strength of recommendation

1 🤮

• unsatisfactory
• very bad, horrible, boring, repetitive, disagreeable to read, waste of time, can't force myself to read
• strongly not recommended

2 ☹️

• unsatisfactory
• bad
• not recommended

3 😐

• satisfactory
• neutral
• might want to read

4 ☺️

• satisfactory
• good
• recommended

5 😍

• satisfactory
• very good, great, amazing, exciting, intriguing, fascinating, full of new knowledge, can't stop reading
• strongly recommended

References

• https://readingbookslikeaboss.com/review-rating-scale/
• https://www.writoscope.com/reading/how-rate-book-rating-system/

• Define and agree on the purpose of the one on one
• Define the topics to be discussed prior to meeting
• Track and update metrics that you care about every time you meet
  • e.g., Predictability, Ownership, Purpose, Progress, Belonging
• Discuss the status of those metrics if necessary
• Write in a shared document (between the two of you) what is discussed
• If any action items are defined during those meetings, use a task tracking system to keep each other accountable
  • Always define a deadline on tasks to indicate when the task should be revisited
• Avoid using one on one for status updates

References

• https://web.archive.org/web/20211112152135/https://www.impraise.com/blog/1-on-1s-for-engaged-employees-how-good-managers-run-them
• https://getlighthouse.com/blog/questions-ask-one-on-ones-manager/
• https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/leadership/1-1/

• Read the problem statement
• Look at any provided unit tests
• Add any unit tests you think might be relevant and not currently covered
• Order the unit tests from easiest to hardest
• Ask questions to confirm your understanding of the problem and verify edge cases
• Think of a possible approach to solve the problem
• Share your approach with the interviewers and get their buy-in
  • You may do this by writing pseudo-code as you are explaining your thought process
• Implement your solution
  • If you encounter any difficulties, state them and explain what you are thinking
  • Make use of preconditions/early exit if possible to handle empty cases
• Run your code frequently, even if it is not fully working
• Discuss any follow-up questions with the interviewers