This page is intended to help others understand what it might be like to work with me, especially people who haven’t worked with me before.
It’s also a well-intentioned effort at building some trust by being intentionally vulnerable, and to share my ideas of a good working relationship to reduce the anxiety of people who might be on my team or working with me.
I originally discovered this idea in the Handbook of Gitlab and adopted it for usage in my working environment.
Hey, my name is Sebastian Bathke, Engineering Manager at Camunda. Most friends, family and - since I joined Camunda - also colleagues actually call me Meggle. The name originates from my teenage years where a friend after having one beer too much started calling me like this, referring to a butter brand. Eventually the usage of this name spread (pun intended ;) ) and became a default since then, the exact details are somewhat blurry ¯_(ツ)_/¯.
I live in Potsdam right at the doorsteps of Berlin but only moved here mid 2021. Beforehand I lived in Berlin Kreuzberg for about 10 years. I'm originally from a small town called Jeßnitz (Anhalt) in the eastern part of Germany.
Privately I'm heavily interested in Gaming (all Platforms, new titles as well as 90s retro titles) as well as newest PC hardware, home automation tooling and devices as well as tinkering with electronics using my limited soldering skills. I was actively bouldering for quite some time but lost track of it during the pandemic and need to reestablish the habit.
- I like to give trust by default to people I work with fostering autonomy while sharing responsibility - having each others backs
- I appreciate direct dead honest feedback, if something isn't working well let me know rather sooner than later
- even if you are emotional - unless I have a bad day, I'm usually able to empathise and not take it personally
- I have a tendency to think of potential technical solutions quite early and jump on them - I appreciate working with colleagues who act as a counterweight and challenge me in such situations with different perspectives and angles
- I like to be of help - if something comes up that other people are dependent on I tend to prioritize it very high and get to it, even if that increases the risk of me not achieving my own goals for a day/week etc. - this can be unfortunate if I misunderstood the actual urgency/importance of a request - best always be clear on severity/urgency and expectations
- In regards to engineering management I personally resonate with the Servant leadership philosophy
- I have a strong record of successful rubber duck activities - if you just need someone to think out loud to - grab me, I'm happy to be your duck at service ('-')7
- You'll ask for my help when needed
- You are ambitious about your own work
- You'll let me know if you suspect me having wrong assumptions about you
- There is lots about you that I'm not aware of
I like to earn the trust of people I'm working with as a colleague as well as a manager.
- I'm usually working between 9 AM to 5:30 PM CET/CEST and responsive during that time, unless my Slack status states otherwise (in a meeting, lunch etc.)
- If you need me outside my usual working hours please let me know, I can try to arrange that when needed
- When you reach out to me on Slack, hit me with your request/question directly in your first message => nohello
- In terms of bilateral communication I usually prefer verbal communication on matters that would require more than a hand full of slack messages within a timeframe of <15 minutes
- I'm usually responding within a day at last to any message that arrived during my working times. If I don't live up to that promise, please reach out once more.
- On real life social interaction, I'm usually not someone that approaches people I don't know yet directly to start a conversation out of the blue, I appreciate if I'm approached though and usually open up quickly