One of the best decisions I made in 2020 was to open my calendar to everyone. People book appointments to chat about open-source projects, content creation, and business ideas.
This reminded me that I have wanted to do the same thing for a while. So I have opened up my calendar as well, and booked a chat on his.
Hello everyone, this is a professional update giving a bit of background to what I’ve been involved with recently.
Feel free to get in touch if this is of any interest.
JAM Stack React and NextJS
JAM stands for JavaScript, APIs, Markup. It is a way of delivering websites which focus on simple HTML files which are enhanced by JavaScript and an API within the browser. I’ve been working in this format for a few years now, starting at Seccl Technology and then working at Nationwide with an enterprise CMS (Sitecore), Nextjs and the Uniform product.
One of the big challenges I have found going into a management role is finding ways to help the people in my team develop their skills and their career.
I have done some research and have collated some of my favourite examples.
Design Goals
I want all of these goals to conform to the SMART criteria.
S - Specific
These goals must be clear and well defined. We all need to understand when the goal is achieved.
I’ve started as a technical lead and mentor to a team of developers co-located in the US and London. The company is a Fortune 500 company who are clearly investing in tech and have a hunger for innovation–so I’m really excited about being involved and where this team will go!
There are some clear challenges here. The biggest will be working with co-located teams whilst being based in Bath. On the face of it, this separation might seem counter-productive, however I am reserving judgement till a later date as I’m starting to see some big advantages as well. Let’s consider a couple now.
Build Stuff and have fun doing it … that pretty much sums up much of my childhood. Looking back, it is the times when I have been creating that have made me the most empowered and motivated. A life of simply being a consumer fills me with dread. It is what we add to this world which gives us our achievements and much fulfilment.
Having fun is in your control
I was born and grew up in (and near) a simple fishing town called Tabaco on the south of the main island (Luzon) in the Philippines. We didn’t have a lot, what we did have was significantly more than most of the people around us but what we all had was imagination.
I’ve found myself asking a question regularly during projects, from the very early days when I didn’t know what I wanted with my work till these days when I often mentor and lead other developers.
“Do you trust me?”
It’s funny how it’s meaning can be so different depending on the situation we find ourselves in, and yet the impact of it’s answer consistently empowering … or productively destroying.
It was great to be have Robin Stanley join me at the end of October. He joined us in our little office for a weeks work experience. I have never had a student work with me before so it was a bit of a leap in to unknown territory but I had a few thoughts as to how I could help him.
If I think back to what has helped me most in the past, I think of particular projects or problems which I had to work out. For me learning through real-life tasks has been the most effective way.
Dave Taylor - Software Engineer
