Working with Matthew

Hi! You're most likely reading this because you're working with me in some capacity. Cool! I'm excited to see what we build together. :)

Basics

• I prefer "Matthew" to "Matt".
• I use they/them pronouns. e.g. "Matthew just submitted their PR."
• I live in Berlin with my partner Dylan.
• I'm originally from Scotland.

Working hours & communication

• I tend to start work around 10am CE(S)T. I use that time to check emails & work out my todo-list. I also tend to do a lot of my written communication then.
• Long periods of focus-time are necessary for me to do my best work. I'm happy to attend meetings when necessary, but I'll also be honest if I feel like it's interfering with my, or my team's, work.
• I largely prefer asynchronous communication where possible, but I'm happy to have calls or face-to-face meetings when necessary.
• I'm happy to receive Slack messages or emails at any time, but I don't check work chats on my personal devices outside of working hours. (Agreed on-call shifts being the obvious exception.)

My interests

• Programming language design & user-experience
• Stand-up comedy
• Software development processes & organisation design
• Type theory (& foundational mathematics in general)
• Learning new things
• Really good filter coffee

How do I like to give feedback?

• I like to give feedback when it's genuinely wanted. I'm not a big fan of overly-bureaucratic corporate feedback processes.
• I prefer to give written feedback, especially with a specific prompt. (e.g. "What do you think of my work on $PROJECT?") However, if the person receiving feedback prefers a face-to-face conversations, I'm happy to oblige. :)
• I like to provide quite detailed feedback on PRs. I try to make it clear which comments are required for approval vs which contain more general thoughts on the code & potential refactorings.

How do I like to receive feedback?

• I try to be open to feedback at any time, but even so it's best to ask & let me opt in to receiving it. (e.g. "Can I give you some feedback about that last retrospective meeting?") That way you can be sure you'll have my full attention.
• Please never message me saying something like "There's something we need to discuss. I've set up a call for later." I've been laid off before, and I will immediately assume it's happening again. (The caveat here being it's okay to do this if you are actually going to lay me off.)