If you’re working with me or for me, the following information will be useful:

I work from Israel, 10 hours ahead of PDT time zone. This is the current time in Israel right now. I work Sundays to Thursdays.

• Am I required for the meeting? Please schedule to a time that I can attend. My calendar should be available and up-to-date.
• Due to limited availability for meetings my default is to schedule 30-minutes meetings. Pre-reads are welcome to make short meetings more efficient.

• I prefer emails over IM. Emails allow me to read them offline and respond properly. IM’s are for quick and immediate updates or questions.
• When you start an IM conversation with me, please let me know how I can help. Don’t ‘Hi’ me and wait for me response. Instead, please let me know how I can help you.
• Emails I send are not expected to be answered outside of your normal working hours just because I work in a different time zone. Same goes the other way – I may respond to emails during my working hours that might not align with yours.

• I try to mentor, provide guidance, and help with prioritization as much as I can. While I’d like to be in the details, I leave the actual work to you.
• I’ll keep you as the front person in conversations with your stakeholders. I may share feedback and guidance with you privately, but will do my best to keep you in the front.
• I will always support you and be your safety net. Feel free to use me as the bad guy in difficult conversations or escalations.
• Your success is top-of-mind for me. I always think about your workload, your visibility and look for opportunities for you to grow.
• I am open and transparent about my thoughts, my feelings, my ideas and when I have feedback. I expect the same way from everyone I work with.

Weekly 1:1’s are time slots reserved for you where you get my full attention. Make sure you spend this time efficiently by coming with an agenda:

• Things you’d like me to know
• Things you’d like to ask me for help / guidance
• Things you’d like me to share more about
• Things you’d like me to provide feedback about

Be remote friendly

• Every meeting should have a Teams link and inclusive to folks working remotely.
• Turn on your camera during meetings with < 8 participants.
• Be inclusive to folks who work in different time zones and try to find a time that works for them as well.

Communicate asynchronously

• Share your ideas and plans as documents, stored in a shared folder. Invite other folks to review, collaborate and contribute.
• Only when we need to sale something I will prefer a presentation over a well written document

Communicate broadly on a regular basis

• Announce releases, upcoming changes to design, processes and schedules in time for others to plan ahead and don’t get surprised.
• Communicate status updates frequently with your stakeholders. People prefer updates pushed to them rather than asking for an update.
• Give feedback - to me and to your peers in Product and Engineering

Document your knowledge regularly

• Change is the only constant thing at Microsoft. You never know when the next reorg will happen, when your manager will change and when new members are going to join the team. Document your knowledge regularly and prepare for a change.
• When you document, think about the intended audience and the (lack of) context they might have on the topic. Assuming no context and explaining the current state, challenges with it and the proposed path forward takes the reader through a reasonable journey and helps them understand the topic.
• Be humble and inclusive. Use terms like "proposed plan" and "proposed path forward" and invite others to provide feedback.

Prioritize ruthlessly and drive for efficiency

• Your time is the most expensive resource we have and we must use it efficiently.
• We will always have less time and people for the work we’re expected to do.
• Prioritization should be done on an ongoing basis to accommodate frequent changes given the pace in which our business evolves.
• Manage expectations with your stakeholders, peers and your manager about what, when an how things are going to get done and why. It is OK to say “No” or “Yes, but not now”.
• Identify what isn’t efficient as it can be and work to address it. Some ideas include documentation, automation and process changes.

Manage your time wisely

• Your time is the most expensive resource you have and you should spend it wisely.
• Spend time arranging your calendar, making sure that the upcoming meetings are aligned with your highest priority projects.
• Make sure you have enough focus time during the day. Block time if needed. If you spend all your day in meetings, you’ll end up doing your actual work off hours. This is not sustainable.
• To avoid being randomized by stakeholders, set up weekly office hours. Track questions that come up during office hours and improve your documentation.

Manage your career and growth

• I take your career very seriously and continue look for opportunities for your visibility and growth.
• I generally say what’s on my mind and if I have any feedback. If you don’t get enough feedback for me – ask.
• Connect meetings (performance review) shouldn’t be a surprise and should mainly summarize our conversations from the last period.
• Use your 1:1 agenda items as a log for what you’ve done. When Connect time comes, it will be easy for you go reflect.

Take time off

• Time off always comes first. I will never say no to someone wanting to take some time off, regardless of the reason.
• Plan to use all your PTO. We work hard, we need to set time to recharge.
• When you’re out – disconnect. We need you to come back fully recharged.
• Plan ahead and make sure projects won’t be blocked when you’re out. Arrange a backup for business continuity when needed.
• Leave a OOF message to share information about your time off and your backup contacts.
• For planned PTO in advance, consider adding a note in your email signature announcing your time off so your peers and stakeholders have a change to close things before your go.