Establishing Trust and Improving Communication at Work with Josh Goldberg

Ruby for All

On this episode of Ruby for All, Andrew and Julie are joined by guest, Josh Goldberg, who’s an Open Source Developer and former mentor of Julie. In today’s conversation, Andrew, Julie, and Josh discuss the benefits of having a good manager and how to establish trust in a manager-employee relationship. There’s also a conversation on the importance of feedback and the different ways people like to receive it, as well as the importance of personal connections in the workplace, and tips for keeping track of people’s preferences and goals. Hit download to learn more now!

[00:02:49] We start with Josh telling us a story about a former manager and the importance of a manager helping employees understand their strengths and weaknesses.

[00:03:47] We hear some advice that Josh received that benefited him such as focusing on areas of growth that will benefit both the employee and the company.

[00:04:28] What is a dependency injection and what are some benefits with it?

[00:06:52] Julie, Andrew, Josh have a conversation about establishing trust as a manager with the people that you manage. They mention the value of a manger being authentic, advocating for employees, and adapting their communication style to fit individual employees’ preferences.

[00:10:01] If you’re establishing a new relationship with a new manager, Josh gives us some steps on what to do. He mentions a great book, Checklist Manifesto, and being a big checklist person.

[00:11:58] Andrew discusses the importance of feedback from managers and the different ways people like to receive it.

[00:12:32] Are you familiar with the concept of the “double down sandwich” or “feedback sandwich?” Josh explains and there’s a conversation on being praised and recognized by managers, and Andrew touches on using Slackbot, and Know Your Team at Podia.

[00:16:19] Some other good practices for manager managing relationships are discussed and Josh talks about using a Notion database table of everyone he talks to and to keep track of different things, and Andrew uses Obsidian for his database.

[00:20:17] Julie shares that her manager writes notes and keeps track of their conversations for their one-on-ones, and she writes quarterly goals. She also mentions the acronym SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound) in relation to setting goals.

[00:21:39] The topic of how to handle disagreements or problems with team members and managers in the workplace is discussed.

[00:24:49] Julie, Andrew, and Josh talk about the importance of communication and advocating for oneself, and the need for managers to provide resources and support for employees to improve and learn new skills.

Panelists:

Andrew Mason

Julie J.

Guest:

Josh Goldberg

Sponsors:

Honeybadger

Avo Admin for Rails

Links:

Andrew Mason Twitter

Andrew Mason Website

Julie J. Twitter

Julie J. Website

Josh Goldberg Website

Josh Goldberg Twitter
Learning TypeScript: Enhance Your Web Development Skills Using Type-Safe JavaScript by Josh Goldberg

Dependency injection

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande

Know Your Team

Notion

Obsidian

• (00:00) - Intro
• (02:49) - The importance of understanding strengths and weaknesses
• (03:47) - Focusing on areas of growth that benefit both employee and company
• (04:28) - Benefits of dependency injection
• (06:52) - Establishing trust as a manager
• (10:01) - Steps to establishing a new relationship with a new manager
• (11:58) - The importance of feedback and different ways people like to receive it
• (12:32) - The "double down sandwich" or "feedback sandwich"
• (16:19) - Good practices for manager-managing relationships
• (20:17) - Setting goals and keeping track of conversations
• (21:39) - Handling disagreements or problems with team members and managers
• (24:49) - Communication and advocating for oneself