Treat others how you want to be treated.

Code of Conduct.

The &amp community is driven by the desire for constant learning and teaching. We empower our peers and colleagues by sharing knowledge and giving support whenever possible. We surround ourselves with people who we admire and respect.

Expected Behavior

Empower each other

To grow as a company, it is very important to look out for our fellow colleagues. This does not only involve the mental and physical health of each colleague, but moreover, it also involves business aspects. Empower each other, share your knowledge and challenge the status quo. Such behavior allows us to progress and to constantly improve professionally.

Example

An experienced female employee joins the &amp team. In order to allow the new colleague to successfully contribute right from the beginning, she gets a comprehensive introduction to the various code styles embraced within the company. Likewise, the new colleague challenges the status quo by sharing her knowledge to address certain issues, she already dealt with at her old workplace.

Be open-minded

Keeping an open mind is an important ability to ensure every colleague feels respected and esteemed. Taking interest in your environment and considering different points of view help to progress personally as well as professionally.

Example

&amp is in charge of building an MVP for a new customer. For the new project, two lead engineers are discussing the choice of the tech stack including the programming language. The first colleague suggests using Java as the main programming language, as most employees already have a lot of experience with Java. The second colleague recently read the book "Seven Languages in Seven Weeks&quot" and suggests Haskell as in her opinion Haskell is far better suited to address the requirements of the MVP. After a close look into Haskell, the first colleague agrees with the second colleague.

Be inclusive

Being inclusive is necessary for growth. We believe in an unbiased and tolerant work environment. We achieve thoughtful exchanges of knowledge and experience through a considered and appreciative way of interacting.

Example

In an unofficial meeting, everybody discusses a topic in German. A colleague is not fluent in German and has a hard time following the conversation. This causes the colleague to miss out on the conversation and hinders him from contributing to the discussion. In such a case, you should consider changing the language used in the discussion to a language everybody understands.

Be precise (KISS)

Everybody in today’s business world suffers from massive information overload. When communicating with colleagues or customers, you’ll be more effective and you will prevent misunderstandings if you exactly say or write what you want. A lack of clarity leads to misunderstanding and may lead to conflict. Follow the KISS principle: Keep it Simple, Stupid. The simpler the explanation and communication, the more likely it is that the outcome will be as intended.

Example

Imagine you have to deliver bad news. Especially in such situations, it is important to communicate clearly and transparently. Prefer simple understandable words and sentences over sloppy expressions, abbreviations, and acronyms.

Be reasonable

When talking to colleagues and customers, don’t forget to explain how you came up with your decision, conclusion or why you think about a certain aspect like that. Explaining your reasons helps others to understand your point of view.

Be respectful

Be responsible and create a supportive environment. Treat each other respectfully and stick to arrangements. Treat others how you want to be treated.

Example

Consider you split up work with a co-worker to prepare a presentation that will take place in a few days. If you make an appointment to consolidate your output, be sure that you give your best and do your “homework”. If you aren’t prepared for the meeting, you and your colleague have to elaborate your part together to deliver the presentation in time. Hence, your co-worker has to invest extra time owing to your absence of preparation. This is quite disrespectful behavior, from your colleague's point of view.

Avoid hasty judgments

When talking to customers or colleagues, avoid hasty judgments. Always consider that you might be the one who is wrong. In discussions, try really hard to understand your opponent's point of view. If you are explaining something, take your time and be patient.

Example

You have 30 years of Java coding experience. Today, a less experienced Engineer joins your team. She is reviewing your code changes and disapproves of your code documentation. She even prevents your code from being added to the main source code. She starts explaining that at university she learned that code documentation is important but should be applied with caution. For very self-describing code, documentation might be more harm- than helpful. She argues that the code might change in the future, but documentation very often is forgotten to be updated. Since the current code is very self-explanatory, having no documentation is better than eventually having wrong documentation. She has got a point.

Unexpected Behavior

Not respecting boundaries

At &amp, we accept everyone as an individual with different characteristics and qualities. We care about the needs of others and most importantly we respect the boundaries of each individual. We do not force anybody to do something the person is not comfortable doing.

Example

&amp organizes a team event and provides free beverages and food. The beverages include alcoholic drinks as well as non-alcoholic drinks. A colleague decides not to drink any alcoholic beverages. One colleague makes fun of the other colleague, who does not even want to share a beer with him. This behavior is unexpected. If a colleague is not comfortable drinking alcohol or simply does not want to, that's perfectly fine and there is no explanation needed.

Use of offensive language

The use of profanity is not appropriate. Curses, vulgar and offensive language create a hostile environment that hinders an effective collaboration between people. We do not condone the use of racist, sexist, homophobic, or culturally offensive language.

Gossip

Gain improper advantages

Do not try to gain improper advantages. Always play a fair game. Do not bribe, be corrupt or make secret agreements between trusted parties.

Example

One of your personal friends is our customer’s project manager. He asks you to postpone some promotions of Engineers in your team and offer a cheaper Team as a Service. He will share his profit with you. Since you know that the Engineers in your team earned the promotion, you decline the offer and go on proposing the Engineers in your team for promotion.

Unacceptable Behavior

Discrimination

Discrimination, harassment, and bullying in any form – verbal, physical, or visual will not be tolerated at &amp. Among others, this includes racism, sexism, ableism, discrimination based on gender, religion, or sexual orientation.

Harassment

Sexual harassment is an absolute no-go. Harassment based on sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity is strictly unacceptable. We also do not tolerate non-consensual sexual contact of verbal, nonverbal, or physical nature.

Physical or psychological violence

Violence and abusive behavior is not tolerated. This includes any attempt, threat, or actual conduct that endangers or is likely to endanger the physical or psychological health or safety of a co-worker. Additionally, any threatening statement that gives a co-worker reasonable cause to believe that his or her health or safety is at risk is not tolerated.

Stalking-like behavior

Never follow or surveil a person. Do not wait for a person to tell you that your closeness is not wanted. Be very cautious about signs which might indicate that your attention is not appreciated. Be especially cautious if an imbalance of power exists between you.

Consequences of Unacceptable Behavior

Any unacceptable behavior is going to lead to a conversation with somebody representing &amp People Operations.

There are serious penalties for engaging in the described behavior. Common penalties include demotions, job transfers, and in the most extreme cases, termination.

However, please remember that mistakes happen, you are not a bad person, reassess your behavior and do better next time.

Report Unacceptable Behavior

Please don’t hesitate to report unacceptable behavior to &amp People Operations.

We encourage you to contact us using your contact details, so we can better help people harmed.

Retaliation against anyone who reports unacceptable behavior is out of the question and we’ll do everything in our power to enforce that.

However, if you want to reach out to us anonymously, you can use a service like anonymousemail.me.

Scope

This Code of Conduct applies to all &amp co-workers and people connected. Everything written in this document is valid during working hours, as well as during events by &amp. It also applies to all communication no matter which medium, online or offline.

Version, license & attribution

This Code of Conduct is last edited in March 2021 and has version 1.0.1. It gets versioned using semantic versioning. The whole document is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license. Portions of text derived from the Thoughtworks', Google, Geek Feminism's, and Starbucks's Code of Conduct.