The Guest : A Guide To Code Hospitality

You were living alone in the town of Ruby-on-Rails until you decided to open up your spare room to guests. Now your first visitor has booked in. Her arrival is imminent.

How do you prepare? How can you make sure she has a great visit?

Let’s explore the art of code hospitality — working on codebases in a way that respects your teammates and provides for their needs. By working hospitably, we can facilitate team productivity and help new members quickly feel at home.

A talk at RailsConf 2016.

Transcript

1. THE GUEST
   Nadia Odunayo
   A GUIDE TO CODE HOSPITALITY
   @nodunayo
   

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2. STORY ONE
   

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3. I think
   I want to move
   to London.
   

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4. Cool!
   

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5. Will you
   help me
   please?
   

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6. Sure!
   

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13. STORY TWO
    

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14. “It’s like Rails is my
    city and I’ve lived here
    all of my life.”
    

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15. I think I
    want to move to
    Ruby-on-Rails.
    

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16. Code Hospitality
    

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17. Problem solving
    

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18. Problem solving
    &
    Communication
    

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19. Collaboration
    

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20. Collaboration
    &
    Learning
    

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21. CODE HOSPITALITY
    THE GUIDE
    

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22. WHO IS THIS
    GUIDE FOR?
    

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23. You’ve recently
    started a new
    job.
    

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24. You have a new
    team member.
    

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25. You’ve recently
    rotated onto a
    new team.
    

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26. You’ve recently
    typed
    ‘rails new’.
    

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27. You’re on a
    project using an
    unfamiliar
    language.
    

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28. You’ve got people
    looking to you
    for direction.
    

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29. You regularly
    collaborate with
    other people.
    

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30. You want your
    team to be
    productive.
    

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31. You want your
    team to be
    happy.
    

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32. You’re in the right place.
    

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33. INTRODUCTION
    

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34. When was the last
    time you had a
    guest?
    

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35. What did you do
    to make their stay
    pleasant?
    

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36. When was the last
    time you were a
    guest?
    

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37. Did you enjoy it?
    

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38. Hospitality
    

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39. Vulnerable
    

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40. Vulnerable
    &
    Uncertain
    

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41. SETTING THE TONE
    

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42. Guest / Host
    

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43. Guest / Host
    

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44. Guest / Host
    Junior / Senior
    

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45. first meeting
    orientation
    Preparation
    

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49. def name_one
    end
    

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50. def name_one
    end
    def name_two
    end
    

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51. def name_one
    end
    def name_two
    end
    def AliasThree
    end
    

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52. def name_one
    end
    def name_two
    end
    def AliasThree
    end
    ?
    

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53. class SweetDispenser
    end
    

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54. class SweetDispenser
    end
    # I give you sweets
    

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55. class SweetDispenser
    end
    # I give you sweets
    # I also display your
    # bank balance
    

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56. def MakeAnAwesomeSandwich
    end
    get_bread && fillings && spread
    || no_spread && put_it_all_together
    || or_not
    

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57. def MakeAnAwesomeSandwich
    bread = prepare_bread(no_of_slices)
    fill_bread(bread, favorite_filling)
    end
    

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58. def MakeAnAwesomeSandwich
    bread = prepare_bread(no_of_slices)
    fill_bread(bread, favourite_filling)
    end
    

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59. Keep your codebase in a
    state ready to receive
    unexpected guests.
    

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62. We attempted
    that refactor,
    but…
    

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63. I couldn’t be
    bothered.
    

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64. Know the reasons why your
    codebase isn’t up to the
    standard you want it to be.
    

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65. What type of
    guest?
    

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67. Open Source
    Guests
    

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72. A README that keeps you
    running.
    

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73. first meeting
    orientation
    preparation
    

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78. Want to do a
    lunch & learn?
    

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79. You can ask
    me anything.
    

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80. Is there anything
    you’d like to see
    that I haven’t
    shown you yet?
    

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81. I’m putting
    my headphones on
    but…
    

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82. …I’m interruptible.
    

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83. Demonstrate that you want
    your new teammates to feel
    at home as soon as possible.
    

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84. orientation
    preparation
    first meeting
    

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91. Narrative
    

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92. Tell new teammates the
    story of your codebase.
    

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93. DELIVERING VALUE
    

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97. How do
    you
    see the domain?
    

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98. As a user, I want
    to get inside the
    Tower of London
    

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103. H
     

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104. H
     T
     

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105. H
     T
     T
     

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109. Assume that you and your
     teammate are both lost.
     

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110. Scribble down diagrams and
     work together to find one
     another.
     

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111. I don’t remember how.
     

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113. H
     

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114. H
     R
     

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115. H
     R
     P
     

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116. Here are some
     ways that we’ve
     approached it in
     the past.
     

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117. Here is how
     another person
     may approach it.
     

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118. Let’s explore
     the pros
     and cons.
     

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119. Which way
     shall we go?
     

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120. Move the conversation from
     implementation detail to
     broader concepts.
     

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121. GIVING & RECEIVING
     FEEDBACK
     

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122. Feedback is hard
     

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123. You spoke
     about
     feelings a lot.
     

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124. Seems strange
     for a work
     environment.
     

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125. Seems strange
     for a work
     environment.
     

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127. Feelings
     

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128. Feelings
     Needs
     

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129. Feelings
     Needs
     Requests
     

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130. Judgement
     

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131. Judgement
     

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132. No
     Judgement
     Safe Zone
     

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133. You hogged
     the keyboard!
     

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134. You hogged
     the keyboard!
     

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135. I need to get
     better at writing
     tests.
     

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136. Yeah, it
     was great!
     

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137. Yeah, it
     was great!
     

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138. I need to
     know I’m being
     heard.
     

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140. What should we
     

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141. What should we
     keep doing?
     

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142. What should we
     change?
     

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143. When giving and receiving
     feedback, focus on expressing
     your feelings and needs.
     

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144. CONCLUSION
     

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145. Code Hospitality enables
     us to empathise.
     

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146. It is only when we treat
     our colleagues as guests
     that we thrive.
     

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147. FAQS
     

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148. Where can I buy a copy
     of the Code Hospitality
     guide?
     

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149. http://speakerdeck.com/nodunayo
     

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150. Where can I find out
     more about
     communicating with my
     colleagues effectively?
     

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151. Nonviolent
     Communication
     Marshall B. Rosenberg
     by
     

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152. What is a way that I can
     run a 1:1 retrospective?
     

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153. https://blog.pivotal.io/labs/labs/feedback-in-conversation
     

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154. Where can I join the
     Code Hospitality
     discussion?
     

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155. #codehospitality
     

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156. Who helped you in the
     development of this talk?
     

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157. Theo Cushion
     Barrett Clark
     Andy Croll
     Adam Cuppy
     Pete Holiday
     Tammer Saleh
     Justin Searls
     Amar Shah
     JB Steadman
     

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158. How can we make it safe
     to be vulnerable?
     

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159. HOW WAS YOUR STAY?
     

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160. THANK YOU!
     HOW WAS YOUR STAY?
     Nadia Odunayo
     ignition.works
     @nodunayo
     

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