The main problem is the management of and around the docs team. They need to do a lot better.
Technically, it’s embarrassing. They do not understand basic concepts like git branches. This is a bit of a problem in a docs-as-code environment. Obviously, they surely don’t know how to build a Docker image, which doesn’t help build trust when you work at Docker. ICs have to repeat the same technical explanations regularly, but management still gets it wrong a week later.
Communication-wise, it’s appalling. Everything is top-down. They ask you to report what you work on, but they never share what they are working on. They set up meetings that could be turned into a one-liner on Slack, probably to look like they are busy "managing."
Parroting is the usual; they recycle "technical" terms to look like they understand things, but after repeating the same term a dozen times, it just generates the opposite feeling on the listener's side.
There is no attempt to support and be part of the team; the attempt is to manage individuals like in the 90s. I have slightly more recent standards, but your mileage may vary.
In terms of leadership and project management, it’s catastrophic. They do not understand much technically, so projects have to be led by the ICs while they already have many teams to support, and management just gets in the way. Overwork is normal as "we have to be flexible, we are trying to go fast," but obviously when they say "we" it means "you". They don't have much to do compared to ICs who are spread extremely thinly, so it's not really overwork for the ICs if they don't overwork themselves, I guess.
They regularly request ICs to work on extra random tasks with zero business value, and the delivery date is always “next week”—that way it’s nice and easy.
They seem to think their job is to track work items (that are not even required to be in Jira because they probably don’t know how to use Jira). The amount of duplicated tracking effort is through the roof:
- 1:1s? Meant to report your progress on work items.
- Team syncs? Meant to report your progress on work items.
- Slack threads? Meant to report your progress on work items.
- Weekly Lattice updates? Meant to report your progress on work items. You will report your work... a lot.
Finally, management cherry-picks individual stories to give you negative feedback. Push back once, and that becomes the only story! They also lie about peer feedback and also refuse to share it with you. I thought feedback was a gift? Not if it can help reveal manipulation. What a cop-out.
So why would you join?
- If you like to obey and never question anything, you like to just say "yes" and execute, this might be ok for you.
- If you want to be part of a team that functions as a team, where people feel safe to share opinions, if you want to have a manager that pulls you up and inspires you, or tries to make work days a little more fun than what they are, do not join.
Most other companies are better run. Most other docs teams are better managed. Use your interviews judiciously.