Culture
Software engineering is not just about writing code, it is about collaborating to deliver value. The strength of our teams comes from how we work together, support one another, and continuously improve.
This section outlines key cultural values that help us work effectively, inclusively and with purpose.
Core Mantras
Celebrate Success
Recognising great work builds morale, trust and momentum.
We succeed as a team, and its important to acknowledge contributions, milestones and achievements whether they are big or small.
Ways to celebrate:
- Give kudos in Slack, team meetings or hero nominations
- Highlight successes in Organisation wide updates or demos
- Organising team socials and events (remembering to be inclusive and accessible for everyone)
Example: if someone shipped a complex feature ahead of schedule or mentored an associate engineer, take a moment to recognise it.
Foster Psychological Safety
People do their best work when they feel safe. Safe to take risks, safe to ask for help and safe to be honest.
- Mistakes should be learning opportunities, not blame events
- Everyone's voice matters - encourage open, respectful discussion
- Give and receive constructive feedback with good intent.
Example: In a retrospective focus on "what we learned" rather than "who committed that"
Communicate Clearly and Respectfully
Great teams communicate well, whether async, remote or in person
- Be concise and thoughtful in messages, comments and PR reviews
- Assume Positive intent - tone can be hard to read in text.
- Prefer async written communication where possible but be quick to jump on a call when needed.
Example: When discussing a change ensure owners and responsibilities and agreed, using clear direct language. Avoid ambiguous wording like "We might", or "we could"
Collaborate Across Teams
The best solutions come from diverse perspectives
- Software engineers do not work in isolation, partner with designers, product managers and wider stakeholders, interact with your users
- Take time to understand the organisations goals, it will lead to better engineering outcomes
- Help break down silos by sharing knowledge across teams.
Example: Instead of focusing on technical details, ask how this feature impacts users or organisation goals before writing code
Continuous Improvement and Learning
Growth happens when we challenge ourselves and stay curious
- Seek out opportunities to learn, whether it's a new tech stack or leadership skills
- Share knowledge - mentoring and pair programming can make the whole team stronger
- Be open to trying new approaches - processes and best practices evolve and grow
Example: If a process feels inefficient, suggest an improvement rather than accepting the status quo.
Putting Culture into Action
Culture is not just about what we say - it's about how we work, interact, and grow as a team. Celebrating success, fostering safety, communicating effectively, collaborating, and continuously improving are all key to building a strong and healthy engineering culture