Kinetic Data handbook

The Kinetic Data Handbook is a continual, living work-in-process for our organization. We use it to document the processes that underpin our company and provide a ready reference to our policies and practices. Its purpose is to iteratively increase clarity for Kinetic Data staff and provide a single source of truth.

So why a handbook now? Since our founding, our policies and practices could best be described as research-based, tribal knowledge passed along from leadership to, and between, employees. This is not an unusual practice and one that worked well enough early in our history and when we were generally all working from one location. Times have changed, and with the recent number of new hires and a "remote-first" work environment, we decided a Handbook was needed for clarity and consistency. Now, the Handbook lives in the dedicated repository at https://github.com/kineticdata/kineticdata-handbook, which is edited using GitBook as a frontend.

Growing companies are a work-in-process

We're a growing company and ourselves a work-in-process as part of the growing and evolving digital transformation economy. You make the difference; you are Kinetic Data, and so it is with that in mind that we are adopting this digital platform to publish our handbook so we can communicate and iterate faster and involve you in the process.

On some pages, you'll see references to 1% and 50% drafts. This is used to express how complete our thinking is around the published content and indicate whether fundamental changes may be made.

When a section of the handbook is at less than the 50% draft stage, you should see it labeled in the page description with the % draft status. When a section doesn't have a % draft status, assume it's over the 50% draft stage.

We believe this system has two key benefits:

1. Be more open to feedback and iteration: Publicly publishing something can make it seem overly "final." By having pages in our handbook at 1% and 50%, we make it easier to go through the feedback and iteration cycles.

2. Engage more non-technical people in the discussion: Sharing 1% and 50% drafts in public here on GitBook for feedback makes our process more inclusive.

There are trade-offs as well: There may be confusion among people who haven't been onboarded into the 1%, 50% draft concept. People who aren't comfortable with the level of early sharing may feel upset. For these reasons, this page itself is only a 10% draft, so opinions can be expressed and discussed.

Sharing feedback and updating the handbook

Feedback on this handbook is immensely appreciated. There are two ways you can share your feedback:

1. You can create an issue in the Handbook repository. Select New issue, and provide as much detail as possible in the issue. Screenshots and links are also welcome. Choose Submit new issue. The Handbook channel (which is managed by the HR Team) receives a notification, and this begins the cycle of feedback and iteration. While not all feedback will result in an update to the handbook, we definitely want to hear everyone's opinion.

2. You can edit the page directly and submit your feedback/suggested changes as a Pull Request (PR). PRs go through the same cycle of feedback and iteration. The only difference is that an issue is not an immediate change and may take longer to action. A PR already contains the changes and has a quicker turnaround time. Learn how to update this handbook through GitHub for detailed steps.