I was talking with a system admin on a recent trip and we got into what it means to have a really great work environment. It turned into a "what does it take" type discussion, as in "what does it take to have both support and a great environment that makes work that much better?"
We seemed to come down to a few items that seemed to define a great place to work – do you agree with these?
– Independence – the ability to move on projects and things "on your list" that had to be done, without getting specific authority or oversight (unnecessary oversight) from the boss. This isn’t to say you can’t ask questions, can’t ask for help, shouldn’t make sure previous lessons learned are first explained. It just means you can move forward and work on things without absolute micro management.
– Authority – with independence, the authority to make it stick. One of the things that we came down to is that if you’re given the independence to get things done, you need to know your choices aren’t going to be ignored and overturned 2 seconds later. These first two were key.
– Encouragement to do new things – seems pretty self-explanatory, but in our collective line of work, learning new things is absolutely essential. In fact, I think that NOT learning new things is pretty close to fatal professionally. But just looking into things, vs. actually moving forward on new things, are two separate… well, things. You need an environment that encourages putting new approaches into play when they make sense, and an open mind to seeing that.
– Rational down times – everyone needs a break. If you’re the only DBA, you need the support to put systems in place that take you out of the line of fire for some items. If you’re on a team, you need the support to build supporting systems that will help make it so you’re not on call all the time, every day, all week long. Sure, there are exceptions and things that need attention, but every single day is not workable.
What would you add to the list?
Shoot me a note, let me know – swynk@sswug.org (or comment below)