8 Qualities Important for Working with People

It just so happens that I update this list a bit once a year!

A list of important qualities that I look for when working with people.

1. Proactivity — not limiting oneself to the points in the terms of reference (working from call to call). This is especially important when there is no obvious solution to a task, and a person must find that solution and propose alternative options. A person should come with solutions, not just seek them.
2. Systematic Thinking — the ability to see systems, work with them, and scale results. It is essential to understand what and why you are doing, to see cause-and-effect relationships, and to interpret them correctly.
3. Curiostiy — the desire to explore, find something new, and possibly even invent. Ideally, if we can discuss new hypotheses, formulate tests, and then measure results once a week/month.
4. Desire to Grow — it is very important for a person to have a desire, preferably with a roadmap for their horizontal and vertical growth for the year ahead. When the company and product grow, people should grow along with them.
5. Attention to Detail — this relates more to self-control and self-checking; one should verify what has been done rather than wait for someone to point out obvious bugs in the work. One should check their work as often as others’. Attention to detail is crucial in everything; if you are preparing a terms of reference, it should be structured, with all points detailed to minimize questions. If you are writing a message, it should be well-written and comprehensive. There should be a healthy level of perfectionism.
6. Self-Organization — a person should not need to be guided every step of the way and kicked to move 10 meters only to need another push. When a person is working productively, it is evident, and you shouldn’t have to ask, «What did you do all day yesterday?»
7. Ability to Take Responsibility — the usual approach of «I don’t care, it’s not my business» is not acceptable; a person must realize that their decisions and actions have certain consequences, both positive and negative, and they should approach decision-making as if those decisions were about themselves or their own business.
8. Honesty — with oneself and the team. This point is about being able to honestly admit that one does not know/understand/can’t do something. Admitting this to oneself, colleagues, or a supervisor is crucial. It often happens that a specialist gets stuck on something that slows down processes and cannot admit it or ask for advice. Not knowing is normal; we all learn. What is not normal is pretending to know everything, getting bogged down in a task or situation, and slowing down the entire team.

This describes an ideal scenario, which is rarely the case, but the most important thing is the willingness to change and grow. Sometimes people are not ready or able to become better.