Christoph Kieslich

Working with me

Communication Style Preferences

Best ways to communicate with me?

The best way to communicate with me is via Slack, Teams or Email. If the topic requires more bandwidth I prefer face-to-face in-person over video / audio calls. I am quickly, multiple times a day, following up on my Slack, Teams and Emails which should be enough to address urgent matters, however if you feel like a topic requires my immediate attention, a quick call is fine - though please use it rarely as I find it quite distracting.

How do I best receive feedback?

I appreciate feedback in a timely and actionable manner, if you notice something, please do not wait for our next 1:1 meeting, I would much rather hear from you directly afterwards. With that in mind, please follow the good approach of praise publicly and critique privately.

How do I give feedback?

I believe that the only way for all of us to improve is to receive and give constructive feedback that allows the other person to improve. Hence I am a big deliverer of feedback and I would like to understand from you, how you would like to receive feedback so that I can adjust my approach.

Work Style Preferences

What sort of conditions do I like to work in?

I do enjoy having the flexibility of working in the office and at home. When I need to focus at a particular task, my preference is todo this from the comfort of my home office. I do enjoy working in a quite spot or while listening to music through my noise cancelling headphones.

When and how do I like to work?

My early mornings are reserved for physical activities to get my mind clear and body moving. I usually work out every morning from 7 - 8 before heading to the office. I do not follow a strict 9 - 5 approach and sometimes decide to take out hours during the day and work longer in the evening.

What are my preferences for meeting scheduling?

I prefer having meetings bundled together so that I limit jumping in and out of meetings. My mental focus and capacity decreases in the afternoon hours, hence I would, if possible, have meetings not too late into the afternoon.

I am a believer in transparency, and so is my calendar, so when scheduling a meeting please have a look into my agenda and pick a slot that is free and not already blocked with other meetings or blocks of focused time.

What are my preferences for how meetings are run?

I do not require meetings to have a clear agenda but I appreciate to know what is expected upfront and what the outcome of the meeting shall be. If i have something to say during the meeting I either speak up directly or write my thought in the meeting chat.

What are other work preferences that people should know about me?

As a person with ADHD I am not always the most organised and have information scattered around various spaces, if this impacts you, please let me know and we can find a solution, and hopefully I can learn from you. I do prefer having time to myself to think and read quietly without interruptions.

Motivations and Struggles

What motivates me?

I am strongly motivated at work and in my personal life by a good athmosphere and culture where we are working towards a common goal that has benefits for a large user base.

What do you struggle with?

I do not want to use my ADHD as an excuse but there are certain executive functions that I struggle with such as time blindness, prioritization, effectivle managing my day and week.

What things bother or irritate me?

Loud environments and overcrowded places are irritating me and getting me easily distrcated, so I usually avoid those when I need to get some deep focus work done.

My top 5 character strenghts:

  • Honesty
  • Humor
  • Love of Learning
  • Hope
  • Kindness

Outside of Work

Hobbies, interests and other things

I do enjoy sports before my work, like hitting the gym at 6:30AM, which also helps me to get my thoughts sorted before I start work. Besides that I am a big fan of coffee, I am actually brewing a cup of coffee ☕ as we speak.