Draft: Build top list to direct team members to most impactful work practices at GitLab

Why is this change being made?

💡 Provide a detailed answer to the question on why this change is being proposed, in accordance with our value of Transparency.

Problem to Solve: Team members, especially new hires, do not have a single location they can use to get a big-picture view of how we work at GitLab, and why we work the way we do.

Proposal: This new page in the handbook outlines 17 of the most impactful work practices used at GitLab that enable our mission and values. The intention is that a team member could bookmark this page and be able to quickly and efficiently review how we work, why we work this way, and then link out to resources across the handbook for support.

Use Case Examples:

1. A new hire joins GitLab and is having trouble keeping our values, TeamOps, communication guidelines and collaboration systems straight. They bookmark this page and reference it often during their first 3 months of employment as they learn how to contribute efficiently.
2. A manager is evaluating efficiencies on their team and wants to assess how well they are doing against documented practices. They use this list to refresh their understanding of each practice and consider how they will better implement them in their day to day work.

Considerations:

1. The list does not have to stop at 17. Please contribute what has been missed.
2. There are many TeamOps principles on this list, but not all TeamOps principles are included. This is a first iteration of prioritizing which principles are most impactful at GitLab.

Author and Reviewer Checklist

Please verify the check list and ensure to tick them off before the MR is merged.

• Provided a concise title for this Merge Request (MR)
• Added a description to this MR explaining the reasons for the proposed change, per say why, not just what
  • Copy/paste the Slack conversation to document it for later, or upload screenshots. Verify that no confidential data is added, and the content is SAFE
• Assign reviewers for this MR to the correct Directly Responsible Individual/s (DRI)
  • If the DRI for the page/s being updated isn’t immediately clear, then assign it to one of the people listed in the Maintained by section on the page being edited
  • If your manager does not have merge rights, please ask someone to merge it AFTER it has been approved by your manager in #mr-buddies
  • The when to get approval handbook section explains the workflow in more detail
• For transparency, share this MR with the audience that will be impacted.
  • Team: For changes that affect your direct team, share in your group Slack channel
  • Department: If the update affects your department, share the MR in your department Slack channel
  • Company: If the update affects all (or the majority of) GitLab team members, post an update in #whats-happening-at-gitlab linking to this MR
    • For high-priority company-wide announcements work with the internal communications team to post the update in #company-fyi and align on a plan to circulate in additional channels like the "While You Were Iterating" Newsletter

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