We’re on a mission to make the world safer and more productive through open source. To make that happen we first have to create a great place to work–an inclusive, courteous online community where incredibly talented individuals are empowered to do their best work for our customers, with very little in their way. This guide is a summary of our guiding principles. As Mattermost grows, we hope these principles serve each new staff person that joins us. If you are new to Mattermost, welcome! While the goals here are important, it’s your ideas, talent, and energy that will keep Mattermost shining in the years ahead. Thanks for being here. Let’s change the world.
Our handbook defines what it’s like to work at Mattermost, from the high level to specific operating procedures. If you’re new, you’ll start with our onboarding guides.
Our mission is to make the world safer and more productive by developing and delivering secure, open source collaboration software that is trusted, flexible and offers fast time-to-value.
Leadership principles are deliberate choices defining our behavior. When facing complexity, uncertainty, or ambiguity (CUA) we determine our point of view and our actions through the lens of our values:
Customer Obsession - Mattermost exists to make customers successful. Every project starts with the customer perspective.
Ownership — Own the outcome of your actions. Act on behalf of the company, not just the team. Never say “that’s not my job.”
High-Impact — Choose high-impact projects over low-impact projects. Figure out what matters most and focus on those priorities.
Insist on High Standards — Have relentless high standards. Continually raise the bar for high-quality products and processes.
Self-Awareness — Seek to understand strengths and growth opportunities while being open to criticism. Share critiques constructively and respectfully.
Earn Trust — Make decisions based on maximizing the trust of others in your judgment. Be open, self-critical and factual.
To view video of these Leadership Principles, please click here.
Mattermost Team Edition under MIT license and the Mattermost open source projects under various licenses are maintained by core committers, including both staff from Mattermost, Inc. and volunteer contributors from the Mattermost user and customer communities.
Mattermost Enterprise Editions, which are commercial extensions built on top of the Mattermost open source projects, are developed, supported and sold by Mattermost, Inc.
For more information, see our Product Overview.
Mattermost is an open source, remote-first, communities-centered company based in Palo Alto, California and headquartered on the internet.
Open source means that by default we make our technology, business process and source code available to the public. We develop a small portion as proprietary technology, built upon our open source work, to license for subscription fees that enable more high quality open source work to be produced. Since the start of the Mattermost open source project in 2015, we have used this model to develop effective open source solutions for the world to use. This model is sometimes called Thin Open Core.
Remote-first means that by default our staff works anywhere in the world where a) we have support for quality video calling and b) where we can work in a legally appropriate environment. Mattermost was born in an extraordinary age where organizations can attract, hire and enable remote teams–working from homes, coffee shops and co-working spaces across timezones–to produce better technology and business results in less time than purely office-based teams, while maintaining security and compliance standards.
Remote-first culture flourishes when we share one simple principle: Courtesy. Courtesy means Mattermosters are thoughtful about keeping our communities appropriately informed, following etiquette for discussions, calls and video meetings, and giving and receiving feedback on how to work better together. Courtesy also means we gladly accommodate those who prefer to work out of a dedicated office. We are remote-first, not remote-only.
Communities-centered means we define our success in the context of the success of our communities: users, customers, implementers, resellers, technology partners, contributors, and colleagues. The success of each community is owned by a member of the Mattermost leadership team. The plural definition of “communities” is intended to avoid unconsciously marginalizing downstream stakeholders.
Based in Palo Alto, California and headquartered on the internet means the mailing address for Mattermost, Inc. is in Palo Alto, California, and our headquarters is on the internet, specifically the Mattermost instance at https://community.mattermost.com. Our online headquarters is where Mattermost staff work with our communities of colleagues, users, partners, customers and contributors, to envision, develop and refine new open source technologies to make the world safer and more productive.
People Team Responsibilities
[ ] When notified by HR Lead, send an email to find out new staff’s preference for laptop and equipment, either to be purchased or taken from stock and shipped by People Ops or purchased locally by new staff and expensed.
[ ] Send new staff the Mattermost email agreement via DocuSign before issuing an @mattermost.com email address. New staff should use this email address on community.mattermost.com (replace personal email with company email if already registered there). FIRST_NAME.LAST_NAME@mattermost.com is the standard naming convention.
[ ] Send new staff an email about payroll and benefits.
[ ] Send new staff (and manager) a group message requesting new staff’s biography, inviting new staff to the Mattermost demo and sharing more about working at Mattermost, including our leadership principles.
First Day
[ ] Invite new staff to tools used across Mattermost and the Customer Obsession Meeting.
[ ] Send new staff a direct message sharing a first day checklist (below) and information about laptop setup, and gives an overview of New Hire’s first week.
[ ] Meet with new staff to review required documentation (e.g. I-9 documents).
First Week Checklist (Markdown)
#### Instructions:
Please copy each item and add an - to the left of the bracket and an x inside of the bracket you complete the item (e.g. - [x]).
Please reply to this message (hover over any message to reveal the reply button) with the items you’ve completed.
##### Day 1
[ ] Share your bio with @managername ` (this will be posted in the [Welcome channel](https://community-daily.mattermost.com/private-core/channels/welcome) in the private `Staff team - @managername `, please include the hashtag `#newcolleague).
[ ] Accept the invitation to your OneLogin account and switch your Mattermost account to use OneLogin from Account Settings -> Security -> Sign-in Method -> Switch to SAML. Instructions are found [here](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FsfSr6qgtjY4aCo_UoL7FSChwvX3iLXuCFKJYselxBo/edit#slide=id.p4). Note: You’ll find other apps, like LastPass and Zoom, there.
[ ] Download the Mattermost Desktop Client [here](https://about.mattermost.com/downloads) and login to http://community.mattermost.com.
[ ] Download the [Mattermost app](https://mattermost.com/download/#mattermostApps) on your smartphone and login to community.mattermost.com using your OneLogin account.
[ ] Join the channels listed [here](https://docs.mattermost.com/process/training.html#channels) to get a feel for the company and to see how we communicate.
[ ] Explore your Mattermost account settings, making note of your notification settings. Tip: Set your messages to send on CTRL + ENTER, while using ENTER will insert a new line, while you’re learning to use Mattermost.
[ ] Learn how to format your messages using Markdown by reviewing this [guide](https://community-daily.mattermost.com/help/messaging).
[ ] Take Mattermost’s end user training [here](https://academy.mattermost.com/p/end-user-onboarding) and note any feedback.
[ ] Register your laptop and any other Mattermost-issued equipment [here](https://forms.gle/yBkZo36hzzo8dsbKA).
[ ] Set up your email signature. [Here’s how](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KNfyWl40S6LcpZ4lk7ntiBeB0HBiQKAHuCAPFW1J0Zo/edit).
[ ] Activate your Office365 account and download to your computer. Instructions [here](https://support.office.com/en-us/article/download-and-install-or-reinstall-office-365-or-office-2019-on-a-pc-or-mac-4414eaaf-0478-48be-9c42-23adc4716658?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US#InstallSteps=Install_on_a_Mac).
##### Days 2-5
[ ] Share your GitHub username with @camille.harris. You can, and are encouraged, to use your personal GitHub account. You may also create a GitHub account with your @mattermost email instead.
[ ] Connect GitHub and Mattermost via the instructions here: [<jump to convo>](/core/pl/i4k6eke5t38gxxwrjtpeegbhwr).
[ ] Join GitLab with your @mattermost email and contact @hanna.park to be added to the Mattermost group.
[ ] Read about the [Customer Obsession All Hands Meeting](https://community-daily.mattermost.com/private-core/channels/cust-obs-meeting) [here](https://docs.mattermost.com/process/training.html#customer-obsession-all-hands-meeting).
[ ] Read about the [R&D Meeting](https://community-daily.mattermost.com/private-core/channels/platform-meeting) and let us know if you’d be OK doing an [icebreaker](https://docs.mattermost.com/process/training.html#ice-breaker) in a future meeting.
[ ] Review our data privacy policy [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z7kcPAGBt9WARpxsvklrdHcX4W9qc1Qvucwx0YhUIV4/edit).
[ ] Review our [Code Contribution Guidelines](https://www.mattermost.org/contribute-to-mattermost/) to learn how to contribute to Mattermost to receive a personalized Mattermug.
[ ] Add your mailing address, profile photo, and emergency contact information to Bamboo. You can also view the company [org chart](https://mattermost.bamboohr.com/employees/orgchart.php) there. Note: If you do not have access to Bamboo, please message @natalie.jew.
Week 2
[ ] Ask new staff to review the last three recordings of the Customer Obsession All Hands Meeting and confirm whether they will present their own intro in that week’s meeting, or if they’d like their manager to introduce them. Share decision with Meeting Chair.
[ ] Schedule CEO welcome meeting (Tuesdays at 8:30am or Fridays at 8am Palo Alto time) and invite new staff. Double-check new staff has completed the end user training module.
[ ] Send new staff (and manager) a group message answering frequently asked questions and sharing Mattermost’s User’s Guide.
Week 3
[ ] Send new staff (and manager) a group message sharing the org chart and staff email list and describing how to view other staff members’ calendars to book meetings.
Week 4
[ ] Send new staff (and manager) an email inviting new staff to create their Mattermost avatar.
Manager Responsibilities
First Day
[ ] Post new staff member’s bio to the Welcome channel using the hashtag #newcolleague.
[ ] Add new staff to relevant aliases (e.g. sales@mattermost.com). Note: If you do not have manager access to the alias(es), please contact the People team (people@mattermost.com).
[Placeholder for links to Departmental checklists]
Product team onboarding: https://github.com/mattermost/mattermost-handbook/blob/master/source/people/product-onboarding.rst
Customer success onboarding: https://github.com/mattermost/mattermost-handbook/blob/master/source/people/customer-success-onboarding.rst