How do I work with Joel as a manager?

Communication: Joel tries to respond same-day on Slack, though meeting-heavy days can slow things down. If something’s important and you haven’t heard back, ping him again—he appreciates it. He may message late at night or on weekends, but never expects a response outside your working hours. There are no extra points for working outside of work hours.
Hours: Joel is a night owl, so please don’t schedule anything before 11am ET. He gets a lot of deep work done in what’s “after hours” for most people.
1:1s: Expect weekly 30-minute 1:1s. These will be your time—context updates, coaching, feedback, venting about life/work, whatever you need. Joel defaults to a coaching style (asking questions to help you think) but can switch to mentoring (telling you what he’d do) if you ask.
Feedback style: Joel gives direct, specific feedback—and he expects the same in return! He means it when he says he wants constructive feedback, and he’ll share his own performance reviews with you. If he’s failing at something, please tell him. Sucking at something is the first step to being good at that thing.
Trust & autonomy: Joel doesn’t micromanage. He hires people who are autonomous and have an ownership mindset. Work when you want, and get your commitments done. With that trust comes accountability—if you say you’ll do something, he expects it done or communicated if plans change.
Transparency: Joel will always tell you things as they are, so if you have a question, go ahead and ask him directly :) He expects the same—if you’re burning out, having team issues, or not feeling it, say so early. He can’t help if he doesn’t know.
Standards: Joel holds his teams to a high standard on craft—exploration, visual polish, scoping, interaction and flows, system design, etc. He doesn’t expect nights and weekends, but he does expect your best effort. Every project should ideally be the best work of your career within its constraints.
Joel’s gaps: ADHD and wearing many hats means he drops balls sometimes. He’s doing his best to drop the right ones—ping him on the important stuff. He can procrastinate on writing and reading when overloaded, so exec summaries at the top of Looms and docs help a lot.
What he values: Intentionality (every process, meeting, and design decision should have clear reasoning), growth mindset, directness, and designers who engage strategically with their cross-functional partners—not just execute specs.

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