Communicate: Keeping the line of communication open between you and your mento(s) will build trust, respect, and a positive relationship that facilitates the successful completion of the project.
- Schedule weekly check-ins to review progress, blockers, upcoming tasks
- Clarify communication channels/norms with you mentor(s), project team, and broader community: email, chat, calls, wiki, and etc.
- Be aware of communication challenges across time zones and language/cultural differences. Be on time for scheduled meetings and be respectful of your mentor’s time (remember your mentors are volunteers)
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions, be upfront about gaps in skill and knowledge
- Inform your mentor(s) of vacation or breaks in advance and plans to make up for lost days
Connect: Gaining a broader understanding of the community, industry, and potential career paths can help generate new ideas and make your a more effective and long-term contributing member of the community.
- Take the initiative to network with other professionals beyond your immediate team that you come in contact with either remotely or F2F at hackfest, meetup, bootcamp, or conferences and etc.
- Use the mentees@hyperleger.org mailing list to reach out to and connect with the current cohort of peer mentors
- Explore projects under the Hyperledger umbrella and how the community is organized, e.g. Working Groups and Special Interest Groups, and how you may be able to participate or contribute
- Attend/organize a Hyperledger meetup in your local community or on your campus
Document: Documenting your progress, agreed-on project plan, weekly goals/tasks, milestones, changes/modifications helps keep yourself on track and others you work with on the same page.
- Develop a project plan at the start of the program and refine/revist/document changes as things progress
- Maintain a log to track your progress and consider using the log as the basis of discussions during your weekly check-ins with mentor(s)
- Work on project documentations as part of deliverables so that code can be used by others and to continue the development momentum