When trying out a new working style, it’s often helpful to ask for permission. This isn’t to slow you down, but to build up good will in the long term. For example, if you want to ping your team members when you publish a PR, instead of starting that behavior immediately, ask them first.
“Hey, do you mind if I ping you when I put up a pull request?”
This has a few benefits:
- It builds trust in the long term. You didn’t just start asking more of them, you worked with them on a solution.
- In rare cases, you’ll get pushback that you might not have thought of. Perhaps “oh I schedule time for my all my code reviews at the end of the day. I’ll always get it done then.” Again, this builds trust because you gave your teammate the opportunity to explain their working style.
Some might think this is slower, and they’re right — it is. But that’s only in the short term. In the long term, this behavior establishes a reputation for yourself as someone who thoughtfully brings people along rather than puts them in the line of fire.