About the Handbook
This handbook is the living documentation for our organization—a single source of truth that grows and evolves with us.
The handbook started as a way for the members of Dear Asian Youth (DAY) to make sharing information efficient and easy. We knew that future DAY members wouldn’t be able to see emails, Discord messages, or 1:1 syncs about process changes that were happening before they joined and that eventually everyone who joined DAY later needed an easier way to onboard. The handbook was our way of ensuring that all of our company information was accessible to everyone regardless of when they became part of the team.
Our Philosophy
Section titled “Our Philosophy”Built with the philosophy that documentation should be accessible, comprehensive, and always up-to-date. Like GitLab’s handbook, we believe in transparency, working publicly, and creating a resource that serves as the definitive source for how we operate.
Key Principles
Section titled “Key Principles”- Living Document - Always evolving, never static
- Transparency - Open by default, accessible to all
- Comprehensive - One source of truth for everything
- Community-Driven - Built by and for our team
- Accessible - Easy to find, easy to understand, easy to contribute
Advantages
Section titled “Advantages”At DAY our handbook is extensive and keeping it relevant is an important part of everyone’s job. It is a vital part of who we are and how we communicate. We established these processes because we saw these benefits:
- Reading is much faster than listening.
- Reading is async, you don’t have to interrupt someone or wait for them to become available.
- Talent Acquisition is easier if people can see what we stand for and how we operate.
- Retention is better if people know what they are getting into before they join.
- On-boarding is easier if you can find all relevant information spelled out.
- Teamwork is easier if you can read how other parts of the company work.
- Discussing changes is easier if you can read what the current process is.
- Communicating change is easier if you can just point to the difference.
- Everyone can contribute to it by proposing a change via a merge request.
One common concern newcomers to the handbook express is that the strict documentation makes the company more rigid. In fact, writing down our current process in the handbook has the effect of empowering contributors to propose change. As a result, this handbook is far from rigid. Every attempt is made to document guidelines and processes in the handbook. However, it is not possible to document every possible situation or scenario that could potentially occur. Just because something is not yet in the handbook does not mean that it is allowed. DAY will review each team member’s concern or situation based on local laws to determine the best outcome and then update the handbook accordingly.
Handbook Interpretation
Section titled “Handbook Interpretation”The handbook is subject to interpretation. We do our best to be as clear as possible to minimize confusion and/or misinterpretation. We also recognize that we have a global audience and that may bring different interpretations. If you have any questions or need further clarification please check with the content owner of the page. When in doubt please reach out and ask.