About the Library

History of the Library

The Library started when NFE was a company of just 3 people to make sharing information efficient and easy. We knew that future NFE team-members wouldn’t be able to see emails about process changes that were being sent before they joined and that most of the people who would eventually join NFE likely hadn’t even heard of us yet. This Library was our way of ensuring that all of our company information was accessible to everyone regardless of when they became part of the team.

Advantages

At NFE our Library 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:

1. Reading is much faster than listening.
2. Reading is async, you don’t have to interrupt someone or wait for them to become available.
3. Talent Acquisition is easier if people can see what we stand for and how we operate.
4. Retention is better if people know what they are getting into before they join.
5. On-boarding is easier if you can find all relevant information spelled out.
6. Teamwork is easier if you can read how other parts of the company work.
7. Discussing changes is easier if you can read what the current process is.
8. Communicating change is easier if you can just point to the page history.
9. Everyone can contribute to it by directly editing a page.

One common concern newcomers to the Library 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 Library is far from rigid. You only need to look at the Library home page to see the evidence. Every attempt is made to document guidelines and processes in the Library. However, it is not possible to document every possible situation or scenario that could potentially occur. Just because something is not yet in the Library does not mean that it is allowed. Aaron Tushabe is the primary custodian of the Library, please talk to him in the #general channel on Matrix if you're unsure about something concerning this Library. 

Library Interpretation

The Library 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 any given page. When in doubt please reach out and ask.

Remember that everything is in draft at NFE and subject to change, this includes our Library. 

We rarely mark any content or proposals as drafts. Everything is always in draft and subject to change. When everything is in draft, contributions from team members as well as the wider community are welcomed. By having everything in draft and assuming others have low context, confusion can be reduced as people have shared access to information.