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updated: 2025-12-15T22:41:00.018Z
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# 23people Company Handbook Summary

> This document provides a synthesized overview optimized for AI consumption.
> It focuses on stable patterns, principles, and frameworks rather than
> frequently changing operational data.

## About Us

### Who We Are

23people is a technology company founded in Santiago, Chile in November 2014 by two Software Engineers & Computer Scientists: Marcelo Ampuero and Manuel Reyes. The company was born from a simple yet powerful vision: to create a company where the founders themselves would have wanted to work. Starting from humble beginnings with two plastic chairs and a folding table, 23people has grown to approximately 90 active professionals, primarily in technical roles.

The company's name originates from the Matrix film series, specifically from "The Matrix Reloaded," where The Architect mentions selecting 23 individuals to rebuild Zion. This reflects 23people's identity as "the spirit behind those 23 people outside the matrix" - representing those who choose to work differently in the technology industry.

Throughout its nearly decade-long history, more than 500 professionals have been part of 23people's journey, with a notable average tenure of approximately 16 months. The company has served over 10 major clients across three continents (Latin America, North America, and Europe), executing nearly 100 projects of varying complexity. This sustained growth is reflected in an average annual growth rate exceeding 30%.

23people operates as a 100% remote and digital organization, defining itself as a team of professionals who genuinely love what they do in technology and seek to create a workplace where everyone would want to work.

(https://manual.23people.io/about-us/who-we-are/)

### What We Do

23people positions itself as a reliable technological facilitator and co-creator for companies seeking to evolve their digital products and services. The company specializes in empowering and co-creating alongside teams of enterprises facing the constant challenge of Digital Evolution, integrating Tech Talent, Software Engineering, and Technologies with their clients' business expertise and data potential.

**Core Services:**

1. **Tech Talent Formation, Selection and Management**: 23people forms, selects, and manages short and long-term Tech Teams, allowing clients to focus on achieving their business objectives. The company specializes in finding, selecting, and retaining Tech Professionals who complement the technical and human capacities of client teams. This service evolved from traditional "Staff Augmentation" to a value proposition focused on clients delegating the management of their technical team, enabling them to focus on their core business.

   The service is divided into two main approaches:
   
   - **Long-term Focus** (>= 6 months): For stable teams, offered through two modalities:
     - **Tech Outsourcing (Subcontracting)**: 23people forms and hires the team under its legal structure
     - **Tech Hunting (Recruitment)**: Specialized search and selection where 23people technically validates candidates for direct client hiring
   
   - **Short-term & High Technical Specialization**: For projects under 6 months or requiring highly specific expertise, using 23people's internal Engineering team

2. **Enterprise Tools and Systems Integrations**: Connecting the tools and systems most used by organizations. 23people integrates B2B systems, connecting enterprise applications to exchange information efficiently and securely.

3. **Cloud Services Usage Optimization**: Minimizing cloud usage costs for platforms without sacrificing performance or security. The company migrates and modernizes systems using the cloud in a thoughtful and optimized manner.

4. **Data Engineering and Artificial Intelligence**: Implementing the engineering necessary to generate and collect data that organizations need for decision-making and artificial intelligence usage. The company combines technologies for large data volumes (BigData, DataLakes, Data Warehouses), predictive and generative AI tools (Machine Learning, RAG, LLMs), and advanced automation systems (AI Agents), all aligned with clients' business expertise to generate real value in their daily operations.

(https://manual.23people.io/about-us/what-we-do/)

### What Sets Us Apart

23people differentiates itself through five fundamental pillars that define how the company works:

1. **Specialization in Tech Roles**: The company specializes in finding exceptional Programmers and Software Engineers with potential - professionals who genuinely love what they do and have the experience they claim. While not easy to find in today's competitive labor market, once identified, 23people focuses on retaining them by ensuring they experience real professional growth and constant challenge to improve their skills.

   The company works with four main categories:
   - **Software Engineers**: Build, maintain, modernize and test enterprise software applications and systems (Fullstack, Frontend, Backend, QA Engineers)
   - **Data Engineers**: Design and implement systems to process, store and manage large volumes and data flows
   - **Cloud Engineers**: Design, implement and optimize cloud infrastructures (DevOps, SRE, Cloud Architects)
   - **AI Engineers**: Develop algorithms and models for artificial intelligence (Data Scientists, Machine Learning Engineers, Deep Learning Engineers)

   For each role, 23people manages different seniority levels: Entry (professionals starting their tech career), Intermediate (professionals who have become team references), and Senior (professionals with extensive experience serving as Tech Lead, Team Lead, Specialist, and/or Architect). Professional experience at 23people is not measured by years worked but by the degree of skill development and learning acquired along the way.

2. **Optimization in Tech Recruitment**: The company has a matured "recipe" for finding and selecting Tech Talent, including specialized evaluation processes that validate real programming skills and experience.

3. **Software Development Maturity**: 23people builds software in an agile, evolutionary, and data-driven manner. The company has adopted an agile software development methodology that allows building high-quality, evolutionary digital products based on data. The approach is based on collaboration, transparency, and continuous iteration, allowing adaptation to changes and efficient value delivery.

4. **Handling Enterprise and Emerging Technologies**: The company has validated experience across a comprehensive technology stack including programming languages (Python, Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, C#, Go, Rust), databases (relational, cloud, document, key-value, graph, vector), cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Cloudflare), web frameworks (Next.js, Spring Boot, FastAPI, React, Angular), AI tools and frameworks (Vectorize, Workers AI, LlamaIndex, OLlama, OpenAI API, Anthropic API), and AI architectures (Transformers, RAG, AI Agents).

5. **Client Success**: 23people helps and accompanies its clients at every step. The company maintains a valued client rating regarding closeness and support provided in each project, seeking to ensure clients have an exceptional experience in every interaction with 23people.

(https://manual.23people.io/about-us/how-we-work/)

### What We Pursue

23people projects itself toward the coming years with a clear north. The vision is realized through collaborative work between aligned teams, guided by challenging but clear objectives, and continuous development of human and professional skills, always guided by principles that define the team.

**Main Goals:**

1. **Being References in Technology and Professional Growth for Tech Talent**: Seeking sustainable economic growth and consolidating the company's position in the Latam market as a reference in high-performance IT teams, world-class digital platforms, and AI tool usage.

2. **Sustainable Economic Growth and Globalization**: Pursuing becoming a reference that other companies and professionals can admire and want to emulate in how things are done. Being recognized as a reference for IT professional growth and development, achieving remarkable retention and satisfaction levels in the industry while pursuing excellence.

3. **Innovating with Digital Products based on Data and AI**: Pursuing the creation of new digital products and services through an AI-native culture, where artificial intelligence enhances human capabilities and allows building effective, efficient, and economically attractive digital solutions.

The company's strategy is guided by fundamental principles including: attracting, developing and retaining excellent Tech Professionals; competing on quality rather than price; leveraging accumulated experience, technology and operational data to evolve and grow; enabling everyone to contribute to company evolution; and prioritizing, focusing, and adapting to changes. Execution is paramount - ideas and objectives must be systematically materialized, otherwise they remain mere theoretical ideas.

Strategic objectives (OKRs) for upcoming quarters can be found in the 23people OKRs repository on GitHub.

(https://manual.23people.io/about-us/what-we-pursue/)

### Client Challenges

In the Digital Evolution journey, companies pursue improving their operations and results through implementing advanced technologies and effective use of their data. However, they face a fundamental reality: **data and technology alone don't generate value**. True value emerges only when concrete improvements are successfully implemented in business processes and services, grounded in these data and technologies.

**Main Challenges:**

1. **Return on Investment Justification**: Digital evolution investments in technology and data are often costly, and associated benefits are difficult to quantify. Companies need to identify and prioritize use cases that generate significant, measurable impact on their operations and results that justify the investment made. This requires deep understanding of business processes and services, as well as available technologies and data, plus the ability to effectively and efficiently connect both worlds.

2. **Need for a Reliable Technology Partner**: This challenge is magnified by the need for technology partners who truly understand this dynamic and can guide the digital evolution process. Companies require allies who not only master technology but also deeply understand their business objectives and can accompany them in identifying and implementing use cases that will generate significant and measurable impact.

3. **Selection and Incorporation of Validated Tech Professionals**: Added to this is a particular challenge in the current IT labor market: while there's a wide supply of tech professionals, identifying those who truly make a difference has become increasingly complex. The challenge isn't finding IT professionals, but filtering and selecting those who genuinely love what they do, constantly improve their skills, and truly possess the experience they claim. Even more complex is ensuring these professionals match the specific needs of each client and achieving retention in a highly competitive market where quality talent is constantly sought after.

23people's services contribute directly to these challenges, allowing companies to effectively and efficiently evolve their digital products and services, integrating advanced and emerging technologies with their business knowledge and data power.

(https://manual.23people.io/about-us/what-we-do/challenges/)

### Success Stories

23people shares highlighted success stories that reflect effective collaboration and positive impact generated in client projects:

1. **Equifax USA: Forming and Scaling Development Teams for InterConnect at Santiago Development Center (SDC)**: A comprehensive case demonstrating how 23people scaled from 2 initial teams to an operation of over 50 professionals, with multiple successful cases of transition to direct employment. The project validated that when combining technical talent, rigorous methodology, and commitment to results, it's possible to create partnerships that transcend traditional outsourcing models to become true strategic extensions of the client team.

2. **ACHS: Maintaining Patient Care During Pandemic Times**: Developed a comprehensive platform for appointment scheduling and telemedicine that was crucial for ACHS's operational continuity during the pandemic, allowing thousands of patients to continue receiving medical care safely and efficiently. The success led to 23people being contracted again by ACHS to expand and improve the platform, reflecting client trust and satisfaction with the work and results obtained.

3. **Equifax Chile: Modernizing the Platinum 360 Report Platform**: Started in 2015, this project sought to not only technologically update the system but also implement a more agile and efficient project management approach. The Platinum 360 project result was notably successful, completed on time and meeting all established expectations and requirements. The modernization implemented not only improved the existing platform but also laid foundations for future innovations, with the project-generated report continuing to be the heart and structure of the current product.

(https://manual.23people.io/about-us/what-we-do/client-cases/)

## Organization

### Overview

23people organizes itself into multidisciplinary teams. Each team has a clear, well-defined purpose and is responsible for delivering services to other internal teams or external clients.

The organizational structure consists of:

- **Strategic Direction**: Led by Founders Direction, which oversees Global Operations
- **Global Operations**: Manages three key areas:
  - Operations & Delivery
  - Information Security & Compliance
  - Data Governance
- **Iarvis Tribe**: The operational teams including:
  - Tech Talent Services (TTS)
  - Backoffice Services (BKO)
  - Sales & Marketing (SMK)
  - Engineering & Research (ERS)
- **Drakkar Tribe**: IT Professionals working as contractors for clients

All operational teams follow fundamental principles:
1. **Clear and well-defined purpose**: Each team has a purpose that acts as a compass in their daily work, representing their reason for existence at 23people
2. **Autonomy around their purpose**: Each team is autonomous in how they advance toward their purpose, aligning with strategic objectives, organizational values and general practices
3. **Purpose fulfillment through service contracts**: Each team pursues its purpose by delivering services to other internal teams or external clients, with services well-defined in service contract form (similar to an API)
4. **Iterative improvement based on data**: Teams improve their services by implementing ideas that measurably contribute to operational efficiency and quality, grounded in their experience, collected data, and new ideas they want to test

23people organizes based on **Positions** (cargos) and **Roles**, which define the responsibilities and expected behaviors of each organization member. Each position can have one or more assigned roles, which define the necessary responsibilities and functions for the position.

(https://manual.23people.io/organization/)

### Teams

#### Tech Talent Services Team (TTS)

**Purpose**: Provide the best experience in recruiting, validating, and retaining IT Professionals who genuinely love what they do in technology and best match client projects.

**Main Focus**:
1. **Specialization in Tech Roles**: Specializes in Tech Roles requiring mastery of programming, software development engineering, and both mature and emerging technologies
2. **Service Quality**: Ensures technical excellence by validating real skills and experience of applicants, supporting counterparts' decision-making with accurate and reliable information
3. **Professional Retention**: Cultivates a community where professionals with intellectual hunger to learn experience formidable technical growth, creating an environment where even with attractive opportunities at international companies, they seriously weigh their decision due to the value found in 23people's way of doing things

**Team Composition**:
- Service Request Manager for TTS
- Service Delivery Manager for TTS
- Tech Recruiters: Professionals responsible for identifying and attracting the best tech professionals
- Tech Lead: Professional responsible for advising and evaluating technical feasibilities of tech profiles matured with clients
- Developer Relations: Professional responsible for strengthening TTS team capacity to attract, retain and develop tech professionals, also acting as a bridge between 23people and the developer community

(https://manual.23people.io/organization/teams/tech-talent-services/)

#### Sales & Marketing Team (SMKT)

**Purpose**: Provide the best experience in acquiring new clients and satisfaction of current commercial relationships, seeking to grow the brand, presence, and participation of 23people services in the market.

**Main Services**:

Sales-related:
- **Opportunity Conversion**: Convert qualified sales opportunities into active clients through an effective, client-centered sales process
- **Client Relationship Management**: Maintain and strengthen relationships with current clients to ensure their satisfaction and foster long-term retention
- **Negotiation and Sales Closing**: Negotiate terms and conditions with potential clients and effectively close sales

Marketing-related:
- **Digital Marketing**: Develop digital marketing strategies to promote 23people services and attract new clients
- **Branding**: Manage 23people's brand identity and ensure coherence across all communication channels
- **Opportunity Generation**: Through prospecting process, generate qualified leads for sales team through marketing and advertising campaigns
- **Market Analysis**: Conduct market analysis to identify growth and expansion opportunities
- **Growth Strategy Development**: Create and execute strategies for 23people's market growth and expansion
- **Public Relations**: Manage relationships with media and other stakeholders to promote 23people's image
- **Events and Fairs**: Organize events and participate in fairs to promote 23people services and establish contacts with potential clients

**Team Composition**:
- Key Account Managers: Responsible for managing the sales process from prospecting to closing

The team monitors KPIs for Sales (conversion rate, average sale value, sales cycle, client retention, NPS) and Marketing (qualified sales opportunities, committed opportunities, opportunities ready to invoice, opportunities in invoicing, client retention rate, sales cycle time, qualified applications, digital media presence).

(https://manual.23people.io/organization/teams/sales-and-marketing/)

#### Backoffice Team (BKO)

**Purpose**: Deliver the best administrative support so client company teams can focus on what they do best, supporting them with agile, efficient, and reliable backoffice management.

**Main Services**:

1. **Company Management**: Management of company administrative processes, including office management, supplier payment management, collections, space rentals, and fulfillment of business obligations.

2. **Accounting & Tax Management**: Management of operational accounting and tax processes, including documentation recording, accounting book maintenance, monthly tax declarations, and compliance with SII obligations. Strategic financial and tax planning is not within service scope, but the service ensures accounting information is available, updated, and organized for work with specialized advisors.

3. **People Management**: Management of team administrative processes, including onboarding, offboarding, contracts, remunerations, benefits, certificates, and labor obligation compliance. The service includes support in conflict resolution with professionals and maintaining updated information and metrics for culture and development management. Aspects like career plans, culture management, or certification programs are outside scope, but data availability for decision-making in these areas is ensured.

**Team Roles**:
- Service Request Manager (SRM): Manages the what and when of requests, being the main point of contact with clients
- Service Delivery Manager (SDM): Defines the how and who executes each service
- Accountant & Tax Specialist: Executes accounting and tax services
- People Operations Specialist: Executes personnel-related administrative services
- Administrative Operations Specialist: Executes business administration services
- Office Manager: Coordinates physical space management and general service providers
- Operations Assistant: Provides cross-functional support in administrative tasks

The team visualizes and manages daily activities through a Businessmap board, following practices indicated in the "Manage work, not people" section, adapted to team needs and particularities.

(https://manual.23people.io/organization/teams/backoffice/)

#### Research & Development Team (R&D)

**Purpose**: Enhance digital evolution of clients by exploring and mastering emerging technologies that generate real value in their operations.

This team focuses on staying at the forefront of technological trends, experimenting with new tools and methodologies, and developing internal capabilities that reinforce 23people's expertise in data and analytics services. The team works on innovation projects, proof of concepts, and technology evaluation to help clients implement cutting-edge solutions.

(https://manual.23people.io/organization/teams/research-and-development/)

### Tribes

23people uses the **Tribes** concept to group teams sharing common objectives and purposes. Each Tribe has its own name and identity, and relates to other Tribes and teams in the organization.

#### Iarvis Tribe

**Purpose**: Enhance delivery of high-quality, sustainable services aligned with 23people's strategic objectives through effective collaboration between operational teams.

**Operational Teams**:
- Tech Talent Services Team (TTS): Responsible for selection, validation and retention of tech professionals
- Sales & Marketing Team (S&M): Responsible for acquiring new clients and managing commercial relationships
- Backoffice Services Team (BKO): Provides enterprise administrative support
- Research & Development Services Team (R&D): Explores and masters emerging technologies to generate real value in client operations

(https://manual.23people.io/organization/tribes/iarvis-tribe/)

#### Drakkar Tribe

**Purpose**: Ensure 23people has adequate talent to meet client needs through effective management of subcontracted teams and professionals.

The Drakkar Tribe groups all teams and professionals working in subcontracting mode, whether as part of a dedicated team or as independent professionals. This tribe is fundamental for service delivery to clients, ensuring the company has adequate talent to meet their needs.

(https://manual.23people.io/organization/tribes/drakkar-tribe/)

### Councils

23people operates with strategic councils that provide coordination and alignment across the organization:

#### Founders Council
The highest strategic body composed of the company founders, responsible for defining the overall vision and long-term direction of 23people.

#### High Council
Responsible for defining and communicating organizational strategy and ensuring operational teams are aligned with it. Pursues that each team is autonomous in how they advance in their purpose while aligned with strategic objectives.

#### Iarvis Council
Responsible for coordination and alignment of operational teams within the Iarvis Tribe. Members support the Global Operations Manager in defining, implementing and tracking strategic initiatives, acting as facilitating nexus between leadership and tribe members.

### Workforce Structure

23people's workforce is organized through **Positions** (cargos) and **Roles** that define responsibilities and expected behaviors of each organization member.

**Positions vs. Roles**:

A **Position** represents a professional classification within the organization that defines a set of competencies, expected level of experience, and general scope of responsibilities. It's a stable label in the organizational structure that groups people with similar capabilities and expertise levels.

A **Role** defines a specific scope of action and concrete responsibilities that a professional assumes in a particular context. It's the materialization of how position capabilities are applied in a specific team or project.

Key characteristics:
- **Positions**: Stable, define competencies and expected experience level, are part of organizational structure
- **Roles**: More dynamic specific assignments, define concrete responsibilities in a context, associate with specific teams or projects, have specific KPIs and deliverables, can evolve according to team needs

**Example**: A Senior Software Engineer (position) can perform the Tech Lead role (role) in a specific team.

**Relationship Between Positions, Roles and Teams**:

Positions are not limited to a specific team. The same position can exist in different 23people teams, and professionals can perform different roles depending on the team where they're located. This flexibility allows:
- Leveraging position base competencies in different contexts
- Facilitating internal mobility and professional development
- Maintaining consistency in levels and expectations across the organization

**Key Positions**:
- Operations Director (Senior Director level)
- Operations Manager (Management level)
- Services Coordinator (Coordination level)
- Senior Business Development Manager (Senior Management level)
- Intermediate Tech Relations Specialist (Intermediate Operations level)

**Key Roles**:
- Global Operations Manager: Orchestrates and facilitates operational execution of Iarvis Tribe teams
- Information Security and Data Governance Manager: Defines, implements and oversees the Information Security Management System
- Service Request Manager (SRM): Focuses on what and when of service requests, being main point of contact with clients
- Service Delivery Manager (SDM): Defines how and who executes each service, ensuring quality and efficiency in delivery
- Iarvis Council Member: Supports Global Operations Manager in defining, implementing and tracking strategic initiatives
- Iarvis People Manager Support: Supports implementation and tracking of corporate programs oriented to professional development and employee well-being
- Iarvis Member: Active, collaborative member contributing to tribe collective growth through knowledge exchange and constructive participation

(https://manual.23people.io/organization/)

## Principles

23people's principles are objective, less interpretative guidelines that guide expected behaviors and decisions. They function as broad directives orienting actions and decision-making in all situations, translating fundamental convictions into concrete behavior guidelines.

### Fundamental Principles

These principles define the organization's essence and guide its fundamental purpose.

#### Excellence and Intellectual Curiosity

**In one sentence**: We pursue excellence in what we do and learning to learn continuously.

We are eternal learners, improving our skills and knowledge with genuine curiosity and seeking technical and professional excellence. We are a team of "nerds" who love what they do. The more we know, the more we realize how little we know. Given this, we have an open mindset to continue learning.

We pursue excellence and perfection in what we do, while knowing it's an endless path, but worthy of advancing on. We seek iterative, flexible, methodical and preferably data-based work forms to consolidate what we learn and teach others.

Application: This principle applies when team members need to decide between quick solutions versus deeper understanding, when considering investment in learning new technologies, when evaluating whether to document and share knowledge, and when choosing between taking shortcuts or building sustainable solutions.

(https://manual.23people.io/principles/fundamentals/)

#### Collaboration and Assertive Communication

**In one sentence**: We collaborate and genuinely support each other under honest transparency and assertive communication.

We improve our human and professional skills together. We emphasize support and collaboration among our professionals, as well as with professionals and teams of our clients. We co-create together.

We don't seek to be the hero or heroine of the story. We work in teams, support each other as a team, and take responsibilities as a team. We share the load of what must be done since there will always be tasks to do or that should have been done. We celebrate victories and support each other in complex or unexpected moments.

We prioritize communication clarity in all our operations. We know not everything can be shared, but where it can, we do so with honesty. We believe that making our communication transparent among our clients and professionals, as well as among our own professionals, helps minimize misinterpretations, contribute to trust, improve collaboration and therefore improve our productivity.

Application: This principle guides decisions about communication channels (preferring open over private when possible), meeting structures (ensuring all voices are heard), code reviews (providing constructive feedback), conflict resolution (addressing issues directly and transparently), and knowledge sharing (documenting and sharing learnings openly).

(https://manual.23people.io/principles/fundamentals/)

#### Growing Sustainably and Being References

**In one sentence**: We are truly ambitious about growing economically and being international references in what we do, only at a pace that is systematic, sustainable and enduring over time.

We seek growth that is economically viable and sustainable over time. We ambitiously pursue our numbers, but not at the cost of our people or natural resources. The end doesn't justify the means.

We pursue sustainability in what we do, meaning we find a work pace that allows us to advance indefinitely. We prefer systematic advances over occasional and exhausting efforts in the medium or long term.

Application: This principle applies when making decisions about taking on new projects (ensuring team capacity exists), setting deadlines (avoiding burnout-inducing timelines), evaluating business opportunities (ensuring they align with sustainable growth), resource allocation (not overcommitting people or budgets), and when considering shortcuts that might compromise long-term sustainability.

(https://manual.23people.io/principles/fundamentals/)

### Culture and People Principles

These principles define how we relate to each other and with our stakeholders.

#### People First

**Working to live, not living to work.** When we started 23people, we had the dream of creating the company where we would have liked to work. A place serving human beings, surrounded by people passionate about technology and continuous learning. A place where respect has more value than imposition, where knowledge is above hierarchy.

Building the world of the future is based on recognizing that people are not disposable resources. There is a need for mutual benefit between companies and workers where we must prioritize and understand that behind each person there is a story and a world.

We believe in leaders, not bosses. In collaboration over personal heroism. We pursue empathy and understand that all lives have their own challenges.

When we say people come first, it's our commitment that we want to be part of the personal success of our clients and collaborators. We know it's not an easy path, not everyone shares our values, but it's our goal to know we are part of positive change in people's lives.

Application: This principle guides decisions about work-life balance policies, compensation and benefits structures, team workload management, response to personal emergencies, flexibility in work arrangements, investment in professional development, and prioritization of employee well-being over short-term profits.

(https://manual.23people.io/principles/culture-and-people/)

#### Equity

We believe in a humane and motivating company. We seek that all people be treated respectfully and equally.

Talent is distributed uniformly in our society. For this reason, we avoid any type of discrimination when selecting professionals for our company. Personal biases should not affect our selection process. Considerations like nationality, university, school or location have no place in that process.

We want 23people to be a representation of the society in which it's embedded. We apply positive discrimination when between two candidates evaluated at the same level and who have gone through the same selection process, we choose whoever represents an underrepresented group in our company.

Application: This principle applies during recruitment (ensuring unbiased evaluation processes), compensation decisions (ensuring pay equity), team formation (creating diverse teams), opportunity allocation (ensuring fair distribution of growth opportunities), and recognition programs (acknowledging contributions equally regardless of background).

(https://manual.23people.io/principles/culture-and-people/)

#### Xperience

We focus on creating meaningful and memorable experiences for all people who relate to us. We recognize that each interaction's quality is fundamental to generating value and building lasting relationships, constantly seeking ways to improve and enrich these experiences.

All our commercial interactions should be exceptional with clients, creating behaviors and experiences that position us favorably in their memory. With our tech professionals, we focus on creating a stimulating work environment and growth opportunities. With our administrative and operational professionals, we value their contribution and provide them with necessary tools to excel. With our suppliers, we apply the golden rule: we treat them as we would like to be treated.

Application: This principle guides how we design client onboarding processes, how we communicate with candidates (even those not selected), how we handle supplier relationships and payment processes, how we structure employee benefits and development programs, and how we respond to feedback and complaints.

(https://manual.23people.io/principles/culture-and-people/)

### Operational Principles

These principles guide how we work and operate as an organization.

#### Agility

We use agile principles as a way to be an innovative, resilient and efficient company in resource use. In general terms, we adhere to agility's core values and practices:

1. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
2. Working software over comprehensive documentation
3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
4. Responding to change over following a plan

Agility allows us to quickly adapt to new opportunities and threats, maintain continuous improvement cycles, foster collaboration and transparency, minimize waste and efficient resource use, constantly innovate, and maintain business resilience.

Application: This principle influences project management approach (using Kanban), decision-making speed (empowering teams to decide), response to changing requirements (embracing change rather than resisting it), meeting structures (keeping them focused and efficient), and how we plan work (iterative planning over big upfront plans).

(https://manual.23people.io/principles/operationals/)

#### Transparency

We are committed to generating positive impact on society. To achieve this, we must ensure our practices and processes are accessible, verifiable and trustworthy for clients, employees, suppliers and society in general.

All information or processes that can be public, we make public. In general, everything is public except information about clients, employees and suppliers. This includes contracts, projects, technology, emails, personal information and all types of sensitive information or that legally requires private treatment.

We know transparency has its costs, like distraction or some misinterpretation, however we believe its benefits are much more valuable: productivity, retention of professionals and clients, more applications to our positions and hiring better professionals, and brand recognition.

Application: This principle guides decisions about information sharing (defaulting to public unless there's a specific reason for privacy), documentation practices (making processes visible), communication of company performance (sharing both successes and challenges), decision-making processes (explaining the "why" behind decisions), and salary structures (making compensation frameworks clear).

(https://manual.23people.io/principles/operationals/)

#### Sustainability

We are committed to a long-term vision with the objective of making correct use of natural, financial and social resources without compromising those of future generations.

We actively participate in society and its efforts to stop environmental degradation, improve education and promote social evolution. To do this, we privilege activities, services and technologies that allow reducing adverse effects on ecosystems and societies.

We privilege remote work considering its social and environmental benefits. We define ourselves as a 100% digital and 100% Cloud company, which allows us to optimize resources and decrease their environmental impact. We use cloud services and data centers that use clean energy, measure our carbon footprint and encourage recycling and reuse practices.

Application: This principle influences technology choices (selecting cloud providers with renewable energy commitments), work arrangements (prioritizing remote work), procurement decisions (considering environmental impact of suppliers), event planning (minimizing travel and waste), documentation practices (digital-first approach), and how we measure success (including environmental impact metrics).

(https://manual.23people.io/principles/operationals/)

## Practices

23people's practices are ways and work customs that are part of the company's work culture. Practices are not strict rules, but they are guides for how we already know some things work better.

### Agile Management

#### Managing Work, Not People (Workflows)

At 23people, we believe the best way to manage work is through visual and systematic workflows. This allows us to have a clear vision of ongoing activities, prioritize tasks and ensure all team members are aligned in their objectives. We manage work, not people, meaning we focus on how work is done, not who does it. This fosters an environment of collaboration and continuous improvement.

We use **Kanban** principles and practices to manage our workflows. Kanban is an agile methodology that helps us visualize work, limit work in progress and maximize team efficiency. Through Kanban boards, we can see each activity's status, identify bottlenecks and continuously improve our processes.

**What is a workflow?**

A workflow is a visual representation of activities and tasks a team must perform to achieve a specific objective. At 23people, we use Kanban boards to manage these workflows, allowing us to visualize each activity's status and facilitate collaboration among team members.

**Why use workflows?**

Workflows allow us to:
- **Visualize work**: Have a clear representation of ongoing, pending and completed activities
- **Prioritize tasks**: Identify which activities are most important and should be addressed first
- **Limit work in progress**: Avoid task overload and ensure the team focuses on completing what has already started
- **Facilitate collaboration**: Allow all team members to see work status and collaborate effectively
- **Improve communication**: Have a common space where everyone can see progress and blockages, reducing need for unnecessary meetings
- **Foster continuous improvement**: Analyze workflow and blockages to identify improvement areas and optimize processes

**Types of Workflows**:

At 23people, there are different types of workflows adapted to specific needs of each team and activity:
- **Main Workflows**: The main workflow serving as entry point from external users to 23people teams, managing at high level service requests/orders, incidents, internal improvements and strategic activities
- **Operational Workflows**: Secondary, operational flows derived from main flows, specific to each team for managing internal tasks and activities

**Types of Work Items**:

Main workflows manage the following work item types:
1. **Service Orders**: Respond to specific needs of clients or external users, with defined start and end
2. **Recurring Services**: Tasks repeated each month deriving from continuous service agreement
3. **Incidents**: Address situations where something didn't go as expected, requiring correction and prevention
4. **Internal Improvement**: Initiatives arising from team to improve their work, born from retrospective meetings
5. **Strategic Activities**: Derive from organizational strategic initiative, generally driven by global direction

Operational workflows manage:
- **Operational Tasks**: Activities team must perform regularly to maintain functioning, assigned to specific members with defined deadlines

**Board Organization**:

All workflows handle 5 sequential sections representing work item states:
1. **Backlog Area** (gray): Activities needing refinement, including "New" or "In refinement" stages
2. **Requested Area** (blue): Activities ready for execution that team commits to perform once capacity is freed
3. **In Progress Area** (orange): Activities team is currently working on, with WIP Limit policies applying
4. **Done Area** (green): Completed activities meeting "Definition of Done" and team "Acceptance Criteria"
5. **Ready to Archive Area** (purple): Completed activities ready for archiving, maintaining historical record for analysis

**Recommended Stage Template**:

Within each area, teams define necessary stages for workflow. Recommended structure:
- **Immature** (Backlog): Ideas or requests needing refinement
- **To Do** (Requested): Queue of activities ready for execution
- **Execution** (In Progress): Team currently working, with sub-stages:
  - **In Progress**: Actively performed work
  - **Done**: Queue where completed items ready for review stay
- **Validation** (In Progress): Completed activities in validation process
- **Ready**: Queue where completed and validated activities stay

**Daily Meetings Algorithm**:

This is one of the most important practices for the team. Day to day, teams review work board ensuring all activities are in correct state and advancing to be effectively finished. Principles of "Prefer finishing something before starting something new" and "Limit work in progress" apply.

Recipe for daily work management using board:

Pre-requisites:
1. Configured Kanban board with established areas
2. All team members present
3. Designated moderator
4. Maximum duration: 15 minutes

Main Algorithm:
1. Start: Welcome and attendance verification, share visual board
2. Achievement celebration: Recognize items completed since last daily
3. Work Status Update: For each column from closest to "Done" backward:
   - For each item in current column: Ask "Who can share current status of this activity?", document progress and obstacles, update subtasks if necessary
   - Verify column capacity: If capacity available, evaluate items from previous column, move eligible items meeting criteria to advance
4. Day's Focus Determination (4 minutes): Evaluate priorities, identify urgent items if they exist, review general status, identify items that when completed will unblock other work. Establish focus: communicate priority items, reorganize team for "swarming" if necessary, mark items not being worked on as "Blocked - Focus Change"
5. Closing: Confirm understanding of day's focus, schedule necessary conversations to resolve impediments

**Blockage Management**:

Types of Blockage:
1. **Blocked - Focus Change**: When item must be paused to prioritize other work or team decides to work in "swarm" mode on another item
2. **Blocked - External Dependency**: Waiting for stakeholder response/action, dependency on another team or system, waiting for necessary approval
3. **Blocked - Technical Impediment**: Technical problems preventing progress, lack of access or permissions, infrastructure problems
4. **Blocked - Lack of Information**: Incomplete or unclear requirements, lack of acceptance criteria, need for client clarification

When to Mark Item as Blocked:
- Impediment cannot be resolved in next 4 hours
- Requires intervention from someone outside team
- No alternative work can be advanced on item
- Risk of continuing is greater than benefit

Blockage Process:
- Identify and document specific reason
- Assign responsible for follow-up
- Establish next review date
- Move item to corresponding column (if applicable)

Blocked Item Management:
- Review blockage status daily
- Document actions taken to resolve
- Unblock immediately when impediment resolves

(https://manual.23people.io/practices/agile-management/workflows-manage-work-not-people/)

### Communication

#### Prefer Asynchronous Communication

- Allows collaborators to manage their time and energy more efficiently
- Reduces interruption and noise in communication
- Facilitates collaboration and informed decision-making
- Allows participation of people in different time zones
- Provides record of conversations and decisions
- Encourages reflection and elaboration of more careful responses

(https://manual.23people.io/practices/communication/asynchronous-communication/)

#### Write Before Communicating

- If ideas aren't clear, it's recommended to first write them then share
- Allows collaborators to manage time and energy more efficiently
- Reduces interruption and noise in communication
- Facilitates collaboration and informed decision-making
- Provides record of conversations and decisions
- Encourages reflection and elaboration of more careful responses

(https://manual.23people.io/practices/communication/write-then-communicate/)

#### Structure the Narrative

Structure narrative used to present initiatives, proposals or problem resolutions in any 23people area to ensure clear and effective communication.

**Base Structure**:

1. **Context**: Provide all necessary information to understand initiative or problem in context
   - **Current Situation**: Describe current state of area, process or system
   - **Complications or Detected Changes**: Identify what has changed or needs changing
   - **Central Question**: Clearly formulate question needing answer

2. **Response**: Structure response following communicational pyramid principle:
   - **Main Conclusion**: Present solution or answer directly and clearly
   - **Key Foundations**: List 3-5 main points supporting conclusion
   - **Supporting Details**: Provide specific evidence for each foundation
   - **Additional Considerations**: Mention limitations, dependencies, exceptions or special cases

**Best Practices**:

For Context:
- Keep information relevant and concise
- Use updated and verifiable data
- Include only necessary context for understanding situation

For Response:
- Start with most important conclusion
- Support each statement with evidence
- Maintain clear hierarchical structure

General:
- Use clear, direct language
- Include visualizations when appropriate
- Maintain consistency in format and style

(https://manual.23people.io/practices/communication/structure-the-narrative/)

#### Acknowledge Messages Promptly

Give acknowledgment (notify message received) as soon as possible to help lower anxiety. While it may sound trivial, it has foundation in neuroscience. Anxiety can be understood as what's triggered in brain when difference between what's understood in one's mind is significantly different from what's being perceived from environment.

(https://manual.23people.io/practices/communication/notify-progress/)

#### Remote Work

Balance of life. We want our people with us for long time, so it's important they have work-life balance and remote work contributes greatly to this.

(https://manual.23people.io/practices/communication/remote-work/)

### Learning

#### Technique for Learning to Learn

1. **Select topic and study it**: First step is choose topic to understand and start studying it
2. **Explain topic as if teaching**: Once having idea what topic is about, should write about it as if teaching idea to another person. Ideal is to write and speak simultaneously, as teacher would on blackboard
3. **Return to study if difficulties**: Each time getting stuck, must return to studying, then repeat process until entire topic explained from beginning to end
4. **Simplify language**: When finishing explaining topic, should repeat process from beginning, but this time simplifying language or using graphic analogy to clarify point
5. **Review explanation clarity**: If explanation results confusing or full of words, likely topic not well understood. In that case, should start again

Method effectiveness lies in thinking about idea explaining it makes it very effective. Once can explain idea in simple language, have understood profoundly and will remember for long time.

(https://manual.23people.io/practices/learning/