Collaboration

To achieve results, team members must work together effectively. At GitLab, helping others is a priority, even when it is not immediately related to the goals that you are trying to achieve.

Back to the universal principles

Calibration

Under, just right, over.

Situation	Under	Just Right	Over
A teammate stuck on other work	Leaves them stuck because it is not your goal.	Spends a bounded slice of time to unblock them, then returns to your own commitment.	Takes over their goal and drops the result you owed.
A question in public	Waits for the official owner, who is not around, while the person stays blocked.	Answers what you know, says what you do not, and points at the owner for the rest.	Answers beyond what you know and sends them down the wrong path with confidence.
Hoarding a task	Keeps a task that someone else needs to touch, because sharing it would slow you today.	Shares the context and lets them do the part that is theirs, even if you could finish it faster.	Hands off work you have not explained, and calls the dump collaboration.
Help that was not asked for	Watches them struggle because they did not ask in the right way.	Offers once, specifically, and accepts a no.	Helps over the refusal and rewrites their work.
Your own goal is late	Helps everyone else and surprises your stakeholders when your goal slips.	Helps in a way that still lets you warn early if your own date moves.	Refuses every request the moment your own date looks tight, including a ten-minute unblock.
Work that crosses into your area	Treats their edit as an intrusion.	Welcomes the useful change, reviews it, and keeps ownership of the outcome.	Lets anyone edit anything so you never have to say no, and the result has no owner.

Further reading

Sources and essays on this principle.

GitLab Values
The published CREDIT values this principle belongs to.
gitlab.com
Collaboration, GitLab Values
The Collaboration value, first in CREDIT.
gitlab.com