COMPANY PLAYBOOK
TrussWorks
TrussWorks separates internal practice into living guides for the organization, distributed work and open-source delivery rather than one monolithic policy document.
System principles
- Let employees correct the living guide.
- Do not leave remote-work norms implicit.
- Make open-source delivery a repeatable process.
Tensions and trade-offs
- Open, editable documentation creates ownership but can blur the line between formal policy and experiential guidance.
- Separate guides create depth but can make the right source harder to find.
PRACTICES
How TrussWorks builds its operating system
01
Hiring
Write first-day expectations explicitly
Pre-first-day preparation, shipped equipment and essential knowledge are explained in a shared guide.
- How it works
- The onboarding journey becomes sequenced information available before the employee starts.
- Why it is used
- Reduces uncertainty and manager-to-manager variation.
- Trade-off
- Without personalization, onboarding can collapse into a checklist.
- Best fit
- Distributed teams hiring across locations.
02
Remote
Distributed-work playbook
Remote collaboration practices are published as a reusable playbook separate from the company guide.
- How it works
- Communication and collaboration norms are documented with shared examples and practices.
- Why it is used
- Turns remote work from an individual preference into organizational design.
- Trade-off
- Applying a playbook without context creates ceremony and tool overhead.
- Best fit
- Teams moving remote or rebuilding distributed norms.
03
Production flow
A defined path to open source
Decision and release steps for turning internal work into open source are documented.
- How it works
- Licensing, security, ownership and release readiness are handled in a repeatable flow.
- Why it is used
- Turns an intent to be open into safe, actionable delivery behavior.
- Trade-off
- A checklist alone does not create maintenance or community ownership.
- Best fit
- Teams planning to release code for customers or the public.