Telling people directly how you would like them to interact with you
- Personal user manual: a document that outlines your working style, values, communication preferences, pet peeves, and how to best help you can significantly improve team collaboration and reduce misunderstandings.
- Personal manifestos: a set of guiding principles to help you make important decisions aligned with your core values and communicate to others what matters to you.
- The 4x4 Tool: A quarterly communication tool to help managers clearly articulate expectations in four key areas: Performance, Results, Being a hero, and What drives me crazy.
- Self-Awareness Tools: Tools like Myers-Briggs, Kolbe Profile, and StrengthsFinder can aid in understanding your own personality and working style, informing the creation of a personal user manual.
Adam Bryant framework:
- My style
- What I value
- What I don’t have patience for
- How to best communicate with me
- How to help me
- What people misunderstand about me
Further reading:
- Leaders need “User Manuals” – and what I learned by writing mine
- Writing a user manual at work makes teams less anxious and more productive
- Five Steps to Create a Personal User Manual
- Julie Zhuo | Substack
- How a Personal Manifesto Helps You Make Better Decisions - Todd Henry
- Examples of Manifestos - Todd Henry