Inspired by this post on a new document for the modern manager I thought putting this together would be helpful for both me and you. A lot of things between professional colleagues tend to go unspoken and I think it would be better if people are clearer, honest and upfront - rather than let people try to puzzle things out on their own. So I decided that writing up this guide could help us be clearer with each other and start off our working relationship in a better place.
For me, this guide allows me to self reflect, be critical and be honest with myself about how I work. For you, I hope this document is helpful by being explicit about how I think and work, and setting your expectations of the kinds of behavior you can expect from me.
The goal of a user guide is to set blindingly clear expectations on how to collaborate without extra second guessing.
My hope is that this will help us get to know each other faster, work better and have a stronger relationship.
I also hope I can live up to what I write here. I'm human, I goof up and don't always hit the mark. But part of this is holding myself to a public standard of behavior. Finally, I'm also committed to keeping this a living document that I'll update based on feedback from you and others as to how I can be more effective.
In general, I like to adhere to the "No Surprises Rule" for both me and you. If you think something is going badly or will go bad, please let me know right away. If something is wrong, if you or someone else goofed up - let me know, rather than find out on my own. If you give me the heads up, chances are we can fix it before it's a problem.
Hierarchy of how important/urgent it is
From Most to least: Face to Face > Call > Text > Email.
Unless this is your first or second job ever, my default assumption is that you're an adult and I can trust you. From experience I know that this is not always the case, but I try to give you the benefit of the doubt. I'm not going to micromange you. I would rather you send something out you think is ready to go, than have you wait until I review it. (Unless you need to CYA on something, then by all means...)
It takes a lot to break my trust - but goofing something up time and time again or delivering subpar product is a good way to do it. If you think you've lost my trust, let's talk about it. I'll be honest and can commit to work with you to give you specific guidance on how we can fix things if that's what you want.
I also take your trust in me very seriously. It's important for me that you trust and respect me. One of the ways I'll know, is if you're open and honest with me. (See Feedback > From you to me)
Again from my default assumption of you as an adult, I expect you to take initiative and try to solve problems and get answers on your own first. If you haven't, I recommend taking the course Power Searching with Google. A lot of times, being perceived as "smart" is really "just knowing how to use Google really well." If you try and fail, that's fine. I do that a lot myself. Come back and let's see if we can figure something out together.
I really like one-on-ones. I think it's the most important thing I can do with you as a manager. I like to do them in 30 min chunks, weekly or at the least every two weeks.
A typical one-on-one will go like this:
- 10 mins - Your time
Talk about whatever you like. Important issues, reporting on projects, things you need help with - it's your choice. - 10 mins - My time
I'll usually want to know about the status of projects, problems, open loops or anything I expect to get asked about by my boss. - 10 mins - Our time
This is where we put our heads together and discuss major issues, the team, your professional development or anything else we can work on together.
If I respect you as a colleague - and you respect me - please be frank and honest with me. I'm an adult and I'm not going to get upset of you point out I did something wrong or that upset you. I want to know these things. If I don't know, I can't make it right.
While I may not always agree with your point of view, I am committed to hearing you out and discussing it.
My overarching goal with providing you feedback is to help you be more effective - not to attack you personally, or make you feel foolish. When I give feedback, I try to do 3 things:
- Make sure you're ready to hear it
I will ask you if I can provide you feedback and try to make sure I give it as soon as I can after I see a opportunity that warrants it. - Focus on behavior
I will try and frame it in the form of "when you do x, here's what happens." If it's good, I'll follow it up with thank you. If it's bad, I'll ask you to try and do it differently next time. Either way, if we need to talk about it more, we can talk about it in our one-on-ones or a side meeting.
You can find out more about how I try to give feedback and why here. If I don't provide you feedback this way - or the way I'm doing it isn't helpful to you - please call me out on it. (See above on Feedback from you to me.)
I want you to succeed and so I want to know what you want to do and where you want to go in your career. I commit to helping you as much as I can to help you get where you want to go - even if it's to go work for someone else. I've gotten where I have because people have helped me, so it's only right to return the favor.
If someone is making you uncomfortable at work, please let me know. Work is not a place where anyone should feel harassed, discriminated against, or otherwise uncomfortable. (I've been there myself. Pounding Tums like candy before you walk in the door isn't fun.)
And if that person is somehow me, PLEASE PLEASE let me know - it is certainly not my intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable. So if I have made a serious mistake, I need to fix my behavior and make it right with you. (And if you don't feel comfortable doing that, I respect that too. Please go to HR or another manager with whom you feel comfortable. I won't be upset or hold it against you. I'd rather focus on getting the problem resolved.)