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When Michelle Bertholet hired a new employee last year, she gave careful thought to onboarding. Ms. Bertholet, a group publisher at Annex Business Media, a B2B media and events firm, lives in Brandon, Man., while her new team member was in Ontario. She wanted their remote working relationship to start on the right foot.
So she did something unusual: she wrote an operating manual about herself.
The eight-slide PowerPoint, which she shared with her new report, explained how she likes to work, her leadership and communication style and what to expect from her as a manager.
“Having a new boss can be intimidating,” she says. “I wanted this to be a starting point for communication.”
When people hear “operating manual,” they think of pamphlets that explain how to use cameras or washing machines. But can something similar help people work better together – showing which of our buttons to push and which to avoid?
That’s the idea behind personal user manuals. Managers – and sometimes entire teams – spell out their working style and what brings out their best.
In her manual, Ms. Bertholet noted that she starts checking email at 7:30 a.m. Central Standard Time, which is 8:30 a.m. for most of her Ontario-based team. She encouraged staff to call instead of messaging if they wanted to talk something through.
The document also explained what matters most to her: family and health. “I wanted it in writing that it’s okay if staff have to leave to pick up their sick child from school, a doctor’s appointment or do parental caregiving,” she says.
Personal user manuals have become more common as managers recognize that everyone works differently. While teamwork is often emphasized, many employees spend their days alone behind a screen, talking to colleagues through email or messaging apps rather than face to face.
That’s where user manuals help, says Dawn Sharifan, an executive coach and fractional chief people officer in San Francisco.
“When we’re starting a new job, we’re scanning the environment,” she says. “We’re trying to figure out, does my boss prefer Slack or email? Do they like meetings in the morning or afternoon? These manuals offer a shortcut.”
Ms. Sharifan has used them for more than a decade in several organizations. That includes when she was head of people at Slack Technologies a few years ago. Managers and new hires would exchange manuals, creating, she says, “a lot of opportunity to get to know people when you’re learning on the job.”
The documents don’t just benefit new employees. Ms. Sharifan says they’re also valuable for the people who create them. “It forces you to put in writing things you may never have thought of: ‘How do I like to be communicated to? How do I like to give feedback? What are really my values?’ I think of it as a speed bump for personal reflection.”
That process helped Ms. Sharifan identify her strengths and weaknesses, which she built into her manual.
“I’m a morning person, so if you want me to think deeply about something, it’s better earlier than at 4 p.m.,” she says. She also flagged her dry sense of humour and encouraged employees to tell her when it didn’t land well.
Connie Lo, co-founder of Three Ships, a Toronto-based natural skincare brand, wrote her first user manual eight years ago when the company was just starting. Today, all the firm’s 18 corporate employees have one.
Ms. Lo says writing the manual is one of the first tasks new hires complete. They share it with their manager in a one-on-one meeting – who also shares theirs – and the document is uploaded to a company drive so others can read it.
“Having a user guide helps you understand the other person. It creates trust,” she says.
She believes it has made her a better manager too. She recalls one employee who didn’t like being praised publicly. “I naturally default to celebrating a win for someone in front of the team,” she says. “But when I read that they didn’t want to be the centre of attention, I knew I should give that positive feedback one-on-one.”
So what should a personal user manual include?
Ms. Lo says a typical manual at Three Ships runs about three pages. It begins with a short “about me” section, followed by details on when and how the person works best, communication style and what an ideal workday looks like.
Managers complete additional sections covering their leadership style, including how hands-on they are and values they prioritize. Ms. Lo suggests organizations tailor manuals to what matters most to them. At Three Ships, for example, feedback is seen as critical to success, so managers explain how they give feedback and how they want to receive it.
In her own document, Ms. Lo asked for timely feedback and openly shared her weaknesses, including sometimes “overthinking” and “feeling overwhelmed when things change at the last minute.” She also added a personal touch: a list of her favourite books.
However, user manuals are not a licence for employees to do whatever they want. Night owls, for instance, shouldn’t expect to skip morning meetings, she notes.
Before introducing user manuals to a team, managers should write one first, “to see what the experience is like,” advises Ms. Sharifan. From there, leaders can decide how to roll them out. Will only managers complete them or everyone? Off-site team-building events can be a good place to start.
Another tip: Before sharing your manual, ask a trusted colleague for honest feedback, says Ms. Bertholet. A manager who believes they are patient and empathetic may not always come across that way, after all.
Ms. Bertholet also suggests revisiting the document occasionally. Her first version was “a little long.” She’s since edited it, focusing “on what I think I would want to know if I were a new employee,” she says. Her goal: “I want to put myself in their shoes and help them succeed.”