Also called a User Guide, Operating Manual or Read-Me. A doc/slides you share internally (or publicly if you want) to help people better communicate with you.
👉🏼 Find more free work templates at workbaby.com
There’s no one way to structure this. Ask yourself “if someone scanned this doc for a few minutes before they interacted with me, what would I want them to know?”.
Oh, try to keep it short 😜
🚫 The point isn't about TELLING people how they must communicate with you. 🚫 I wouldn’t walk into a team and say "here's my guide, please do all these things." Comes across tone deaf.
✅ They can remove a lot of the guesswork and friction that comes with interacting ✅ Sharing helpful information so people can adapt their style to work better with yo ✅ And YOU learning to adapt your style to work best with other people ✅ When they become part of the culture, it can create psychological safety ✅ If it's not part of your culture now, maybe you can start the trend 🤙🏼
| Work Style | • Work hours, calendar blocks (eg morning for focus time, afternoons for meetings) • Conditions to do your best work (eg quiet spaces, open discussion) • How to best work with / collaborate with you, response time expectations • Things you like people doing, things you struggle with • Some people like to include personality profile + what it means (eg DISC etc) | | --- | --- | | Communication Preferences | • How you like to receive information, which channels and for what? • What you like / tips • What you don’t like | | Feedback Preferences | • How you process feedback / like to receive it • How you like to be recognised / celebrated | | Strengths & Growth Areas | • What you're good at, where you might need support (with ownership, not excuses) | | Energizes / Drains You | • Types of work or interactions that light you up vs. burn you out | | Personal Context | • Things that help people connect and understand human-you (not just work-you) • Things you want people to know about your story • What you value in people, life, teams etc |
Conditions that help me do my best work...
You know I’m stressed when...
Tips for communicating with me on (Email, Chat, In-Person etc)