Manual of Me

We're kicking off our new regular newsletter to introduce Manual of Me, share tips for implementing it within your team, and suggested questions and exercises. Subscribe, or drop us a note if you've got ideas you'd like to share for making work more human.

STEP FIVE: Integrate In this series of posts, we look at the process for developing and implementing an effective #ManualofMe with your team. In the previous stage, we connected people together to explore, to share and to learn from each others insights via their manuals. Next up, we'll look to integrate Manual of Me into our ways of working, so it's not something we do just once, but we can use and re-use what we've learned again and again. Find the moments and habits in your team where Manual of Me can be valuable. Perhaps it's new project kick-offs, perhaps it's when someone new joins the team, perhaps it's at the end of a project where you can look for improvements. Perhaps Manual of Me is integrated into your intranet or online tools, perhaps they exist in your physical space, or maybe even they're dedicated sessions to come together as a team to ask and answer new questions. Don't make Manual of Me "another thing" you have to do, but rather look for how it supports your existing habits, or adds colour and conversation in those moments where you come together as a team. --- If you're looking for support implementing #ManualofMe in your organisation, drop us a note. You can use our online platform, or get coaching and training for your team leaders.

STEP FOUR: Connect In this series of posts, we look at the process for developing and implementing an effective #ManualofMe with your team. In the previous stage, we asked and supported our people to explore and complete their answers. Now it's time to find ways to bring our people together to share and connect around the questions in their manual. These can be standup sessions for new starters, they can be round-tables on a particular question you want to discuss as a group, and of course, they can be shared as their entire manual, in a range of forms. We always recommend active sharing though - as just emailing your Manual of Me to someone is rarely as effective. Make time to connect and discuss the answers, not just post them around. And of course your answers fuel better conversations continually within your work and your team - individuals will be more aware of their own needs, preferences and motivations, informing day to day conversations, such as team meetings, project kickoffs and performance reviews. --- If you're looking for support implementing Manual of Me in your organisation, drop us a note. You can use our online platform, or get coaching and training for your team leaders.

STEP THREE: Explore In this series of posts, we look at the process for developing and implementing an effective #ManualofMe with your team. Once you've co-designed your manual with your team to agree what questions you'll be including, it's time to think about how you can create time and support the space for your people to explore their answers. Many individuals might not have ever been asked some of the questions in the manual, so think about a) giving your people time to explore their answers - don't expect it to be done the day before you share! b) giving your people support to explore their answers - try workshops, 1:1, 360 conversations, coaching, mentoring and personal reflection time as a just a few options. c) giving your space time to explore their answers - do you want to do this all at once in a collaborative setting, or over a longer period of time? It can be a great idea to kickstart with a handful of questions together in a collaborative session, but be clear on communicating to your people how they'll be supported in creating their Manual of Me. --- If you're looking for support implementing Manual of Me in your organisation, drop us a note. You can use our online platform, or get coaching and training for your team leaders.

Great to see examples of #ManualofMe used in the wild. Have a great session The Challenges Group!

STEP TWO: Co-Design In this series of posts, we look at the process for developing and implementing an effective #ManualofMe with your team. We see too many team leaders send around a Manual of Me, with pre-selected questions and a mandate to complete it. We always recommend co-designing the Manual with your team, sitting with your people and asking what they'd like to ask and answer in their manuals. Not only will people feel more involved in the process, you'll gain invaluable insight by seeing which questions people want to include - why are those questions important to your people? What challenges or opportunities might they be pointing to? --- If you're looking for support implementing Manual of Me in your organisation, drop us a note. You can use our online platform, or get coaching and training for your team leaders.

STEP ONE: Setting your intentions. If you're a team leader, wanting to explore using a Manual of Me with your people, the first stage, is always to set an intention. What are you hoping to achieve? Why do you want to use a Manual of Me? What do you think it might show, or problems it might solve? Be clear in why you want to create a Manual with your team, and communicate your intentions with your people. Discuss how it might help, and listen to any concerns or objections, and bring your people on the journey. We work with teams and organisations to help them implement Manual of Me effectively, ensuring adoption and impact. From one-off coaching calls, workshops with your teams, training your people leaders, or full-scale implementation support. If you'd like to learn more, drop us a note.

Starting a new year with a renewed ambition to help your teams work better together? Consider the #ManualofMe, as a framework for building stronger relationships internally. Over 20,000 people have created manuals, and hundreds of organisations use our platform to help their people explore and explain how they work. Over the coming weeks - we'll be sharing tips and tricks of how to use Manual of Me in your team, and answering any of your questions about how to implement the concept... But first, how are you using Manual of Me? We'd love to hear from you.