A working with me manual is a short document where a person sets out how they work best, in their own words. It covers how they like to communicate, how they prefer feedback, when they do their best work, and the things people often misunderstand. The point is simple: when how you work is written down, the people around you stop guessing.
The idea has been around for years. It was popularised by Adam Bryant in a 2014 New York Times piece on leaders sharing a personal user manual, and it has since spread well beyond the boardroom to whole teams.
What goes in one
Most manuals cover a handful of practical areas:
- How I prefer to communicate, and which channel for what.
- How I like to receive feedback, and how often.
- When I do my best work, and when I do not.
- What drains me, and what helps.
- Things people get wrong about me.
It is short on purpose. A manual no one reads helps no one.
How a team uses them together
One manual is useful. A team of manuals is where the value sits. When everyone can see how everyone else works, a new starter settles faster, handovers stop falling through the gaps, and people stop working past each other. The manual makes working differences visible and useful, which matters most where people think and work in different ways.
Is it a personality test
No. A personality test is scored about you by someone else. A working with me manual is your own honest account, in your words. That difference is why people trust it and actually use it.
How to get a team set up
You can start one person at a time, but the shift comes when a whole team does it together and agrees how to use them. That is what the Working With Me workshop is built for: in a single day your team builds their own working manuals and leaves with a clear picture of how to work well together, plus platform access to keep it going.
Common questions
What goes in a working with me manual
How you communicate, how you like feedback, when you work best, what drains you, and what people misunderstand about you. Keep it short.
How long does it take to write one
Most people draft theirs in under an hour. A team usually builds them together in a single session.
How does a team use them together
Everyone can see how everyone else works, so new starters settle faster and people stop working past each other.
Is a working with me manual the same as a personality test
No. A test is scored about you by someone else. A manual is your own account, written by you.