Explanation
What it is
A Manual of Me is a structured personal guide that translates self-awareness into practical collaboration.
It outlines how an individual works best — communication style, feedback preferences, triggers, strengths, and needs — creating a shared map for effective partnership.
When to use it
- Onboarding new colleagues or leaders
- Building psychological safety within teams
- Aligning personal values with organisational culture
- Preparing for coaching, mentoring, or 360 feedback
- Preventing miscommunication and burnout through clarity
Why it matters
Teams often fail not through lack of skill but through misunderstanding.
The Manual of Me transforms implicit preferences into explicit agreements, reducing friction and increasing trust.
It fosters autonomy, empathy, and alignment — essential traits in hybrid, cross-functional, and neurodiverse workplaces.
Reference
Definitions
Manual of Me
A living document outlining an individual’s working preferences, values, and collaboration principles.
User Profile (personal)
The structured representation of “how I work” used for onboarding and communication alignment.
Working Agreement
A mutually accepted set of boundaries or preferences derived from multiple Manuals of Me within a team.
Self-disclosure
The deliberate sharing of contextual personal information to improve mutual understanding.
Canonical Sources
- Manual of Me.
A powerful framework which helps you communicate your working preferences, motivations and needs, so we can all work better together. - Bruce Daisley – The Joy of Work (2019)
Explores rituals that define effective collaboration. - Adam Grant – Think Again (2021)
Encourages reflective self-awareness as a productivity multiplier. - Brené Brown – Dare to Lead (2018)
On vulnerability and trust as performance foundations.
Notes & Caveats
- The Manual of Me is not a personality test; it captures context-specific behaviours, not fixed traits.
- Must remain concise (1–2 pages) and updated quarterly to reflect growth or role changes.
- Works best when shared reciprocally — mutual visibility prevents perceived self-importance.
- Should not replace organisational documentation such as job descriptions or performance goals.
How-To
Objective
To create a clear, actionable Manual of Me that enables others to collaborate effectively with you by translating self-knowledge into shared operational clarity.
Steps
- Gather introspective data → map self-awareness
List strengths, stressors, and motivators using journaling or 360-feedback notes. - Select structure → choose a standard template
Adopt a format such as Atlassian’s, or adapt it to match team rituals. - Write declaratively → not descriptively
Use “I prefer / I struggle when …” statements to turn reflections into usable signals. - Group themes → communication, time, decision-making
This clusters information for faster readability. - Share → reciprocate
Distribute to teammates or manager; encourage others to create theirs. - Review → iterate quarterly
Update after feedback, role shifts, or personal growth checkpoints. - Integrate → embed in workflows
Link to onboarding packs, 1-to-1s, or performance rituals.
Tips
- Keep tone neutral and factual — this is a user manual, not a manifesto.
- Anchor examples in work situations (e.g., “I need thinking time before decisions”).
- Include a “How to help me thrive” section — short, behavioural prompts.
- Use visuals or tables for quick scanning (e.g., energy map, availability grid).
Pitfalls
Over-sharing personal history
Focus on relevance to work context only
Making it one-sided
Request others’ manuals and build reciprocity
Treating it as static
Schedule quarterly review sessions
Using diagnostic jargon
Translate traits into plain behavioural terms
Acceptance criteria
- Manual published and shared with immediate team.
- Reflected in onboarding or performance documentation.
- Peer feedback confirms increased understanding or reduced friction.
Tutorial
Scenario
A newly promoted Product Manager joins a distributed team spanning three time zones.
Early meetings are filled with tension: misinterpreted Slack tones, inconsistent feedback rhythms, and differing expectations for autonomy.
To restore flow, the manager creates and shares a Manual of Me as part of a team reset exercise.
Walkthrough
Decision Point
The manager recognises repeated friction during standups and retrospectives — signals of relational misalignment.
Rather than mandate behavioural change, they decide to clarify personal operating principles to model transparency and encourage reciprocity.
Input/Output
Input
- Personal reflection notes from prior role
- Feedback from 1:1s highlighting friction points
- A pre-existing Manual of Me template (Atlassian version)
Output
- A completed one-page Manual of Me shared in the team workspace
- A scheduled “Working with Me” discussion for reciprocal exchange
Action
- The manager blocks one hour for self-audit using three prompts: “I work best when…”, “I struggle when…”, “You can count on me for…”.
- They organise the document into clear headings — Communication, Decision-Making, Feedback, Energy Management.
- Tone remains factual and invitational, e.g., “I value direct feedback even when critical.”
- They publish the manual in the shared workspace and invite team members to build their own.
- The team reviews collectively, discussing overlaps and differences to form a joint Working Agreement.
Error Handling
- If a teammate perceives the manual as self-centred
Reframe purpose — it’s a collaborative tool, not self-promotion. - If oversharing occurs
Redact personal anecdotes; refocus on behavioural guidance. - If no one reciprocates
Lead by example, integrating insights into daily behaviour (e.g., referencing one’s manual during feedback loops).
Closure
Two months later, the team reruns a retrospective. Conflicts have dropped; decisions are faster, and asynchronous work feels smoother.
The manager archives Version 1.0 of the manual, adding a “Change Log” section to document evolving preferences.
Trust and rhythm now emerge not from guessing intentions, but from shared clarity.
Result
- Before
Misaligned expectations, defensive communication, reactive decisions. - After
Mutual empathy, reduced friction, measurable uptick in team sentiment scores. - Artefact Snapshot
- Name: Manual of Me v1.0
- Location: Shared team workspace → Onboarding folder
Variations
- If team size > 10 → use a shared table summarising each person’s key “Do/Don’t” preferences.
- If new members join → add a “Quick-Read” summary section for onboarding.
- If leadership hesitant → pilot with cross-functional peers first, then socialise upward once success metrics exist.
Addendum – Reflection Loop
- Schedule quarterly self-review: What has changed about how I work?
- Capture external signals (feedback, energy data, task throughput).
- Treat the manual as a living process, not an identity statement — version control is part of self-awareness.