Manual of Me
Who are you? - Let's write it down
This is the fourth part of Engineering Manager’s Starter Kit. To read from the first part, check it out here:
As a new EM joining a team or becoming a manager of the same team you used to be an individual contributor, you have to express yourself and set the expectations early so that you can avoid any misunderstanding, conflicts or miscommunication. You should have documented a lot when you used to be a software engineer, have you documented about yourself? - That's the Manual of Me.
Here is my ‘Manual Of Me’ document to refer and write your own. Go for writing one for yourself, it will be totally worth it.
Manual of Me is a written document about you detailing who you are, values you believe in, your management style and ways of working together with others. Through the writing process, you’ll find answers about yourself. Realizing qualities that you possess or lack and being open about it will show that you’re vulnerable and will let your team be transparent about it as well. It’s a powerful tool to introduce yourself and start building that relationship with your team from the ground up.
Let’s take a look at what can be part of this document (remember, this is not an exhaustive list but hand picked ones ideal for Engineering Managers and that has worked for me in my experience. Feel free to change the format by including / excluding content for your context. If you are an Individual Contributor, you can still use this template but with adding sections focusing on technical aspects):
Who am I?: Nothing better than introducing yourself short and sweet. Start with your title, a word or two about your family, where you are from and where you are living now.
Values I believe in: Describe top 3 values that you believe in and what defines you. This will act as a guiding light for whatever you do and you have to keep yourself collected and consistent around these values irrespective of the situation.
My leadership style: Describe your leadership style with clear intent, without getting too philosophical.
What is success for me?: Be clear about what success meant for you as an EM. This will enable your teammates to align their success to yours and contribute if they are mutually inclusive (if you ask me, it should be).
What do I expect from my team?: Clear expectations that you have for your team so that you can clarify it right from the start.
What can my team expect from me? (Can also be asked directly to your team as well on their expectations): What your team can expect from you. Be clear on what you can commit without overpromising.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: What are your strengths, weaknesses and what you’re focusing on to learn and improve. This sets the vulnerability mindset right from the start and a great recipe for building trust.
How do I make decisions?: How you make decisions and how that could impact the team.
How technical am I?: Be deliberate about your technical prowess and your involvement in technical discussions and decisions.
Do I like meetings?: There’s a misconception that managers like meetings. It’s time to break the shackles. Explain your view on meetings and how you conduct them.
What do I love and hate at work?: Be transparent about what you love and hate at work.
How do I see feedback?: Explain how you share and expect feedback.
Working hours and focus time: Your preferred working hours and how people can find about your availability at a given time. Express your flexibility here to accommodate the team's needs.
What do I do outside work?: Last but not the least, time for some fun. Express what you do outside your work. Who knows? you might find a like-minded person in your team with similar interests as you.
Here is my ‘Manual Of Me’ document to refer and write your own. Go for writing one for yourself, it will be totally worth it.
Once you have written the Manual of Me and on re-reading, you feel like growing in confidence. It’s time to share it with your team, your manager and your closest stakeholders so that they can run through before your first 1-1. You can do this as an exercise with your team as well in your 1-1 where they write their ‘Manual of Me’ - it will be fun and a great opportunity to get to know each other better.
Writing is one part, execution is the rest. Review then and there on how you lived up to the expectation and with qualities you defined for yourself.
That’s all for now - Next up let’s see what it takes to become a complete Engineering Manager and ideal split of your responsibilities as part of the Starter Kit will be published in upcoming blog.
Stay tuned!