Working With Alan: A Guide

Hello and welcome!

First of all, I’m excited to be working with you and can’t wait to get going!

However, before we kick things off, I want to provide some context as to how I like to work with my team and the lens through which I see things. To be clear, this isn’t a ‘how to work’ manual - instead it’s designed to:

• Provide you with clarity around how I do certain things (I don’t want you to be anxious the first time we’re in a meeting);
• explain my natural work cadence;
• the way I view solving problems; and
• the ‘mechanics’ of working in a team with me (e.g. how to contact me).

My goal in writing this document is ensure our work interactions are smoother, more predictable and (most importantly) enjoyable 🙌

Ps. If you’d like to read some more about personal ‘user manuals’ and how they can be useful, check this interview with Claire Hughs Johnson out from the High Growth Handbook.

My Operating Approach

Communication, Meetings and 1-1s

I like regular communication. The more regular, the better - don’t worry, there is no such thing as ‘over communication’ as far as I'm concerned.

I’m a big fan of weekly team meetings (as appropriate). These meetings will be used for:

• Updates;
• Reviews;
• Planning; and
• Low-risk decision making.

I expect people to be prepared to participate in every meeting. So come ready 😃

We’ll hold 1-1s weekly (check out the this Guide On How I Run 1-1s). These are designed to be sessions about how things are tracking and most importantly how I can help unblock and empower you to get things done.

What about your reports/team?

• Please add me to emails (cc me with an FYI where appropriate) or documents that might be helpful for me to see as a way to understand what your team are working on.
• I like to see work in progress–don’t feel you need to show me only final polished product. Take me on the journey with you!
• Again, keep me in the loop. I’m always happy to be cc’d in on emails or added to a Slack thread.

We will also hold quarterly team reviews and planning sessions. These are designed to be retrospective and prospective – a time for us to celebrate our wins, discuss what we can do better and plan for the next quarter.

Manager Handbook

Strong opinions, loosely held

I take a very collaborative approach to problem-solving. So when we have a meeting, and I ask for your view, it’s because I genuinely want to hear it!

I hold strong opinions, loosely - meaning I like conversations to start with a point of view. In this regard, I expect you to come to meetings with a formed view that you’ll be ready to discuss. If you don’t have a strong view please feel free to let me know that your opinion is a work in progress.

You have the power to make decisions

I don’t like to micro-manage, and I won’t… unless:

• I think things are getting off track;
• There doesn’t seem to be much progress; and/or
• You’re not communicating progress with me.

I like to hear/see plans. This doesn’t mean you need to draft an extensive project plan for what you’re doing. But a thoughtful sketch of the plan of attack is always welcomed. I prefer this to be written (and circulated where appropriate).

I will get involved in details and be more hands-on early during a new project - just so you know.

But always remember, it’s your ‘show’, and you have the power to make decisions.

Accountable and organised

I take action items seriously, and I expect you to know what yours are, when they are due, and that you get them done.

I want us to be ruthless with our priorities. ln this regard, let's work on what we believe will be the highest impact on our mission. We have audacious team goals, which means we will always be resource constrained. I need you all to remain sane.

Let's be organised as a team and as individuals.

Data and process are the starting point…

When data is available (and makes sense), we'll lean in and use that to make decisions. This provides us with one objective (ideally) way to measure progress and results, but let's not get bogged down in data and ‘torturing’ the numbers.

In this regard, I expect you to know what the numbers are (or have quick access to them). So don’t be surprised when I ask, ‘what does the data say about this?’

…AND intuition helps augment our decision-making process

I’m also intuitive about people, products, and decisions, so I’m happy to handle situations when I don’t have a lot of facts or data.

I tend to pattern match well and I’m a big fan of building ‘mental models’ for problem solving.

If you ever feel like my ‘model’ is off please say so. I value input and want to know if you think I'm wrong.

Strategic

I like to think about the bigger picture. You'll find that I tend to ask myself (and my team) why we are going down a certain path in the context of the broader strategy.

I try to think about the ‘straightest line’ to get to an outcome. In this regard, I like to ask about whether we’ve ‘lined up all the dominos’ and what will it take to make the first one fall.

Also, I try to think about what the most important thing I can do everyday is - I also tend to have this as a question for our virtual daily stand up.

Customer focused, always

I like to stay focused on what is valuable for our end customers - so please tell me success stories (and failures) when it comes to our product. I believe we should always be aware of how our customers feel about the product we provide.

Ps. the best way to do this is to share the data 😉

Communication

Written communication

I’m a big fan of written communication.

I believe that if you thoughtfully write your view in a coherent piece it is a great way to clarify your thinking on any topic.

In this regard, I like to have my team write things down. I’m usually agnostic as to the medium (eg. email, google doc, slide deck etc). What I’m usually after is a coherent view on the topic/issue.

If you’ve never done this, trust me when I say, it’s a great method to improve the robustness of your thinking.

1:1s

Use 1:1s for items better discussed verbally and items that can wait for our weekly check-in.

Feel free to take control and build the agenda for our meetings. I really do appreciate it. If we haven’t had a 1:1 for a while don’t hesitate to let me know!

Email

Email is generally for external use. I prefer Slack for our team conversations - which is what most of our communication should be, conversations.

Feel free to email me if it suits the situation (eg. an external email comes in that provides context to an issue etc). Otherwise, ping me on Slack - I tend to be quick to respond via Slack.

If you need a response quickly, don’t hesitate to let me know. I have no problems at all with this.

Slack/chat

This is my preferred medium of communication. I like the threaded nature of it and the ability to create ad-hoc dialogues about things. Also, I don’t mind short responses - if a ‘got it’ is sufficient that’s fine with me!

Remember, Over Communicate!

Please be liberal with your communication. There is no such thing as too much communication as far as I’m concerned.

I’m here to help, and I can only be helpful if you communicate with me. So tell me if you have any concerns or need me to help. We’re a team and I’ll always be there to work with you to get through an issue - but I need to know if there is an issue.

Feedback

I believe in providing contemporaneous feedback. So you’ll often notice me provide feedback shortly after the event.

I also love to receive feedback. So please ‘shoot me straight’ when you have a view on something. I love robust and honest feedback that is designed to move things forward.

As a team, I also expect that we collectively provide real-time feedback to each other. Let’s make sure we’re respectful, but at the same time, let’s not let things go unsaid.

And lastly...

• I'm here to serve my team.
• I'll always have your back.
• I deeply care about your development and growth, so make sure you’re pushing me to provide you with the opportunities you need/want.
• I expect our team to be ‘drama free’. If there is an issue we work together honestly and openly to resolve it.