THE GUIDE
Manager README: how to write a “how to work with me” guide
A manager user guide, or manager README, is a one-page note that tells your team how you work: when to reach you, how you like updates, how you give feedback, and the habits that could be misread. It replaces months of your team quietly guessing, and it’s especially useful for new managers, new teams and remote teams.
What to include
- How you work: hours, focus time, how you plan.
- How to reach you, and what counts as urgent.
- How you like updates, and that you want bad news early.
- How your one-on-ones run, and whose time they are.
- How you give feedback, and how you want to receive it.
- Which decisions they can make without you.
- What you value, and your quirks. Be honest; this is the part people remember.
How to introduce it
- Share it in a team meeting rather than just sending a link, and walk through it in 5 minutes.
- Call it a draft and ask what’s missing or wrong. Then actually change it.
- Invite your team to write their own. Swapping guides is a great team exercise.
- Live up to it. A guide that says “I want bad news early” followed by a bad reaction to bad news does more harm than no guide.
Frequently asked questions
Not if it’s framed as help for the team. Keep it short, include what you’re working on improving, and ask for their guides in return.
One page. If people need to scroll for long, they won’t read it.
Yes, every 6–12 months or when your team changes. Ask your team what in it no longer feels true.
One-minute lessons on this
TOPIC 02The first mistake every new manager makes
TOPIC 18How to manage someone who used to be your peer
TOPIC 24What your late-night messages teach your team
TOPIC 31Why an open door policy can still leave people out
TOPIC 28Why hiding your own mistakes teaches your team to hide theirs
TOPIC 42