Users Guide: Adam
I was inspired by this First Round Review article to write a user guide. What follows is the 2019 version.
About
This doc is a work in progress. Please add/edit as you see fit. It’s designed to help jump-start our relationship and make it easy to work together.
Operating
Bi-weekly / weekly 1:1s
Documented issues beforehand (in Asana) -- this is your meeting (come with an agenda and plan to lead our discussion)
I like to cover Plans, Progress, Problems
We’ll follow the general template in Asana
Ideally, we’re working on small issues
Guidance and strategy on performance
The earlier we discuss issues that more freedom you’ll have to implement a solution -- it’s very hard to make large edits a week before a deadline.
We’ll cover career goals at least bi-annually. Earlier in our relationship, as well.
Personal goals. Let’s make some and track. These are separate from your team goals.
Bi-weekly / monthly operating reviews
Specific operating challenges
Reporting against KPIs
We’ll likely do this every-other 1:1
Will mostly be you and I, although we might invite other execs
Suggest using the same google doc, spreadsheet, etc for reporting each time. Will make it easy to track stats across periods.
I tend to do lots of little check-ins throughout the week.
These aren’t meant to be micro-managey. I just want to know 1) if you’re blocked and 2) if I can help. I want you freed to do amazing work.
Tell me to stop if it annoys you.
Weekly team meetings
I’ll occasionally attend. I mostly want to be in the know about things and see how your team is doing,
Always happy to attend at your request.
Quarterly / annual planning
I expect you to have models for your part of the org based on our operating plan.
We usually have internal and external goals. External goals are typically non-negotiable; We need to hit them.
Your teams
Add me to your slack channels and email lists.
Include me on emails that are important (either as a BCC, CC or FWD as an FYI)
Escalate issues so I’m aware.
LMK about greatness. I want to be able to praise your team when people do great things,
Team events — I’d like to attend (when appropriate) but will do so as a participant.
Management
I’m usually hands-off
I won’t be prescriptive about your part of the org or your work.
I will press for non-negotiable Bolt values in your part of the org. I expect documentation, training, and good management. I will micromanage in cases where I see these things missing.
You’re the decision maker — I’m the sounding board/confidant. You have the deep knowledge about your part of the org, so while I’m happy to help suss out issues, I will typically encourage you to solve your own problems.
Other managers/teams
I expect candor with other departments. You need to give feedback and praise directly. I’m happy to help after the fact and only in the event that doesn’t work.
It’s good for me to know about the issues for situational awareness, but again, you need to solve them.
Collaborative
I want to help, but when you need it.
Trust
I trust you’ll make great choices.
Expectations
We hired you because we think you’re great, that is the bar.
Responsibility is earned. I expect that you’ll have more and more as time goes on. We should strive to be intentional about giving more responsibility. That means that even a non-decision needs to have intent behind it.
Editing vs writing
I need you to write the draft or come with the proposal.
I will not tolerate politics.
Judgement
Over time you’ll get more and more responsibility. My goal from day one will be to give you enough rope to hang yourself but not the company. As a general rule of thumb, I’ll follow this model for what to fully delegate:
Accountability
I expect you to track action items. If you say you’ll do something, I expect to see it in Asana and for you to deliver against a deadline.
I’ll usually care about a few things at one time
1-3 high priority items at a time. I tend to ask about high priority issues at least weekly.
Your core systems (ATS, Accounting, CRM, ETC) should always be up-to-date.
Writing / Facts
Prefer written Asana tasks over verbal exchanges.
I’m a lot more “just the facts” than the story. I tend to have a hard time comprehending long stories. If the narrative is useful, it would be best for you to outline the facts/issue first then go into the narrative.
When possible, I’d like to look at data versus qualitative ideas
Data should be consistent, don’t present different sets of data at different times or cherry pick your results.
I enjoy editing copy/content and want to help when possible
I have strong intuition about copy — and for that matter, also about brand, talent, and optimal processes — from past experiences. I welcome you proactively asking for my input in cases where it may be valuable, though my advice is rarely prescriptive.
Gut
I tend to make decisions quickly. I find that if we’re rationalizing something for a long time, we're likely making a bad choice.
People
I’m open-minded about talent management and will always try to highlight areas of strength
I want to know what’s going on with your team. Good to let me know about big life events, etc
I believe that success is often based on the manager.
I’m always happy to support you during hard decisions (hiring, firing, performance management).
I care deeply about building a good place to work. I expect you to follow the manager’s playbook to do the same.
Career development conversations are key. Make sure you know where your team wants to go.
Support: I want to support you and your teams at work and outside of it. Please let me know when / how I can do that. I like to show up to performances, events, etc.
Strategy
I tend to be highly tactical or strategic. I don’t do well in the middle.
I like to operate off of granular strategic plans
I expect you to put in the work for building one
These should be shareable slides or docs
After making the plan, it would be AMAZING if you could commit it into your operating system (CRM, ATS, Asana, etc)
Let’s always aim for simple solutions to complex problems.
I’m okay letting fires burn as long as we have intent in our lack of decision making
Time
I’m working on carving out more. I commit to many things and frequently have 10+ meetings per day. I’m working on this, but you should also try to be strategic about what time commitments you request from me.
That being said, I’ll always carve out time if you need it.
I like to follow the Urgent - Important Matrix for time management:
Communication
I prefer over-communication.
Notifications
To stay focused and maintain a bit of balance, I prefer to batch and clear them
Notifications are off from 9pm to 9am on my mobile devices
Notifications are often off on my laptop during the day
1:1s — Add chunky issues throughout the week(s)
These are particularly good for things that need verbal communication
I expect issues to follow the issue/proposal pattern
I’ll ask open-ended questions to fill our time, but generally, you should treat a 1:1 as your meeting where you set the agenda.
One week we’ll do informal
The following week we’ll review scorecard and OKRs
Asana
Great for decisions and small tasks.
Notify me of urgent matters by sending a link to the task via Slack.
Please add me to your team projects.
No need to add me to your 1:1s, but I will occasionally ask to see the feedback you’re giving people.
Slack
I’m bad at Slack. Suggest that you always make an Asana issue for anything you need.
Email
I get hundreds of emails a day for external issues. I prefer you use Asana / Slack over email
CC or BCC me on things you think are good FYIs. I try to get to inbox zero daily, but it sometimes gets pushed off until the weekend
Phone / text
I’ll often miss calls due to being in a meeting. I’ll always return them.
Text me if you need a quick and urgent yes/no
Feedback
Needs to go both ways between us.
Feedback needs to be candid and complete. Please don’t give compliment sandwiches.
I will never get upset when you share your viewpoint.
Happy to adjust style to support you.
I’ll occasionally do skip levels, office hours, and sit with your team
I have your back. When people vent to me about you, you’ll know and we’ll work on it together. I’ll always tell that person they need to talk to you directly, as well.
Other notes:
I’m pretty level-headed. There will never be yelling.
I’ll never assume intent. I implore you to take the same approach. Blame my negligence and stupidity instead :)