How to use a ‘manual of me’

If you’re a line manager, you’re probably well aware how essential team-building is. But in higher education you can end up leading teams unexpectedly, or feel ill-prepared to do so, or perhaps you’re just looking for a new way to integrate your team. Budgets may be tight for pulling together traditional team-building activities, and it can be hard to find an exercise that suits everyone (Go Ape might not be so great for a new starter who’s scared of heights). 

Consider introducing the “manual of me”. This team-building activity costs nothing and will help you and your staff understand each other better. Unlike many traditional team-building exercises, the manual focuses on individuals’ strengths and preferences, as well as differences. 

So, what is a “manual of me”?

It is a tool that enables team members to gain insight into each other’s behaviour and preferences around work. Its purpose is to help people get to know each other better so it is easier to work together. There’s no need to buy anything to do this exercise (although many a consultancy will try to sell you a package to do this for you); it can be done on sheets of blank paper or simply typed into Word or a slide deck. The template for the exercise usually consists of four to seven questions for team members to fill in, and can also show a picture, if required. It is particularly useful if you run hybrid teams, or accommodate flexible working, as questions can be expanded to take these preferences into account, too. 

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The standard questions cover what an individual likes at work, what an individual needs at work, what an individual doesn’t like at work, and how they like to receive feedback. I always like to include specifics about how people like to work (for example, “I like people to message me before they call” or “Please ask me before you book things in my diary”) and I also like to leave an “other things to know about me” box that allows people to pop in anything else they want to say that might have been missed. 

The template below includes sample questions and answers…

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How do you use a ‘manual of me’?

The “manual of me” activity is simple to implement. As the line manager, your first job is to choose questions and get your template ready. Before starting the activity, ensure that your team members all understand the goal of the exercise.

The next step is to decide how you want to use the tool. You can distribute your templates to your team to fill in in their own time and then come together to discuss the findings. Or, if you have a team day, you can allocate a time for people to fill in the forms together or separately before coming together to discuss. Send out the template with a clear deadline of when they’ll need to discuss their filled-in form if you’re doing it remotely. 

Once team members have filled in their answers, it’s time for you all to come together and discuss everyone’s forms. This is generally an illuminating activity and often leads to revised ways of working for the whole team. For example, if people note that they struggle with meetings that run into each other, as a result of the conversation you might decide to switch to 25- or 55-minute meetings as standard in your team, which allows five minutes’ downtime for staff between meetings. This can also be helpful as a line manager to pick up on domestic stressors that staff may not have had the forum to discuss before. People often add caring responsibilities into these exercises. This should be a fun and relaxed activity but, as with any exercise, be prepared to mediate should the conversation get difficult. 

Embedding the ‘manual of me’ into ways of working

Keeping your team’s responses to this exercise as a permanent part of your toolkit as a line manager is a brilliant idea for many reasons. Ensure you get your team’s permission, then save all the responses in a folder the whole team can access. This allows you to refer back to answers as you manage; this can be particularly helpful when it comes to appraisal season and you want to be able to give feedback in a sympathetic way. 

It’s also a great resource if you have new people joining your team; colleagues can read what their new team members like and dislike and how they like to work. You can also run short refresher sessions in case people’s preferences have changed, or when new team members join, if you have the capacity to do the exercise again. 

The “manual of me” is a powerful team-building exercise if used correctly. It promotes intra-team understanding and positive working practices. It also allows line managers to tailor their interaction styles to suit their team members when working one-on-one, and get to know the needs of their workforce better. 

Alexandra Head is head of talent and resourcing at the University of Southampton.

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