The “How to Work With Me” Cheatsheet

People often start working together before getting to know each other. We all jump in with our own ways of doing things without knowing how other people work. Sometimes this can shake up a team in a good way, but often it results in battles between personalities & preferences.

Here at Axioned, I work as a Project Manager. Although our team works well together, and we get our work done, I never realised how disconnected we could be, until our CEO, Libby, shared with us an article written by David Politis (BetterCloud’s CEO): “This is How You Revolutionize the Way Your Team Works Together… And All It Takes is 15 Minutes”. Libby was inspired by this article & subsequent conversations she had with David. The practices David’s article recommends have since become a part of our operating procedures here at Axioned.

Libby started by creating her manual — a cheatsheet — labelled, “How to work with me: Libby.” Simply put, it defines her working style and communication preferences. She then went on to create a “How to work with me” template that we could all use internally (with fellow teammates) and externally (with clients).

Woah! What a brilliant idea! To get everyone to put their work style and communication preferences, on the table, for everyone to know? No guesses! No games!

“This concept has helped us foster better internal communication & relationships…as well as better relationships with our clients.”

Over time we’ve noticed how many issues can be prevented through an upfront understanding of each other’s working style and communication preferences. Questions get answered more quickly, issues are resolved with fewer steps, and people (generally!) see eye to eye, faster.

Below are some excerpts from our “How to work with me” template:

What’s the best way to communicate with you?

1. What do you prefer to use for calls? Your direct phone # (what #?), conference line, Google Hangout, other? Please specify.
2. What’s your preferred timing — day and/or time — for calls? Please specify.
3. What’s YOUR preferred communication channel for written communication: Email, Google Hangout/instant msg’ing, Slack/instant msg’ging, WhatsApp, other? Please specify.
4. If needing to reach you re: something important, what channel you respond to faster? Please specify.

How do you like to give feedback?

Please indicate your PRIORITY # for the below.

Feedback form?

Being asked directly/via phone?

Being asked directly/via email?

Other?

We communicate frequently with clients, in various locations (predominantly the US and UK), over email, Slack, Google Hangouts, Uberconference, phone, etc.. With each client, we used to wonder (or even worse, assume!), which channel for communication they’d prefer. Our “How to work with me” template has helped us bridge this gap.

This simple, yet brilliant, concept has really improved how we get things done. As David says, “With a little perspective and 15 minutes, you can truly revolutionize how your team works together.”