One of the hardest things about starting a new job, or working in a new team, is that you have to start from zero in all of your relationships. Since you have no history with anyone, you have to go through a slow, delicate process of getting to know each other, uncovering collaboration quirks, and maybe making a few mistakes.

For my last few roles, I’ve tried to short-circuit this guessing phase by sharing a Notion guide all about me, my work style, and what I care about. I also love to share a blank template with my team so that they can do their own version.

📝 What goes in the guide?

Anything that’s important to you that you could surface early. My guide currently includes:

• A bit about my personality

• What I value in a work culture

• How I like to collaborate (and how I don’t)

• How I like to communicate

• How I like to give and get feedback

Depending on your role and environment, you might want to add or remove some sections – for example, if you find that knowing people’s outside-of-work lives really helps you to connect, you might swap that out for something that matters to you less.

The important thing is to make sure that the guide is relevant and readable. That is – only cover things that will actually improve your working relationships, and don’t overload it with information to the point where people don’t read it.

💘 Why I love this exercise.

I’ve already said that I do this as a way to build rapport quickly, but the other amazing thing about it is spending time reflecting on what it’s like to be on the other side of you.

Many of my past direct reports have told me that they’ve never spent so much time thinking about themselves when writing their own version. I like to swap guides in our first week or two of working together so that it sets the tone for transparency and support.

✨ Putting your own spin on it.

The great thing about the guide is that it can be in whatever format you like. Mine is in Notion because I find it easy to read and share. One team I worked in had all of the designers make their own Pokémon card. I’ve also seen people hand-make paper booklets for teammates. You can really make this your own!

🎨 Free Figma goodie

A bonus one for my designers here: you can grab my Pokémon card template for free from the Figma community →

Let me know how you go with your own guide, or let me know what you’d like me to cover next by replying to this email! 📧