The best shortcut I know for getting to know your teammates and set you up to work together effectively? Personal Blueprints, no question.
A Personal Blueprint (often called a User Manual, but I don't love that language) is a short guide to YOU at work-- who you are as a person, what matters to you, your working style and preferences, and anything else you want your colleagues to know. Yes, longtime readers, I wrote about them a few years ago… but I'm even more of a superfan now for a few reasons:
→ Personal Blueprints work for literally ANY kind of team- big or small, brand-new or superveteran or any mix of them, deeply connected or pretty much strangers.
→ Personal Blueprints are SO EASY. They require no certification, no expert facilitation skills, and no prep. You can do this tomorrow. (If you're a team leader, I do suggest you go first and create/share yours to set the tone and provide a strong example, but it's not required.)
→ Personal Blueprints give folks a ton of agency and choice, which is essential to building psychological safety. I suggest that team leaders select a small number of questions that you want everyone to answer (just mark them with an *), and leave the rest as an optional menu. In addition to choosing which questions to answer, folks can choose if they want to share lighter or more surface-level answers or to be more vulnerable. (FYI, leaders are often worried that their teams won't be comfortable sharing much but every time I've led this exercise people are surprised at their team members' thoughtful answers).
Steal these starter prompts:
What values guide you in life and at work?
Who and what takes up your time and energy outside of work?
What identities and roles are important to you?
Describe a perfect weekend day.
What are some of your favorite simple pleasures?
What adjectives would the people closest to you use to describe you? Why?
What are your key strengths and superpowers?
In what types of projects and situations do you really shine?
What motivates you to do your best work every day? What conditions do you need to thrive?
What are some things you loved about a former dream job or dream team?
What stresses you out? How will others know you’re stressed? How do you manage your stress?
What are some of your pet peeves?
How do you prefer to communicate?
How do you prefer to structure your week and your day?
What’s your default operating style in small groups? Large groups?
How do you like to give and receive feedback?
What else would you like us to know about you to support you at work?
Start by sharing your Personal Blueprints with each other in writing and maybe in discussion. Many organizations keep a shared file of everyone's Personal Blueprints so anyone can click in and learn more about someone anytime. It's also a great addition to a team meeting (you can take turns spotlighting a team member every meeting) or a perfect way to start a 1:1 check-in.
Have you used Personal Blueprints with your team? I'd love to hear about it… and if you're up for sharing YOUR Personal Blueprint with me by replying to this email, it would make my day.
You can also weigh in on LinkedIn. Find me
here!
Read/learn more:
I'm grateful to be on the faculty of the Holdsworth Center, a fantastic org that leads transformational professional development for educators across Texas. Access their free free webinar on User Manuals for School Leaders
here.
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