The Case for Writing a User Manual

I first encountered the concept of a “user manual” when reading a business advice column in The New York Times several years ago. In a prior blog post on how to deal with a difficult sponsor, I mentioned that I had created one. But, I did not explicitly address what a user manual is, why a user manual is beneficial, and how to create one. We’ll dive into these topics in this blog post.

What is a User Manual?

Imagine you’re opening a brand new appliance and aren’t sure what it takes to operate it successfully without damaging the appliance, yourself, or others. How do you begin? If you’re a project manager, I’m guessing you turn to the instructions to guide you. In reading the manual, you’re learning from the creator of that appliance how it functions and how you can best use it to generate your desired results.

Of course, you could still figure out how to use the thing without the instructions—it’ll simply be a little more difficult. There’s also the possibility that you might make a mistake that is tricky to recover from.

In business, the concept of an employee user manual is no different than the appliance analogy—a user manual is a guide that explains how to best work with its author. If done well, a user manual documents information about that person that you’d otherwise have to learn the hard way through trial and error. Knowing this information upfront makes it easier to work with them, improving team and company performance.

What are the Benefits of Creating a User Manual?

Some may find the concept of creating a user manual unnecessary, or even arrogant. Why presume that anyone would care? If this information is truly necessary to share, why not dispense with the document and have a conversation instead? Doesn’t a user manual feel a little, well, clinical? We’re people, not machines. How can someone know everything about you from reading a one-page document?

You may not believe that you’re interesting enough to merit a user manual, but your direct report does not agree. Sharing this information is invaluable to bolster confidence in how to best engage with you. And, a conversation is great, but in a remote first, asynchronous world, documentation is king. Also, why put that mental burden on yourself to memorize and then remember to give this pitch to every new hire? If your speech varies even slightly from person to person, you’ve instantly given someone an unfair advantage—and chances are that that someone will be the person you feel most comfortable with (translation: who is most similar to yourself.) The equitable, inclusive thing to do is to write it down to minimize the potential for bias.

The user manual also prompts me to ask my new employees how they like to work and how they like to receive feedback during our initial 1:1 meeting. This conversation models the transparent, open communication that project managers will need to cultivate with their stakeholders if they expect to be successful.

What Should You Include in a User Manual?

The goal of your user manual should be to convey in a concise yet clear manner the best way for your stakeholders to work with you. This can encompass a variety of things—use your imagination! Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Preferred working hours (Are you available nights? Weekends? Do you expect your employees to be?)

• Preferred communication mechanism based on issue type (e.g., text/call for urgent issues, Slack with no immediate expectation for response for everything else)

• Preference for scheduling meetings (Should they check your calendar or ask you first? What time of day or day(s) of the week do you prefer to meet?)

• Leadership style / philosophy

• Sources of motivation

• Areas of growth (What are things you’re trying to improve that would benefit from their feedback?)

• Personality assessment results (e.g., DISC, MBTI, CliftonStrengths). Take these with a grain of salt, as the results could be potentially misleading, but like astrology IMO, they can be a good conversation starter. Plus, they’re kind of fun.

• Any other information that you wish you knew about your employee (in the hopes that, if you share this information about yourself, they will confide in you.)

I’d recommend refreshing the document quarterly to incorporate any learnings. You can also encourage your employees to create their own user manuals if you feel so inclined!