Anne-Laure Le Cunff defines a personal user manual as a short guide to working with you. It tells colleagues how you like to work, how to reach you, and how you like to get feedback. The aim is to make these things easier to discuss. Other people should not have to learn each preference through trial and error. [1]
Her guide uses six prompts. Start with who you are and the setting in which you work best. Then cover how to reach you, how to give you feedback, and how to help you. A last section adds things you enjoy. The format is brief. It should give people something they can use, not your whole life story. [2]
The next step is to share a draft. Ask a few colleagues what seems unclear or missing. Then revise it. Le Cunff treats the guide as a living document. Your first account of how you work need not become a fixed claim about who you are. [2]
You also choose whom to share it with. The article leaves that choice with the person who writes the guide. A close team may be the right audience. You can make work preferences clear without sharing every part of your private life. [2]
The article links the idea to psychological safety. Related research by Amy Edmondson found a link between team safety and learning. That study did not test this manual. The exercise is a proposal to try, not a proven way to raise team performance. [3]