A user manual for me

Updated September 2021.

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Stating my needs does not mean I expect all my needs to be met all the time.

The times I like to work

I work full time. At the moment I’m working from home.

I aim to work between 9am — 5:30pm with a full hour for lunch. I generally don’t answer messages outside these times.

I’m a big fan of the pomodoro technique, especially at the moment when breaks are more important than ever. I tend to do 20 minute stretches with 5 minutes break.

The best ways to communicate with me

I prefer talking face to face above all else. I’ve yet to find a digital substitute that beats discussing something in person.

The next best thing is video or phone call. I struggle with video calls longer than 45 minutes and aim to set up video meetings no longer than that.

Teams is ok. I check messages on there fairly regularly.

I aim to check emails three times a day — when I start work, just before lunch, and in the last half hour of the day. I sometimes have a look when I’m sending an email. If you need something from me quicker than this, call or message me on Teams.

I have a serious concentrating face. Don’t read into it. It most often means I’m simply listening hard.

The conditions I like to work in

I’m an ambivert, so need a balanced mix of being with others, discussing, questioning and bouncing ideas around, plus regular stretches of space, quiet and alone time to process and reflect.

I’m generally happiest and most productive in small groups or a pair, wrestling with a knotty problem or idea.

I think visually and like to make things tangible and clearly understandable. I prefer simple tools like post its and sketches to explain ideas. I’m still working on post it notes in lockdown. In an ideal world, I love working on walls and spreading things out over big tables. Miro and Mural and other whiteboards are reasonable substitutes, though I‘m on the lookout for something more accessible.

I’m working on communicating visually more generally, and encouraging others to draw to express their thinking.

Working from home, I’m usually either at my desk in our spare bedroom, or in the garden when the weather permits.

The ways I like to receive feedback

I need constructive feedback and feel weird and a bit adrift without it. I really want to get better at what I do and I need others’ help to identify what is and isn’t working.

I actively encourage you to be as honest and direct as you’re comfortable being with me. I would much rather things be in the open (even if it’s difficult) than have something simmering away unsaid.

I prefer feedback 121.

Things I need to work well

I have a growth mindset and respect this in others. I need constructive feedback to help me grow and improve.

I need to feel useful, and work on things that contribute to real, positive change.

I need to understand the ‘why’ in everything — especially what motivates people, and how doing this thing will lead to this outcome.

From others, I need trust, integrity, honest and direct communication, compassion and authenticity.

Things I love

I love helping people do and think about things differently; disrupting things positively and productively to encourage creativity and openness. I ask a lot of questions. I’m as interested in how the team works as I am in the work the team does.

For this reason I am a big fan of workshops, walking meetings, serious play, away days — anything that gets us away from desks hunched over a screen and that unlocks ingrained thinking and behaviour. I’m still learning how best to do this kind of work in lockdown.

I love learning from others and trying on new ways of working. I will shamelessly steal your methods, formats, templates, tools, hacks and tips (with credit of course), and hoover up any resources and recommendations you’re willing to share.

I’m motivated by tackling complex challenges where there’s no one simple answer. I love proactively looking for challenges and opportunities.

I’m a born organiser and take great pleasure in understanding, arranging, simplifying, streamlining, corralling and spotting patterns and connections in messiness.

I enjoy getting to know the people I work with as people. Please tell me about your life and the things you care about! I am interested.

While I take my work very seriously, I love finding the funny and ridiculous in most things, myself included.

Things I can struggle with

If I don’t know or understand why we’re doing something, I can find it hard to engage with. Especially if it’s documentation or process for the sake of it, or responding unquestioningly to groupthink and HiPPOs.

I need direction, but increasingly don’t enjoy being told exactly what to do and exactly how to do it. Unless it’s something I’m completely unfamiliar with, or I’ve asked for instructions. I’m much happier having a loose aim, and having to figure it out how best to proceed by myself, or in collaboration with others.

I struggle working at one level all the time. Too much strategic work and I feel too far away from what’s really happening. Too much heads-down delivery and I don’t feel like I’ve got a sense of the big picture. A happier and more productive me has room to play in both.

When I’m on top form, I have a lot of positive energy, and I think quickly and from many angles at once. I need to get better at slowing down. Not least because I usually miss things, and it can leave others feeling lost or confused. Sometimes, it leads me to I think I know and can take on more than is sustainable for me, then I burn out.

I find long video calls, or many calls back to back, incredibly draining. I need regular breaks or I really struggle to concentrate.

I get tired quickly working around unaddressed toxicity. I’m used to navigating politics but would rather spend my energy working together to solve a problem.

I start from a place of trust and respect, but won’t trust or respect anyone who gossips and talks about others behind their backs.

Other things to know about me

I live right in the middle of the UK, furthest from the sea, with my cats Biffy and Misty, and partner of 15 years, Elliot.

I can and will talk for days about my two biggest passions: food and music.

I’m an eternal hobbyist and constantly look for new things to learn and do. Things I’m currently enjoying: upholstery, gardens and garden design, landscape photography and learning the drums.

Before lockdown, I spent most weekends exploring new places, or visiting family and friends around the country. It’s a joy being able to do more of this again, albeit cautiously.

I like reading and watching things on psychology, coaching, design, tech for good, humanism, feminism and social history. I also like fiction and am actively trying to read more.

I have a couple of side hustles doing various flavours of design work for small businesses. I’m also about to start a garden design diploma. When the time comes, I’m looking forward to continuing volunteering at service jams and hack days.

I also love cocktails and hotel and bar design, and dream of creating and running some sort of community space / shop with a bar and outside space one day.

Trigger warning: death, cancer, grief

Earlier this year my Mum died unexpectedly from a brain tumour. Me and my family are still reeling. She played an enormous role in our lives and we are only just beginning to come to terms with the loss.

I am happy to talk about Mum, but be prepared that I might cry. Practically, it means I’m sometimes more forgetful and distracted than I used to be.