Team Tools: Manual of Me, with Matthew Knight
A Manual of Me helps teams explore, uncover and communicate how best to work together; embracing their differences and playing to strengths. This hands on and practical 90 minute session — led by the tool's inventor — is for anyone keen to learn more about its purpose and potential, and to begin to shape and share their own Manual of Me among a purposeful group of curious peers.
Imagine having a personal user manual, just for you. A living document which explains what makes you tick, how to work brilliantly with you, your preferences, likes, peeves — and the little things that can make a big difference to successful working.
A Manual of Me is just that. The process of creating one helps you to reflect and discover your working needs and preferences, and then better communicate them with others, so that you're able to work more openly and collaboratively in teams together.
At YCN we reference, and recommend the tool regularly in training sessions on neurodiversity, and more broadly in leadership programmes — emphasising its neat fit into the notion of psychological safety; and the relationship between self-awareness, sharing and high-performing teams
This coming session — joined and led by the architect of the tool Matthew Knight (also founder of creative community Leapers, and innovation and strategy practice Foxlark) — will help kickstart your experimentation with a Manual of Me; setting you up for some personal self-reflection; and inspiring you with ways to bring Manual of Me to life as a purposeful and positive tool in your team.
"It's about how you do, not what you do"
How the session will be structured:
Some light pre-work will get you going with aspects of your own Manual of Me (whether you're starting from scratch, or evolving an existing version) — combining coaching style questions, and self-reflection.
In the session itself we'll mix up some insights from Matthew on how teams are making the most of their Manual of Me, with exercises to help us coach each other towards completing aspects of our Manuals; taking away practical and tactical techniques and talking points to help our teams do the same. Matthew will also guide us through some proven approaches for inclusively facilitating conversation in teams around team-members' Manuals.
Who the session's for:
Anyone curious to pick up and experiment with a practical, inclusive tool to help team-members better understand each other; and recognise their strengths, differences and how they can support one-another more in the day-to-day.
Good to know...
You'll find a helpful starting point to explore the idea of a Manual of Me here in the resources section, alongside some history of the tool and some good questions to get you going.
Learn more about the work Matthew does, with Manual of Me, as an innovation consultant and a community builder towards tangible things to help guide us in the modern world of work here.
We facilitate sessions with teams around their Manual of Me journey, opening conversations around strengths and difference and arming them with further insights into how to make the most of the tool among their own teams too. More on partnerships here.