Managers: When You Meet A New Employee, Do This First

Being a manager is challenging. Some would say it’s down right problematic. Yet there are things you can do as a manager to drastically mitigate future communication problems with your employees and teams. I promise if you spend 20 minutes up front going through the process I outline below, you will save hours on the backend.

I’m talking about something I call “Design the Alliance.” Though a process like this could be referred to as “setting expectations”, “setting ground rules” or “setting norms,” I don’t find those terms to be accurate. Because what I propose is a collaborative process that sets the building blocks for a positive and productive employee/manager relationship.

Why Design the Alliance?

Here are the nuts and bolts: To communicate effectively, it’s important to understand how your colleagues and employees work best. In an ideal situation, how do they prefer to communicate? How do they handle deadlines? What is their preferred way to interact?

It’s also important for your colleagues and employees to understand how you work best. How do you prefer to communicate and handle deadlines?

Once you both understand each other’s preferred styles, then you can see any possible gap and Design an Alliance that works best for both of you.

How to Design the Alliance

To do so, start by asking questions. Here’s a guide to follow when you are first meeting a new employee or working with a colleague for the first time. Each one of these questions is important to preempting possible future communication issues.

1. Communication style

How do you prefer to communicate? Via email, text, instant messaging (IM), or in face-to-face meetings?

2. Interaction style

How do you prefer to interact? Is it face-to-face, virtual, limited, often or other?

3. View on deadlines

What is your view on deadlines? Do you like to finish the night before? The week before? Or a few hours after the deadline?

4. Personality assessments (DISC, Myers-Briggs, etc.)

Have you taken any personality assessments such as DISC, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), or other? If so, what was your assessment?

5. Personal values

What’s important to you when working with someone? For example, is it integrity, perfection, creativity, loyalty or something else?

6. View on timelines

How do you view timelines? Is it okay to be late for meetings? Are you a stickler about being punctual?

7. Definition of success

How do you measure success?

8. WIIFM

Tell me what you think when you ask yourself “what’s in it for me?” What would you like to get out of this work experience?

Start Designing the Alliance by discussing your answers to the above questions.

Then ask the other person to share their answers; be sure to take notes.

How to Lead the Conversation

Here’s an example of how to lead this conversation:

I’m looking forward to getting to know you as we work together, and wanted to share a little about myself first. Here are the ways I work:

I prefer to communicate via email or text, but I understand that sometimes you just need to pick up the phone to get things done. I never use instant messaging.  

In meetings, I like to meet face-to-face or on video. Nonverbal communication is important to me, and it’s great to see people’s face every once in a while!

 I like to get things done far in advance and am very deadline driven.

My Myers-Briggs is INFJ—introverted, intuitive, feeling, and perceptive.

When working with someone, I value integrity and humility above all else.

You’ll find I am a very punctual person, and expect that of others as well.

Now let me ask you about yourself… (This is where you go into the questions listed above).

After going through this process, you’ll see a gap between the two of you. For example, you may be super punctual, but your new employee feels that as long as she’s no longer than 10 minutes late, she’s on time. Negotiate the gap until you both agree on the final terms.

Now, don’t let all this valuable information go to waste! Write it down and keep it handy. This is your roadmap on how to behave in this particular relationship.

When you take the time (it’s only 20 minutes!) to design an alliance with a new colleague, you’re setting up both of you for success. Just remember to be honest and truly listen. Learn how to brush up on your listening skills here.

New managers—I wish you the best of luck!

Do you have any tips for new managers? Any questions as a new manager? Leave me a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.