Great suggestions, and agree with all the points made- I especially think the value of a weekly/fortnightly catch-up is under-appreciated. I recently started a new job, and my boss and I did a 13 question get-to-know you style exercise, to understand more about the motivations, working style and personality of one another. It took about an hour, but I think it is a seriously good investment. I think we both came away with it understanding each a lot more, which is a great start to a working relationship. The questions were:
#1: Where on the spectrum of introvert to extrovert would you place yourself?
#2: What’s your preferred way to receive feedback, in terms of speed? (E.g., right away). What’s your preferred format?
#3: What’s your orientation toward conflict?
#4: How would you describe your communication style?
#5: What motivates you the most, in your work life?
#6: What’s your favourite way to decompress after work?
#7: Who’s been the best coworker or team you’ve worked with? Why?
#8: Who’s the best boss or mentor you’ve ever had? Why?
#9: When have you worked with someone and noticed it not going well? What happened, and what was that person doing?
#10: What do you tend to have a longer learning curve around, compared to others?
#11: What do you tend to pick up very quickly, compared to others?
#12: What’s your biggest work-related pet peeves (i.e., that thing that other people do that totally annoys you when you work with them)?
Great suggestions, and agree with all the points made- I especially think the value of a weekly/fortnightly catch-up is under-appreciated. I recently started a new job, and my boss and I did a 13 question get-to-know you style exercise, to understand more about the motivations, working style and personality of one another. It took about an hour, but I think it is a seriously good investment. I think we both came away with it understanding each a lot more, which is a great start to a working relationship. The questions were:
#1: Where on the spectrum of introvert to extrovert would you place yourself?
#2: What’s your preferred way to receive feedback, in terms of speed? (E.g., right away). What’s your preferred format?
#3: What’s your orientation toward conflict?
#4: How would you describe your communication style?
#5: What motivates you the most, in your work life?
#6: What’s your favourite way to decompress after work?
#7: Who’s been the best coworker or team you’ve worked with? Why?
#8: Who’s the best boss or mentor you’ve ever had? Why?
#9: When have you worked with someone and noticed it not going well? What happened, and what was that person doing?
#10: What do you tend to have a longer learning curve around, compared to others?
#11: What do you tend to pick up very quickly, compared to others?
#12: What’s your biggest work-related pet peeves (i.e., that thing that other people do that totally annoys you when you work with them)?
#13: What does “work-life balance” mean to you?