Manager Manual?
An ever-evolving user manual on how to work with yours truly should I become your manager or you become mine.
I transitioned into my role as a manager unofficially shortly after joining my last gig. My first foray into design management at this large organization began with figuring out how to be a manager to two of my favorite senior designers, whom I look up to. My team knew me as their friend first; both they and I did not know who I was as a manager.
As we learned to form the boundaries needed to keep the team healthy, we gradually shifted from a peer-to-peer to a manager-report relationship. I sat down to write a manager manual to reflect these boundaries in writing. Beyond outlining how we would behave with each other, the manual was also my way of making commitments to my team about the type of manager I wanted to be. It was a document shared amongst all of us, and that means as much as it helped set my expectations for my team, they could, in turn, also keep me accountable to these commitments.
My team grew into a four-designer-strong squad after a few months, and we also welcomed a design intern into the mix for a short time. The manual was not something we referred to often, in the sense that we followed the way of working we set out to do without needing to look at the instructions 24/7. It became routine for the rest of us. But I shared it time and again alongside the 1:1 document whenever a new member joined our team, or when I acquired a new manager for myself. The manual became an essential part of the onboarding process.
A part of me was and is still very proud of myself for sticking to my commitments (I'll take any win I can get). But over time, I also learned the limitations of the original document. So, in the year 2025, I want to share with you, people of the internet, both the original (in normal body text) and things I would add to (in italic body text) this living Manager Manual based on what my team practiced in reality. I hope that it’ll help you the same way that it’s helped me understand who I was/am.
1:1
Our 1:1 will be a regular cadence, at the same time, once a week for 30 minutes:
We can extend the session as needed.
We should not skip our 1:1. To me, this is the most important meeting between us.
If you need or want to cancel it, give me a heads-up on why and when to reschedule, preferably within the same week.
The agenda will be about how you are doing:
Updates:
Overall updates from me, i.e., strategic, personnel updates from the organization and team that you need to be aware of, specifically questions you may have regarding these subjects.
Updates from you, specifically any blockers or issues you may have, what you need from me, and how I can support you.
A quick note that organization, status, and results updates will be shared during our prioritization and update meetings, so they shouldn’t be the main agenda of your 1:1. However, I am interested in your thoughts and any questions you may have regarding these subjects.
Feedback that you may have for me, and vice versa.
Your development goals.
The gist of it is that this time is about you and for you.
We will decide and share the agenda in the 1:1 document before the weekly session.
Every quarter, we will have a longer 1:1 session (60 minutes) to review our development goals.
Availability & Communication Style
I prefer written communication as it is easier to keep track of and document:
However, I prefer face-to-face discussions for sensitive, urgent matters.
I am clearer in writing than in person; feel free to ask me to clarify any of my communication when I am not concise or hard to understand.
I like having decisions and feedback documented at all times, as I don’t have a very good memory, and do not enjoy going back on my words. I expect the same from both my team and my partners in other functions.
Hierarchy of communication (most→ least urgent):
Meeting/Call → Slack → Figma comments.
Let’s not use emails if we can help it. It is my least favorite means of communication, as we receive many (non-urgent) email updates a day from the organization, and your emails may get lost in the chaos.
You can always reach out to me and talk about your work or issues anytime on Slack, or we can schedule a call.
I will respond on Slack to you as soon as I can, and always within the day or 2, I will let you know whenever I need time to respond.
I prefer to keep work communication within work hours. If I message you after hours, you are not expected to respond. You are also not expected to respond in real time during work hours.
However, I would like an acknowledgement when you’ve received and seen a message from me (a “got it” or thumbs up). Let me know when you need more time to respond.
Let’s be respectful of each other’s time and always schedule calls using the organization calendar, be mindful not to double-book each other.
If we need to take over a booked timeslot, we should communicate with each other first before scheduling the call.
If you request a meeting, you will find a time and set it up with a clear agenda. If I request a meeting, I will find a time and set it up with a clear agenda.
Bad meeting etiquette is my pet peeve, and I do not like it when my time or other people’s time is not respected.
I will avoid creating unnecessary suspense or surprises. When I reach out to you and ask something of you or set up a meeting, I’ll always let you know the context behind it beforehand.
There will be no solo “Hey” message on Slack and leaving you hanging, or a meeting with an empty agenda from me.
When you reach out to me via Slack or meeting calls, come prepared with context and an agenda as well.
When there is an open item of discussion and it is assigned to either of us, the assignee will follow up and close the loop on the discussion.
I prefer to be honest over softening difficult news. As your manager, I will not dwell on negativity nor paint an overly rosy picture of a negative situation. I will, however, give you context and provide you with realistic choices to make the most out of the situation.
Management Style
I am first and foremost hands-off when it comes to how you do your work and manage your time. It means I trust you by default.
Your working time is yours, you can work from home or go to the office as long as you complete your tasks, attend your committed meetings, and foster a good working relationship with your product squad.
We will have a fixed day every week to meet face-to-face in the office. We will schedule our 1:1 and team meetings on this day.
How you want to work is your responsibility; the design process varies depending on the projects at hand. However:
Do make use of the resources and talent available to us in engineering, product, data, research, and content to better your work.
We work in a large organization, and our work touches many moving parts and teams. Engage your squad and collaborate cross-functionally and across verticals to gain the best context to support your work.
You are a part of your product squad and your design team; be accountable for what you commit to, communicating your timeline, updates with your team, and the quality of your work.
I do not enjoy micro-management because to me it is busy work, and I will try my best not to do so to you.
However, I may become more hands-on with you:
If you are earlier in your career and benefit from a closer working relationship.
If you request more assistance.
If your performance falls below expectations and you require more support.
What I need to know from you as your manager:
I need to understand your product squad’s key metrics and backlog, for better context on your product area and to contribute as a design representative alongside you, so invite me to sessions discussing these items.
I need to know what’s on your plate and the progress of your work, to help you prioritize your tasks and manage your workload. We can check in on these items weekly in our design team prioritization session and set up design jams for a deeper dive into your projects.
I need to be present at your design reviews and presentations to leadership to support you, so invite me to these sessions. To better facilitate this, I should be informed of the agenda and content beforehand.
I am here to support you and to support us in achieving our goals as a team. This means:
We will commit to working together to define and achieve our team goals, which include improving key product metrics, design quality metrics, as well as your personal development goals. Amongst these, your well-being and growth are the most important to me.
Let me know when and where you need help, and I’ll try my best to support you. When I don’t know something, I’ll point you to where you can get help.
Feedback from me to you
I will give you timely and honest feedback, and you will not hear about your feedback for the first time during the performance review. I will share:
Task-related feedback during our design jams and reviews, and on Slack or Figma comments asynchronously when you request.
Process-related feedback in our 1:1, and when we have specific meetings, discussions, and initiatives to improve our process.
Behavior-related feedback in our 1:1, ad-hoc calls, or on Slack, and as soon as the behavior is observed.
I will share both negative and positive feedback directly with you. You will not hear my feedback to you from a third party.
I prefer giving negative feedback in private and positive feedback in both public and private settings.
I will document the feedback on Figma, Slack, or our 1:1 document.
Feedback from you to me
I am learning as a manager and would love to hear feedback on how I can better support you, even if it’s difficult feedback, and especially if you think I am wrong. It will never be personal. I respond well to feedback and need it to improve.
You can always reach out to J (my manager) if there are issues you aren’t comfortable talking to me about. I think skip level 1:1 is healthy, and you will have both of our support. You don’t need to let me know that you want to or will talk to J.
I am flawed. I can be long-winded when I am processing while speaking. I am process-oriented but not detail-oriented. I am a generalist when it comes to design, and am a better UX designer than UI designer; my feedback to you may sometimes be lacking when it comes to craft. You can point out when I am not concise or providing the level of details you need.
I came from a start-up background, and I am good at operations and moving things forward. I am still learning how to be a better long-term thinker, working on future visions and strategy for our design team. I will seek feedback and guidance from my mentors and managers regarding this growth area. You can also point out when I am too focused on execution.
I can be rash and may take over meetings if they run long and I feel they are inefficient. You should call me out if I am disrupting your meeting objectives.
Conflict resolution
If you have conflicts with a colleague, I would suggest first that you give direct feedback to said colleague. I can help you work through the messaging of the feedback.
I understand that you may not feel safe to give direct feedback. In this case, we can choose to either set up a mediation session where I can mediate the conversation, or I can approach the colleague on your behalf. The last option is the least ideal, as it could seem like an escalation without giving your colleague a chance to address the problem. We will only go with this option when we have valid reasons.
I will let you know what I will say in this session.
I will explain to your colleague why you cannot approach them directly.
I believe in resolving conflicts and not taking things personally, but when a relationship is beyond repair, I will not force it and separate those who cannot work with each other.
Credit, visibility, and performance review
I will give you credit for your work in public forums, and will never minimise your accomplishments.
I am not yet strong at providing good visibility for the team and struggle with putting both myself and our team out there, but I will work to engage more often with upper management and seek opportunities to showcase our team’s work.
Feedback from your performance review will be shared after the design team’s calibration is completed, twice a year in March and September. We will set up a longer 1:1 for this session and go through the feedback from me, as well as your peers and stakeholders, together. You will be given time to process your feedback before we regroup and discuss how to tackle the feedback in the next quarter. This will become part of your growth plan.
Your growth and promotion are both of our responsibilities.
Be transparent and honest about your needs as well as the support you need from me for your growth and development.
We will work together to draft your growth plan and be accountable for your progress. I can’t help you if you don’t do your part in developing yourself.
We will keep a brag document for you, and you are accountable to update it regularly with your successes. I will contribute from sources that you are not accessible to. As we are not good at celebrating our accomplishments, we will start practicing with this exercise, this will also contribute to your performance review documents.
Additional reference/reading materials
First Round: The Indispensable Document for the Modern Manager 👈
Julie Zhuo’s A User Guide to Working With You 👇
I really like the How I view success and What gains and loses my trust sections from Julie Zhuo’s user guide. The first section will help give team members clarity on what the manager will place their focus on (people, process, purpose) and which of these is more important. The second section will help team members build trust with their manager as well as manage up, avoid triggers. I also enjoy how detailed and personal Julie Zhuo’s guide is. I’ll continue reflecting on my own version and perhaps update my manual soon!
My people 🤎
I was extremely lucky to be a part of a great team of folks who are capable, honest, and kind. Their patience and open-mindedness allowed me to make mistakes, learn, and grow, and their genuine care for each other helped make our team a safe and trusting place to be a part of. This manual was crafted with them in mind.
I also had my peers and batchmates who became design managers at the same time as me. Without them, it would’ve been a tad bit lonely figuring it all out.
They had made my time at work, and as a manager, so meaningful and joyful. Thank you.
I will forever feel lacking, but grateful, but lacking as anyone’s manager.
— Zoey
P.S. Spot a mistake? Something you don’t agree with? Feedback? GIMME.