> I started writing a “How to work with Julie” guide for my team The best managers I've had, which I've tried to emulate, have been exactly the opposite. Good

> I started writing a “How to work with Julie” guide for my team The best managers I've had, which I've tried to emulate, have been exactly the opposite. Good managers know enough about their team to create their own "How to work with $coworker" guide for each and every direct report! People vary (1) in how they best receive feedback, (2) in how much freedom and ambiguity they prefer in projects they're given, (3) in how often they want to meet, so on and so forth. If you aren't able to adjust your communication and management style to fit the needs of your team members, in most cases you aren't cut out to manage — it'll only become worse as your team grows and becomes more diverse. Disclaimer: this only applies to smaller companies (<100 employees). The author worked at a very large company, where employees are content to read the manager's 'user guide' to understand them better and try and thrive under them.