Have you thought about you lately?

Sarah Beth Cloar, President, WWPR

Oftentimes, our job descriptions and office responsibilities have us thinking about everything else BUT ourselves.

I recently joined a new workstream and as part of the introductory kick-off, our team lead circulated a “user guide” for each of us to complete on how we like to work. The goal of the exercise is to get to know our new (virtual) colleagues but also to understand what they value and their operational preferences on a deeper level.

It’s safe to say that very few people in PR struggle with talking about themselves – but I found this challenge so very different. I paused to really think about this in a meaningful way: what do I truly value, what motivates me to do my best, where do I lack patience and what endears people to me? I’ll be excited to learn more about my new colleagues next week and watch how these insights we’ve gained will help us drive bigger, better results.

Whether you lead a team or need to take a pause yourself, I’m sharing the questionnaire with you below. Has your organization done something similar? If you have some results, will you share them with us? Send us a note via email.

As always, thanks for being a part of the WWPR community. Happy Summer!

 

  • What I value 
  • What I need to be successful 
  • The best way to motivate me to do something 
  • What I don’t have patience for 
  • How to best communicate with me 
    • How do you prefer to give and receive feedback?  
    • When do you like people to approach you and how?  
    • Which communication medium is best for what type of message(s); frequency and granularity?
  • Your “operating approach” 
    • How frequently do you like to meet and how should meetings be scheduled and organized?  
    • How do you stay organized?
  • How to earn a “gold star” with me 
    • What endears people to you? 
  • What people misunderstand about me 
    • What do people misunderstand about you, and why?