Claire Hughes Johnson Operating Style Audit

Drafting a personal working guide clarifies your decision making, communication preferences, and feedback expectations when starting a new role. The Claire Hughes Johnson operating style audit helps you establish explicit norms with your new team from week one.

5 time blocks, 45 minutes in total.

Time blocks

Define Communication & Work Defaults: 10 min
Document your preferred channels, response times, and meeting habits
Outline Decision Making Frameworks: 10 min
Detail how you evaluate data, weigh risks, and make calls
Clarify Feedback Expectations: 10 min
Note how you prefer to give and receive direct feedback
Identify Blind Spots & Pet Peeves: 5 min
List personal quirks, work triggers, and areas needing support
Review & Share With Team: 10 min
Distribute your document to your manager and direct reports

About this routine

Claire Hughes Johnson, former chief operating officer at Stripe and author of Scaling People, popularized writing a personal guide to outline how you work. Creating a structured document during your first days at a new company removes ambiguity for your manager and peers. Conducting a Claire Hughes Johnson operating style audit forces you to articulate your implicit habits before misunderstandings happen.

The exercise focuses on concrete operational parameters rather than vague personality traits. You record your default communication channels, preferred decision making speed, feedback habits, and known friction points. Laying out these rules upfront creates mutual transparency and speeds up trust building across team boundaries.

Once completed, this document serves as a living draft during your onboarding discussions. Sharing it with direct reports and your manager invites them to share their own operating styles, establishing clear alignment on expectations from your very first week.

Why this routine works

Accelerates mutual trust with managers and direct reports
Reduces communication friction during initial onboarding
Establishes clear expectations around feedback and decisions
Provides a repeatable framework for team alignment

FAQ

What is a working with me document?

It is a short guide detailing your communication preferences, feedback style, decision making approach, and work quirks, shared with colleagues to streamline working relationships.

How long does the Claire Hughes Johnson operating style audit take?

The initial audit and drafting take 45 minutes, followed by a brief discussion with your manager or team.

When should you write an operating style guide?

The best time is during your first two weeks in a new role or when taking over management of a new team.

Sources

Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building, Claire Hughes Johnson
Working with Claire, Stripe / Claire Hughes Johnson