Many years ago, during an initial client engagement, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for the brand I was about to start working with shared a user manual of sorts with me and his then-new team. Having never seen such a manual before, I didn’t know what to expect, but I quickly learned that the document contained important details about what working with her looked like.

For example, she shared how she likes to receive important information (in-person vs. email), what her communication style looked like (direct but not confrontational), and what working with her would be like (collaborative).

A versatile owners manual and guide

As a digital marketing and content strategist who works with dozens of clients each year, the user manual was a welcome addition to the engagement. In fact, I found it so useful that I created one for myself and started sharing with with all of my clients. Along the way, however, I realized user manuals are just as valuable for personal use as well, especially today when remote work is the norm nation wide. I never imagined that the personal user manual for introverts that I created in 2020 would still be popular among my family and friends today.

A personal user manual template with broad applications

That’s why I’m sharing super simple user manual template that I created, which can be adapted for personal or professional use. I hope you try it out for your home life or your professional life and let me know what you think. Unlike many other user manual templates online, this one is bare bones, allowing you to add only what’s needed instead of being saddled with the limits placed on you by design. My goal is for everyone to create a document that enables them to better work, live, and interact online and offline.

Try out the personal user manual template and let me know what you think.