Writing a personal ReadMe for work
What a personal ReadMe isn’t
A personal ReadMe is usually considered to be a helpful user guide for interacting with and understanding you in a work context. However, I’d like to ask you to exercise caution before sharing a personal ReadMe with others on your team. There are a number of ways that a document like this can become, at best, functionally ineffective and, at worst, actively harmful. Additionally, the more seniority or authority you have in an organization, the more caution you should exercise when thinking about sharing a personal ReadMe with your coworkers, as the power differential creates more opportunities for difficulty or complications.
A ReadMe is not comprehensive
Fully describing a person by writing a document is an exercise in futility. It can only ever even be partially informative, even when it’s only filled with relevant work information. Additionally, the longer a document is, the less likely others will read it.
A ReadMe is not just an instruction manual
Unlike software ReadMe documents, a personal ReadMe isn’t about configuration or installation instructions. We’re people, not sets of transactional mechanisms. Other people cannot simply press the proper buttons to get what they want; there are not finite proper inputs that will generate expected results.
A ReadMe is not a way to trivially build trust
Trust is built through interactions. While a ReadMe can provide interaction guidelines, it isn’t a substitute for actual co-working, collaboration, or conversation.
A ReadMe is not a list of platitudes, personality traits, anecdotes, or excuses
I can’t just write down all my observed flaws and then ask people to deal with them rather than working to remedy them myself; I cannot abdicate responsibility by putting my bad habits into a document. Similarly, I can’t write about how I’d like to be and treat that like how I am currently. A road cannot be paved with good intentions, it’s paved through work.
A ReadMe is not a negation of others’ experiences
If I write down something about how I work or behave in my personal ReadMe, and then I do the opposite thing, that does not absolve me of the responsibility for having done that opposite thing.
A ReadMe is not required reading
It’s difficult to get people to read any kind of documentation, and as I mentioned before, a personal ReadMe isn’t a replacement for actual conversations and collaborations. It might be easier to consider the document more like a set of “frequently-asked questions”.
A ReadMe is not required writing
If someone can’t be their authentic self at work, whether that’s because of a power differential, structural inequality, or some other reason, they are not going to inherently be more open and honest if they have to fill out a document about themselves.
What a personal ReadMe can be
I’ve provided a lot of caveats so far, but I think mentioning each of them was necessary before we go any further. Please consider the potential pitfalls of a personal ReadMe, especially if you’re in a position of implicit or explicit authority in your role. With that all said, there are some meaningful functions that a personal ReadMe can help fulfill.
Recommendations, guidelines, and boundaries
A personal ReadMe is an option for providing actionable steps for your personal well-being. For example, I have a section in mine about how to provide specific context when sending me an instant message, which reduces my anxiety and helps me context switch. Not everyone inherently understands the unspoken expectations for interacting with any particular individual, and most people don’t want to figure those things out by messing them up. There are plenty of cultural, experiential, and personal reasons why someone might not be familiar with the commonly-assumed “culture norms” of a workplace, and more importantly, the specific needs of their coworkers within it.
Process-driven information
A personal ReadMe can be a way to calibrate expectations about how you work, or to provide a list of ways that you work that involve interactions with your coworkers. I have a section in mine about how I review and submit software pull requests, and a section about how I plan and schedule meetings.
Recommended reading
If I’ve shared a personal ReadMe with you, I’d appreciate if you would read it. It helps smooth out specific situations and gives you an overview into relevant processes when collaborating with me.
A tool for introspection
You don’t necessarily need to share your work ReadMe with your coworkers for it to be useful. Even writing one just for yourself can help you think about the ways in which you work, and help you better understand how you interact with your coworkers.