# Liz Gray's Manager Readme **Knowledge Product Manager at Braintree** This document’s purpose is to give you insight into who I am and how I interact with others. I am a work in progress, and so is this document. If you have questions or suggestions, leave me a comment! # Short Version - I thrive off of interacting with people, and I don’t have to be talking to do that; I enjoy thinking aloud but am also content to sit quietly in a room working alongside others - I prioritize work focused on understanding and improving the means by which people relate, communicate, and interact with each other - I look for connections and patterns within systems and don’t shy away from complexity - I generally meet with team members one-on-one weekly for 30-60 minutes - I welcome feedback via all forums and encourage you to use one-on-ones as an opportunity to tell me what I’m doing well, what I can do to better support you, and what I can do differently # About Me ## **Personal** My name’s Elisabeth Gray. I prefer to go by Liz, and she/her pronouns are best. I grew up on a turkey farm in Indiana and have four siblings. When we’re together you can expect lots of laughter, mischief, and gesticulation. I am married to an exceptionally hip and nerdy information professional with aspirations of becoming a drummer. We have three cats, and we love to travel. I have a lot of tattoos and some cool scars; they all have stories attached to them, which I’ll happily share if you’re interested. I tend to use profanity, especially when I’m excited about something; if that’s not your style let me know, and I will adjust accordingly. ## **Professional / Academic** I have over fifteen years of experience in technical and management roles across non-profit, service, education, and financial technology segments. I prioritize work focused on understanding and improving the means by which people relate, communicate, and interact with each other. For example, the Braintree Docs team (which I manage) is structured to support products and teams end-to-end—from the internal knowledge base to the developer docs to the support articles—in order to share context and maintain a more consistent and accurate narrative between domains. [My CV](https://elisabethgray.me/cv/) covers the full details of my professional and academic journey. # How I Work ## **Guiding Principles** - **People are complex****.** I want to understand the things that make you you so that I can support you better. - **Diversity makes us stronger****.** I value diversity of identity, experience, and thought and I strongly believe that understanding and embracing difference improves our output and our resilience as individuals, as a team, and as a company. - **Context matters****.** It is important to gather and share it to ensure that we’re working toward the same goals. I will talk about context a lot. You’ve been warned. - **Communicating is essential, and it’s hard to do well****.** I skew toward full transparency as my default communication style. If that’s not working for you, let me know! I value feedback and want to make sure I communicate effectively with different audiences. - **Change is a constant****.** I first saw literacy equated with the ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn in Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock, and I subscribe to that idea. ## **Work Style and Approach** - I have been described as passionate, and that’s a valid assessment. Sometimes my excitement—or frustration—about a topic is expressed with hyperbole, and it’s almost always expressed with my hands. - Attention to wellness is important. I encourage you to reflect on what wellness means for you and share that with me so that I know how best to support you. - It’s common for me to mull over ideas long enough that I don’t remember what I’ve said aloud and to whom. If I ask something of you and it isn’t clear, please feel free to tell me to use more words. I need and appreciate reminders to be more explicit. - I respond better to being asked than I do to being told. ## **Feedback**   **Self** - I welcome feedback on what I’m doing well and what I can do differently via all forums (Slack, email, in person) - I prefer feedback as it happens so I can more effectively connect actions to words, though I absolutely understand if you need to process before providing feedback - I’m comfortable with people being blunt with me and appreciate a focus on known rather than assumed information as part of that process; if you don’t know or are unsure, please ask! - I care a lot about the work I do and the people I work with, so I’ll need more time to process feedback in some cases, and I’ll do my best to communicate that when it’s necessary - Recognition where it’s due is welcomed and can be public or private (if in question, default to private) **Others** - I’m more comfortable with my ability to communicate in writing; if your preference is verbal feedback, I’ll do my best to support that - If you don’t get or agree with my position, let me know so we can work toward a better understanding together ## **Calendar** I do my best to keep mine up-to-date, and any calendar invitations I send should default to allowing you to modify them. If a time I’ve proposed doesn’t work for you, please change it to one that does. # Team Practices This is a subset of the practices in place in my current role as manager of a team of Knowledge Management Strategists. ## **Team Meetings** - Team syncs are on Tuesdays and Thursdays - At the end of Tuesday meetings, we share our work priorities for the week - At the end of Thursday meetings, we share our highs and/or lows for the week - Once a month we hold [virtual coffee breaks](https://internal.braintreepayments.com/display/ID/Docs+Team+Virtual+Coffee+Breaks) to catch up and discuss non-work topics of interest ## **One-on-Ones** - I meet with most of the team weekly for 30-60 minutes - You’ll set the agenda; I might add to it if there are time-sensitive topics I need to address - This is time for us to discuss what’s important to you, which can be personal, professional, or a combination of the two - I often take notes to remember the topics we’ve discussed and to ensure that I remember any action items I owe you - I encourage you to use our one-on-ones as an opportunity to tell me what I’m doing well, what I can do better to support you, and to share suggestions for things I can do differently # About You I genuinely like getting to know people. If we’re working together, it’s important that I learn some basics about how best to interact with you. Lara Hogan has a good [list of starter questions](https://larahogan.me/blog/first-one-on-one-questions/): ## **Reading you** - What makes you unhappy? - How will someone else know when you’re unhappy? - How can someone else help you when you’re unhappy? ## **Feedback, recognition, and development** - In what medium (Slack, email, in person, etc.) do you prefer to receive feedback? - When do you prefer to receive feedback (in 1:1s or as-it-happens)? - How do you prefer to receive recognition (public or private)? - Human learning and growth requires the right amount of 4 things: new challenges, low ego, space to reflect and brainstorm, timely and clear feedback. Is there one you need more/less of? ## **Work environment** - What do you need from your manager? - What do you need from your team? - What do you need from your peers (outside the team)?  # Assessments I enjoy using assessments as a means of gaining new and different perspectives into how we view and interact with the world. I do not see them as hard or fixed definitions of who we are. I do see them as useful insights into how to relate to and understand each other. ## **Myers-Briggs** I’ve consistently fallen into the category of [ENFJ](https://www.mbtionline.com/types/ENFJ/) until recently when my results shifted to [ENTP](https://www.mbtionline.com/types/ENTP/). In my personal life, I align best with the characteristics associated with ENFJ. I see the shift to ENTP as a persona I can assume in the work environment, particularly as a manager. **Major takeaways:** - I thrive off of interacting with people, and I don’t have to be talking to do that; I am content to sit quietly in a room working alongside others - I sincerely enjoy helping people - I look for connections and patterns within systems and don’t shy away from complexity - I like developing strategy and solving problems creatively - I value initiative and adaptability in myself and in others - I don’t like to micromanage, and if I am, it’s likely because of insecurity or unfamiliarity within that particular situation - I like to move quickly but respect that there are different working styles that can be equally as effective ## **StrengthsFinder** I appreciate StrengthsFinder’s emphasis on how our strengths influence the ways we work best. New team members take this assessment and we discuss our results as a team during annual onsites. My top five from the first time I took the assessment in 2016 are: - **Learner** : I have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. The process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites me. - **Achiever** : I take great satisfaction from being productive. - **Context** : I enjoy studying the past to better understand the present and plan for the future. - **Connectedness** : I am always looking for ways to connect the dots between events, ideas, and, ultimately, people. I’m motivated by opportunities to better understand individuals and groups and use that knowledge to identify commonalities and promote empathy. - **Woo** : I love meeting new people and making connections, and I like to share what I learn with others. This is strongly tied to my interests in context and connectedness. I enjoy networking because I value people; I do it sincerely.