Concept
Manager operating system
A manager operating system is a single page that sets out a manager's routine with a first team: regular one-on-ones on each report's agenda, one team meeting that ends in decisions read aloud, a calendar planned by leverage, a feedback loop in both directions, and a quarterly look at each person's growth.
Andrew Grove treated management as a production process with its own rhythm; for a first-time manager, that rhythm has to be simple enough to keep in the year when everything is new. BookYol's Lead Your First Team Yol builds the page over twelve daily Stations, and each of its five lines draws on the books behind it, from Grove's one-on-one to Kim Scott's feedback. One-on-ones: every direct report, weekly to start, their agenda, never cancelled. The team meeting: one a week with a stated purpose, closing with decisions, owners and dates. The calendar: high-leverage hours protected first, last week's low-leverage blocks moved into teaching. The feedback loop: one piece of criticism asked for and one given each week, praise in public the same day. The people review: each person once a quarter, where they are growing and what they need next. It is run for four weeks before being judged, because the first two feel artificial. After that it changes only for reasons from the team (a new hire, a new goal), never because a week was uncomfortable.
A real-life example
Three months into running a six-person customer success team in Istanbul, a new manager writes her page: one-on-ones on Tuesday and Thursday mornings; a Monday team meeting that opens with the quarter's goal; Wednesday afternoon blocked for planning, with one hour for teaching; one piece of criticism asked for and one given each week; people reviews booked for the first week of each quarter. She keeps it inside the cover of her notebook and checks it every Friday.
How to use it
- 1Write the five lines tonight, by hand or in a note.
- 2Run it for four weeks before changing anything.
- 3Change a line only for a reason from your team, and write the reason next to the change.