Within the first couple of weeks, I do 1:1s with each team member to learn about them. I follow this Q&A document and save it to refer to later.
These are a list of questions that I ask each designer on the team in order to learn more about them as well as understand how I can best support them. I typically go over these questions within the first few 1:1s.
- What is most important to you in life? (what are your personal priorities)
- What kind of person do you aspire to become?
- What are your career goals and aspirations?
- Are you satisfied with your current career position? Why or why not?
- How do you feel about your current career path and trajectory?
- What generally motivates you?
- What keeps you engaged and motivated at work?
- When have you felt the most inspired at work? Why?
- When did you produce your best work? What contributed to that?
- What are your unique qualities?
- What are your strengths?
- Which skills would you like to develop further?
- What have you enjoyed the most about your previous roles or companies?
- How would you describe your ideal position, and why?
- What do you need to be successful in your role?
- How would you describe your ideal work environment, and why?
- What worked well and what didn’t with your previous manager?
- What type of feedback do you prefer?