The basics you should know about me are …
Matthew Guy, my pronouns are he and him. I work in post-secondary education as a Manager of Student Services and an Academic Chair.
My absolute requirements to do great work are …
I need two screens as much as possible as I like to have emails and calendar open or Teams and documents, Word and Excel, emails and website, etc etc etc
I like deadlines to help prioritize my work.
I love distractions as my job is about people but at rare times I will need to shut the door and get things done.
My best working patterns look like …
I do my thinking, processing and intensive brain work in the mornings and later in the day I am better for communicating, checking-in, and planning.
I usually start my day by doing a quick walk around campus to see what is happening, how people are feeling and to say hello to as many people as possible. We can resolve quick issues or plan to meet later in the day to tackle more complex matters.
When I’m dealing with stress, I …
To an extent I thrive on stressful situations, I am good in a crisis from years managing student housing. Fire, flood, evacuation, crisis – no problem.
Too much administration and not enough time or barriers to completing work may result in clipped responses or not having time to engage fully. Offer to help with specific helpful tasks would be appreciated. “Can I phone this person?”, “Would you like me to book the rooms?” or “Let me let the team know we will need tomorrow instead” or even “I brought you a coffee and a CurlyWurly”
The best way to give me feedback is …
Kindly and not on a high stress day – read the room, my reaction and prepare to come back to it later.
If I need the feedback to correct right here, right now – tell me. If it is “next time you should or shouldn’t do this…” then perhaps wait until I come down off the adrenalin high of an event or activity.
Beyond work, I’m really passionate about …
Progressive politics, the environment, my family, our pets, human rights, equality, kindness, technology, leadership, how to win elections, history, countryside, the UK
Thank you for Manual of Me website for helping me put together this page.