REBORRN Operating System
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How we lead

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Self-managed is the key word. Table of Contents: 1. Management Principles 2. One-on-Ones (O3s) 3. Performance Management

1️⃣ Management Principles

Our structure is flat, and we are not hierarchical. The people manager’s role is mainly to coach, support, and ensure that their teams have the right capabilities. Given that we are self-managed, the people manager’s role is definitely not to micro-manage or know every little detail of someone’s projects. Anyone can collaborate with anyone in the company, vertically or horizontally, without needing to involve their direct manager. For example, an intern may have a discussion on an idea they have directly with a partner.

Having said that, we still want to ensure consistency in the employee experience across all teams, that we are hiring and retaining the right talent, and that we are growing our people and our business.

To ensure this, and given that we prefer compasses over recipes, we crafted the management principles we would like all of our people managers to follow.

Here they are:

2️⃣ One-on-Ones (O3s)

Every manager holds a 30-minute one-on-one (O3) once a week with each direct report. We are quite diligent with these meetings as we believe they are a great opportunity to understand our team, align, as well as give and receive feedback.

Inspired by Mark Horstman’s book, The Effective Manager, here is how we run our O3s:

  1. Scheduled and Recurring:

    2. It is extremely important to have this meeting as a recurring one on our calendar every week. Even if we need to reschedule or skip it occasionally, having it scheduled shows our commitment and impacts employee engagement and performance positively. A scheduled one-on-one cannot be replaced by impromptu check-ins or project-focused meetings.

  2. Held Weekly:

    3. While some may think weekly is too frequent, various studies have shown this is the ideal frequency. We typically plan our work in weekly intervals, and this regularity helps build trust and align goals.

  3. 30 Minutes Long:

    4. We agree with Horstman that 30 minutes is the ideal duration. Longer meetings are more likely to be canceled due to urgent tasks, and additional time does not necessarily provide extra benefits. If we have no updates to discuss, we stay flexible and may end the meeting early.

  4. Inclusive of All Direct Reports:

    5. Every direct report, regardless of performance level or seniority, receives the same attention. We do not prioritise more junior, high-performing, or low-performing employees over others.

  5. Focus on Direct Report's Issues:

    6. The primary focus of these meetings is to understand if our direct reports are facing any issues, have ideas or concern. We start each meeting with a general question to encourage open discussion (e.g., "How are you?" or "What’s on your mind?").

  6. Specific Structure:

      7. The agenda is simple:

    1. 10 minutes for the direct report to speak
    2. 10 minutes for the manager to speak
    3. 10 minutes to discuss the future

      4. This structure is of course a flexible guideline. We don't interrupt if our direct report exceeds their 10 minutes. While discussing the future may not happen every week, ensuring it happens regularly, perhaps once a month, is essential.

3️⃣ Performance Management - or the absence of it

Well, we don’t have a formal performance management process. This is a conscious decision because we believe that continuous feedback is more impactful than a rigid process. Our business moves fast, and our focus often shifts, making specific objectives quickly obsolete.

As described in our management principles, every manager is expected to:

  1. Tackle underperformance swiftly by offering feedback and support.
  2. Actively engage in growth conversations.
  3. Commit devoutly to weekly one-on-ones.
  4. Champion impact over everything, making performance non-negotiable.
  5. Always raise the bar in everything we deliver - aiming for a min 1% better every time.
  6. Be clear on direction and what success looks like in terms of expectations.
  7. Foster a culture of continuous feedback making growth an everyday agenda.

So, we ensure that performance is managed in real time and in an organic way. Frameworks and paperwork will only slow us down adding unnecessary bureaucracy and no real impact.