Benjamin Parry – User Manual

Hi, thanks for making time to read about me. If you think I’ve missing something let me know.

A quite space for focused conversations and deep thinking. At certain points in my work I need a quiet and undisturbed space for giving my best. Research interviews, analysis, report writing and presenting are best when I’m tucked away in quiet and cosy corner. If I’m wearing headphones in the office, I’m 99.9% signalling that I’m trying to give my work 100% of my concentration.

I live and die by the calendar. My calander is mostly up to date and assume other people’s are too… though I appreciate that’s not how all people work. I make sure to accept/declide invitations for the current and following week at a minimum. I have lunch booked in everyday at 12:00 but occasionally move it, I sometimes run errands over lunch too so will be away from the computer.

My phone isn’t a company phone. I’m trying to get better at setting boundaries so I don’t have any company related accounts on my mobile phone. That means no email or Slack. I don’t use WhatsApp either because… well, Zuckerburg! The best way to get in touch with me is by text or a phone call, my number is on my Slack profile.

I like to move it, move it. A ride before/after the working day, a walking 1:1, a ‘doing’ social activity, working at a standing desk, all raise my energy and bring out the best in me. If I’m sat in the same position all day give me a poke.

I work Monday to Friday. Hours are flexible to cover childcare so 07:00-08:00 and 16:00-17:00 can be a bit distracting. If there’s anything pre-planned I’ll account for this in my calander to make up for the time.

I generally work much better in the morning than the afternoon.

If I need some focus time I will block out my calendar.

Collaboratively I like to think I’m pretty flexible, let’s get together and plan out the day/week/project!

1. Slack
2. Face to face
3. Calls

• Long calls i.e. +1.5hrs – Voice call (Slack Huddle, Google Meet without video, telephone)
• Short calls i.e. up to 1.5hrs – Video call (above with video)

4. Email for the formal stuff

When it comes to feedback I’m like Lisa Simpson. I truly believe that the only way I’ll get any better as a practitioner or teamate is if people are honest and timely with their feedback.

I hope everyone feels comfortable enough to contact me directly or in their preferred way to give me feedback. Otherwise I have a feedback forms for project work and non-project work (DM me for access). Feedback on the feedback forms is verty much welcome.

I prefer feedback early so I can action it straight away. Please don’t wait until the end of a project to tell me I could be doing better.

Clear instructions and expectations. I work really well when it’s clear what I’m being asked to do and when I need to do it by.

Me-time before our us-time. I like to have some solitary thinking and doing time before we meet for our discussion so I feel prepared and I’m adding something of value. A meeting agenda really helps me know if there’s anything I need to prep for, without one I’m a bit lost and can feel anxious.

Context switching is enemy #1. I can get distracted by DMs and sometimes fall victim to agreeing to small tasks that end up taking longer than expected and distract me from deeper thinking time (I’m working on this).

You can help by:

• Checking my calendar to see if I’m in ‘🙉️ focus mode 🙉️’ before messaging.
• If urgent, letting me know what I need to do and when the deadline is.
• If not urgent, send a scheduled message toward the end of the day when my brain is seeking some admin-related work.

Gramer, punctuation!!!- speeling. I have dyslexia 🎉. When you’re working with me you’ll likely notice spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes. I actively encourage people to tell me about them and genuinely welcome suggestions and corrections. I appreciate when people remind me of the rules and concepts, so please don’t feel embarrassed or hesitant. I only ask that you don’t completely rewrite what I’ve written, especially live-correcting a presenntation while I’m informally presenting to stakeholders… yep, that actually happened to me once! If you’re a content/writer buddy please make yourself know to me.

Make it visible. I’m an advocate for making work and conversations visible, particularly when people are struggling or have concerns about a project. I try to encourage team members, and myself, to avoid using Slack direct messages or other backchannels. I believe that it is healthy for the project team to be discussing project decisions and concerns, sharing links in the Slack project channel rather than in direct messages.

Making time for presentation checks and rehearsal. I try to protect time to prepare for presentations. I notice a remarkable difference when I do. If you notice it’s not in my plan call me out! I also need to get better at sharing my presentations to get feedback and catch typos etc.

Talking over people and people talking over each other. I’m an introvert. I’m also a researcher. My natural state is to listen, take note and think about what is being said. I’ll patiently wait my turn to speak and won’t speak over other people. I’m getting better at volunteering opinion but need a respectful environment to do so.

Arrogance. DBBTMZ: Don’t be Bezos, Trump, Musk, Zuckerburg… the list goes on.

Hell is other people’s shared drives. One of my pet peeves is working with Google Drive. Tracking down important notes and files is frustrating and time consuming. Over my career I’ve seen a lot of good quality work lost because it hasn’t been shared in the company wide Google Drive folder. I ran a Lunch & Learn session called – Hell is Other People’s Shared Drives – to offer some practical tips for working better with Google Drive. I need to track that down…

Where’s Benjamin? I’m a bit socially awkward and find goodbyes really awkward. Please don’t be offended if I slip away during a conference to do my own thing or leave without saying goodbye at a social. It’s just my way.

• A beginning, middle and an end. Being part of the entire design process in a project is a massive win for me. I do my best work and learn more when I’m working with talented designers developers and researchers.
• Trying something new. I’m an experimenter. I welcome trying new approaches to projects, team dynamics and new tools.
• Being gifted time to reflect. I’m a continuous learner and cherish time to reflect on what I’ve learned to put better working practices into place.
• Being silly. I have a rather sideways sense of humor which I appreciate isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Humour can make things memorable and isn’t used enough in design and something I’d love to explore more.
• Being supported. Knowing people have my back and are looking out for me.

• You: Coffee? Me: Yes please! Oat milk cortardo or flat white please… oh wait it’s after midday, better not or the circus music will be playing in my head all night.
• I have enought novelty mugs to sink a tanker. If I’m ever your secret santa please don’t get me one unless you’re trying to be cruel.
• Before entering the world of design I used to be an extra (background artist darling 💅️) for TV and Film.
• I’m a self-confessed Japanophile.
• I never learned to drive a car.
• I’m into fermentation; sourdough bread and pizza, kimchi, kombucha. If you’re curious I’m more than happy to teach you how and can be your wholesome culture dealer 😉<(Mother’s the word).