Accelerator programme

Enrolment form

Welcome! Your company is taking part in the Mr. System accelerator programme. My goal is to make your life at work as easy as possible in order to reduce any tedious busywork and operational friction so that you can make more time for the work that matters most.

So that we can get started without delay, please fill out the following form so that I have your correct contact details and can better understand your role and points of view.

Please don’t rush your answers! This is your earliest and biggest opportunity to speak 100% candidly to a neutral third party and have your say. If you don’t tell me how you feel. I can’t even try to help.

None of your responses will be seen by anybody else except me.

This enrolment process will take about 20-30 minutes.
Begin enrolment →
Thank you. I look forward to meeting you soon!
Dave J Mason
aka Mr. System

Contact information

Which email do you use for your work?
If you don't have a work phone number, you can leave this blank
Leave blank if N/A
If you don't have LinkedIn or don't want to connect, leave this blank.
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About your job

What's your official job title?
What part of the business do you primarily work within?
What's the name of the person you report to? If for some reason you don't have a line manager, type N/A in this field
So that I can link your records together in my internal systems. If for some reason you don't have a line manager, put your own email in this field.
Select one option
Select one option
Help me to understand your specific function within the company.
It's always nice to be given credit where credit is due!
If you left your position for another job, what would you miss?
If you could wave a magic wand and change anything, what would you replace or get rid of?
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About your work

Keep it short and simple, we will have time to dig into the details later if needed.
Think about action trackers, status updates, project plans, static date (e.g. contact lists), etc.
Think about the types of work you're most instinctively drawn to doing. When does time pass the quickest?
Are there any trends or patterns to it? What tends to get in the way?
Do you tend to fear consequences or are they more likely to be treated as learning opportunities?
Example: Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm or 38 hours flexi-time. If your role is based on results, not time, then select "No".
Note: A full-time job Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm = 37.5 hours per week
Be honest! Include any extra hours that you work in the evenings/weekends, checking emails etc.
Consider all possible reasons. For example: Inefficient systems and processes, lack of visibility, interruptions, searching for files and past communications, poor communication by others, email overload, time-consuming admin work, unproductive meetings, project bottlenecks, firefighting, scope creep, chasing for status updates, repeating tasks that were done incorrectly etc...
Estimate your answer based on a typical week, rather than recently or specific good/bad weeks.
Think about all the time you spend in meetings. How much of that is spent on mere information sharing? (instead of more productive endeavours like problem-solving, brainstorming, team development, etc)...
How much of your day goes towards trying to stay on top of your inbox?
For example; looking back through on Slack/Teams messages or emails, digging through file servers or cloud storage folders, asking colleagues where things are, piecing together information from multiple sources in order to make a decision or continue with your work, etc...
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About your company

Don't worry if they're not actually looking for a job, just pretend they were.
What is it about your company that you would (or would not) recommend?
Don’t worry, this isn’t an exam. Nobody else will know your answer except me. If you feel like you need to look up the answer, don’t. Just write “not sure”. If there isn't one, just write "we don't have one". If you feel like it, I'd love to hear your opinion on this and whether it's something that is important to you.
Consider the management styles, opportunities, benefits, culture, mission, product/service, etc.
Sometimes the best ideas go unheard. Have you had any ideas or inclinations as to what would be beneficial to focus on improving? Perhaps organisation, operations, culture, collaboration, management, mission, product/service, etc.
Some questions that might help to get you started: Would you have clear directives or more freedom and autonomy? Would you prefer a predictable 9-5 schedule or flexible working time? Would you prefer to keep home separate from work, or work remotely away from the office? Or a hybrid of both? What would management be like? How would other people behave with one another? What would you like to spend more time working on? Or less time working on? What would be the cultural norms?
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Tell me about yourself

Seeing a creative brief come to life? Being recognised in front of others? Feeling a sense of community with colleagues?
But not only work related. I'd love to know about any personal passions like music, cooking, sport, DIY, creative hobbies etc...
Constant meetings? Being interrupted? Unrelenting pressure? Tedious admin and busywork? Mood hoovers? Give specific examples where you can.
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About this programme

Don't worry if you're not sure. This is mainly so that I can fill in the blanks and clarify any uncertainties.
Be brutally honest. I don't want to feel like a nuisance, so help me understand where your mind is at.
Any pockets of likely resistance within the team? Any periods where things get even busier? Any previously failed change projects that may have brought about a level of cynicism? Any other systems, softwares, or frameworks etc that might conflict with what we're planning to do together? Any particularly severe (ie limiting) implications to important projects, workflows, relationships etc that might restrict what we can or can't do? Etc...
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About Asana

Zoom is a popular video conferencing software that we'll be using to meet and train together.
Asana is the platform that we'll be using to manage tasks, projects, and workflows.
How easy do you find it to use Asana? Is your work beginning to pile up in lists or are you generally able to keep it organised? Are you missing important tasks and communications or do you tend to be reasonably up-to-date with everything? How easy is it for you to find the information, resources or context that you need in any given situation? Etc...
Do you like using it? Does it feel simple and easy to use? Does it help you to get your work done? Or does it feel like hard work, tedious admin, or a general nuisance that other people keep relentlessly banging on about for some unknown reason?
Last question, phew! Well done for getting this far. Is there anything else that you haven't been asked about that you think would be helpful to know? Or any ideas that you've had and would like to share? Or any questions you would like me to answer for you?
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All done!

Thank you. You are now successfully enrolled. Nothing more to do, you'll hear more from me soon.

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