Build Trust and Rapport

One strategy is to ask a series of questions that are intended to help you get to know the aspects of the person that impact your ability to manage him well. These questions might include:

• How do you like to be praised, in public or in private?
  Some people really hate to be praised in public. You want to know this.
• What is your preferred method of communication for serious feedback? Do you prefer to get such feedback in writing so you have time to digest it, or are you comfortable with less formal verbal feedback?
• Why did you decide to work here? What are you excited about?
• How do I know when you’re in a bad mood or annoyed? Are there things that always put you in a bad mood that I should be aware of?
  Maybe a direct report fasts for religious reasons, which sometimes makes him cranky. Maybe he always gets stressed out while on-call. Maybe he hates reviews season.
• Are there any manager behaviors that you know you hate?
  If you asked me this question, my answer would be: skipping or rescheduling 1-1s, neglecting to give me feedback, and avoiding difficult conversations.
• Do you have any clear career goals that I should know about so I can help you achieve them?
• Any surprises since you’ve joined, good or bad, that I should know about?
  Things like: Where are my stock options? You promised me a relocation bonus and I haven’t gotten it yet. Why are we using SVN and not Git? I didn’t expect to be so productive already!

For more ideas, see Lara Hogan’s excellent blog post on the topic.