Admin Playbooks

How to design your office, set norms, and support healthy usage at scale.

These playbooks are for admins, team leads, and operators who want Katmai to actually work, not just be turned on.

Your job isn’t to manage usage minute by minute. It’s to design an environment and set a few clear norms so the right behavior emerges naturally.

Playbook 1: Design the Office Before Inviting the Team

Structure creates clarity.

Before rollout:

• Create clear zones: offices, pods, meeting rooms
• Name rooms logically (by function or team, not whim)
• Assign home bases so everyone knows where people “live”

Playbook 2: Give Everyone a Home Base

People need a default place to land.

Assign:

• Personal offices or desks
• Team pods or shared areas

This answers two core questions instantly:

• Where do I go when I log in?
• Where do I find others?

Playbook 3: Set the Default: “Go to the Office”

Make Katmai the first stop, not the fallback.

Communicate a simple rule:

When you need to talk or meet, go to the office.

This replaces:

• Sending links
• Scheduling reflexively
• Asking where to meet

Playbook 4: Normalize Quiet Presence

Being present doesn’t mean being available.

Model and encourage:

• Sitting in the office while muted
• Working independently but visibly
• Closing doors without explanation

This removes pressure and burnout while preserving awareness.

Playbook 5: Reduce Meetings by Design

Meetings should earn their place.

Encourage teams to:

• Walk over for quick questions
• Use rooms only when structure is needed
• Cancel meetings that become spontaneous conversations

Over time, calendars thin themselves.

Playbook 6: Lead from the Office

Adoption follows leadership behavior.

Leaders should:

• Spend real time in the office
• Hold conversations in shared spaces
• Walk over instead of messaging

This signals that Katmai isn’t “another tool,” it’s where work happens.

Playbook 7: Set Light, Clear Norms (Not Rules)

Avoid long documents.

Instead, reinforce a few truths:

• Presence beats messages
• Proximity beats scheduling
• Visibility beats status updates

Repeat them often. Keep them human.

Playbook 8: Watch Patterns, Not Activity

Healthy usage isn’t constant usage.

Look for:

• Regular presence windows
• Faster decisions
• Fewer meetings
• More cross-team interaction

Don’t optimize for time spent. Optimize for friction removed.

Playbook 9: Support Change Without Forcing It

Change happens through repetition, not enforcement.

If adoption lags:

• Re-model behavior
• Re-explain the “why”
• Simplify expectations

Most resistance is habit, not objection.

The Admin’s Role

You’re not managing software.

You’re shaping how work flows.

When the office is designed well and norms are clear, Katmai runs itself.