management
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How to fix five of the most common pain points of working from home
→: How to fix five of the most common pain points of working from homeMy latest in Quartz… Over the past couple of weeks there has been so much conversation about how to work remotely, missing the key phrase during a global pandemic, which I’m not sure any of us has the answer to. Meanwhile, a lot of people are struggling, even those who already have been working remotely for awhile.…
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Three signs of a poor hiring process—and four ways to fix it
→: Three signs of a poor hiring process—and four ways to fix itMy latest in Quartz… When given the opportunity to establish a process, we’re all biased to advocate for one in which we would be successful ourselves. In hiring, this plays out in two main ways: “A” players build monocultures, hiring people just like them, and “B” players hire “C” players, hiring people who won’t threaten…
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#rfrw? #rfrw!
→: #rfrw? #rfrw!Last week Nicole Sanchez of Vaya Consulting and I ran a webinar on remote management, you can find the video below. It was super fun recording it! There was also a summary post on WordPress.com. Tweet your questions at us with the hashtag #rfrw.
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Mastering New Leadership Styles
→: Mastering New Leadership Styles“The best leaders master multiple leadership styles”, blithely comments some post on leadership. OK, including one written by me. But how? Many leaders are overly reliant on a style and this can hold them back. Generally leadership styles are a function of emotional intelligence, and working on emotional intelligence, such as working on becoming more…
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A good onboarding experience for new hires requires two key things
→: A good onboarding experience for new hires requires two key thingsMy latest in Quartz… In my time as a manger, I’ve encountered quite a few people who were badly onboarded. As a rule it takes as long a time or longer to fix it as it took to poorly onboard them. Sometimes we’re able to re-onboard people and make them successful… and sometimes it’s too…
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Every manager needs the magic of a work BFF
→: Every manager needs the magic of a work BFFRecent piece in Quartz… One of the few pieces of advice I feel good about giving to everyone is this: When your job gets harder, the best thing you can do is make a friend. This is also backed by the data. Gallup research has consistently shown that having a best friend at work leads to better…
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Distributed: How to Build and Strengthen Distributed Engineering Teams
→: Distributed: How to Build and Strengthen Distributed Engineering TeamsI recorded an episode of my boss Matt’s podcast with him, it was really fun and we covered some interesting topics! They also write up a nice piece to go with it, which you can read here. [Transcript] [Apple] [Radio Public][Overcast]
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How to build—and manage—a self-improving team
→: How to build—and manage—a self-improving teamMy latest in Quartz… A lot of things in management become clearer when you realize it’s much easier to measure a team’s progress than its state. A team produces 30 units of “x” in a week. Is this good? Well, we could start by asking what the value of each unit is, or by looking…
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Why a good boss likes it when people complain
→: Why a good boss likes it when people complainMy latest in Quartz… I know some managers say “don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions,” but personally I don’t subscribe to it. I love when people complain to me. Of course, complaining is a national past time for the British, and we don’t just limit ourselves to complaining about the weather, or the poor…