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Team Communication
Four Ways to Be More Effective in Meetings
For those critical meetings that you can't cancel or avoid, you want to make sure you're making the most of them. The New York Times' Tim Herrera outlines four strategies to be more effective and engaged in the meetings you attend. From taking the time to prepare, to making sure you speak up early, these tips will ensure the time you spend in meetings is productive and helps move your career forward.
Meetings are expensive. Avoid them.
As Status Hero users, most of you already understand that meetings are expensive and often wasteful. Not only do they interrupt your work, they tend to be poorly run. Santhosh Sundar agrees, but also recognizes that some meetings are necessary. Discover how as an organizer, you can hold more effective meetings. And as a participant, learn what you can do to simply avoid them.
Leadership & Management
The New Manager Death Spiral
Are you making the transition from an individual contributor to a manager? You'll want to read this article if you hope to avoid the "New Manager Death Spiral". Slack's VP of Engineering and author of Rands in Repose, Rands gives valuable insight and advice on how to grow into a true leader. It's all about building trust with your team—read to find out how to do it, and perhaps more importantly, how not to do it.
Why Blaming the Person and Not the Process for Bad Decisions Prevents Improvement
How often do you look back on your decisions and the process used to make them? When a decision leads to a poor outcome, we tend to blame the person that made it and ignore the decision itself. In this article from Farnam Street, learn why good decisions don't always lead to positive outcomes, bad decisions don't always lead to negative outcomes, and how you can improve your decision-making process.
What to Do When You Hate Your Boss
According to the most recent Gallup “State of the Global Workplace” study, half of all employees in the United States have quit jobs at some point in their careers in order to get away from their bosses. So what can you do if you hate your boss? Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries offers some strategies to improve your relationship with your boss, including practicing empathy, looking inward, and working together to change what's not working. I wonder if half of you will read this...don't worry - we won't tell your boss.
How to Calculate the Value of a Good Manager vs Bad Manager
If you’ve ever wanted to make the case for investing more in developing your managers, here’s your template. Lighthouse shows you how to combine some simple numbers about your company with their research to create a strong estimate of the value of a good manager.
From C++ to the C-Suite: How Software Engineering Made Me A Better Executive
Early in his career at IBM, Neil Lustig decided to leave his role as a rapidly ascending engineer to take an entry-level sales position. His mentor told him that he'd hit a ceiling if he didn't expose himself to the commercial side as well as the technical side of the business. Lustig went on to rise through the ranks and serve as the lead of the solutions division, then GM at Ariba, then CEO and President at Vendavo, and now CEO at Salithru. In this interview from First Round Review, Lustig shares how his management code came from his days in engineering and how everyday engineering practices have helped him grow into a more effective manager.
Only Slightly Off-Topic
The Power Of A Digital Sabbath
Brad Feld of Foundry Group discusses his struggle with exhaustion, burnout, and depression in this thoughtful article. Learn how a "digital sabbath" helps him recharge and keep the black dog at bay. So, the next time you're feeling anxious or burnt out, try taking a day to unplug and spend time recharging with loved ones.
Less Than Serious
Larry David on Cancellations
The one and only Larry David on his reaction to plans being canceled. Here at Status Hero, we feel the same way about meetings!
Did we miss something noteworthy?
Let us know! We're always on the hunt for helpful articles related to software team management. Just email us at leadingsoftwarepeople@statushero.com.
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