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Team Communication
Types of meetings: 6 to keep, and 2 to cancel
Sarah Goff-Dupont of Atlassian takes a look at one our favorite topics —meetings. She reminds us that not all meetings are bad but there are two that are an absolute waste of time: project status and informational broadcast meetings. After you cancel all of those meetings on your calendar, check out the article to see the six meetings that are actually worth having.
Leadership & Management
Complete Guide to Delegation for Leaders
Delegating work is one of the most difficult things to get used to as a manager. Let's face it —the old expression "if you want something done right, do it yourself" is true. But if we want to grow as leaders, that just isn't sustainable. In this guide to effective delegation, Dr. Patricia Thompson challenges common excuses for not delegating and explains how to determine which tasks we should delegate, best practices, and how to follow up to get the best results.
Delegation and Time Management
Continuing with our delegation theme, Camille Fournier takes a look at how being "helpful" to our team by taking work off of their plate does more harm than good. Instead of taking on their challenges, ask your employees how they're planning to tackle them and provide some feedback. Then set up time to review their plans in more detail at your next 1:1. This gives your team the autonomy to come up with a solution but allows you to prevent any damage that could come with a poorly thought out plan. "You owe it to them to stop taking over their work in the name of helpfulness."
Dear fellow software engineers: We’re all guilty!
How much empathy do you and your development team have for your users? Are you aware of how they use your product and what their challenges are? Łukasz Korecki of NomNom Insights discusses why, despite the pressure to deliver quality software on tight deadlines, it's critical for our development teams to take the time to understand and build empathy for our users.
People & Culture
Motivate Others By Not Trying To Motivate Others
Christopher Sowers argues pep talks and halftime speeches made famous by coaches in movies don't really work in business. He stresses that instead of trying to motivate others, we should build an environment that helps them find their own motivation. Chris outlines the four primary motivational needs that drive behavior, how to identify which need is most important to each member of your team, and how to build an environment that connects with them. Check it out to learn how to get more out of your team without embarrassing pep talk attempts.
How to handle a needy employee
Running every decision by you. Constantly asking for your help. Yep, you have a needy employee. So now what do you do? Claire Lew of Know Your Company tells us that letting them go is not our only option. Check out the article for tips on how to determine the source of their neediness and techniques for coaching them through it.
When Should an Employer Ask an Employee to Quit?
There's been a lot written on improving employee retention and, conversely, when and how to fire someone. But there's another option that is rarely discussed— asking an employee to quit. Debbie Madden of Stride outlines the scenarios where it makes sense to talk to an employee about them moving on and how to have the discussion.
Only Slightly Off-Topic
Listen: Baratunde Thurston Reads "How To Do A Data Detox In a Zillion Easy Steps"
In the fourth episode of Medium Playback, Baratunde Thurston joins the podcast to discuss his piece "How To Do a Data Detox In a Zillion Easy Steps". In it he describes his eye-opening encounter with the 300+ apps on his phone and the immense amount of data they collect. Because “the next big things — artificial intelligence, machine learning, speech and facial recognition — will be powered by more of our data." Take a break from reading and have a listen.
Have you tried Status Hero yet?
Status Hero is a lightweight tool for tracking daily goals, activity, and status updates from your team. It works with your existing tools, like email, Jira, GitHub, Trello, and Slack. Skip costly meetings, map goals to accomplishments, and unearth blocking issues quickly. Status Hero helps you and your team get more done with fast access to the big picture. Check out a live demo).