The following are a set of common management scenarios. Each scenario includes a problem statement, several actions that can be taken to resolve the problem, and any results that I have experienced personally in a management role.
General Management
Accountability & Ownership
Problem: improve team accountability and sense of ownership
Actions:
- Be consistent in messaging and encourage ownership and accountability
- Setup systems and processes to hold employees accountable
- Set clear expectations and agree on next steps
Results:
- Increased team morale by encouraging ownership
Communication & Collaboration
Problem: improve communication and collaboration between team members and between teams
Actions:
- Meet regularly with the team and over-communicate
- Encourage feedback and set up a suggestion box
- Organize team-building exercises
- Establish communication conventions
- Encourage knowledge sharing
Results:
- Created suggestion box with 1-3 suggestions per sprint
Product & Project Management
Planning & Prioritization
Problem: improve process and work prioritization
Actions:
- Implement a prioritization framework that will set up specific priorities for features vs operations vs other requests
- Implement request workflow by creating and distributing workflow for how requests should be made to the team
- Streamline on-call rotation for the team with the manager filling in during holidays
Results:
- Introduced a data-driven prioritization framework boosting team velocity by 15%
- Decreased operations backlog from 123 to 26 requests within 1 month
- Reduced the team workload by 20%
Product Quality
Problem: improve software quality for the product
Actions:
- Implement design reviews by spending 1 hour per sprint to review system design for all features in development
- Implement code reviews where all code must be code reviewed before acceptance
- Explore using Test Driven Development by encouraging the team to develop code-level test cases before development
Results:
- Reduced system latency for initial load from 60ms to 50ms via design reviews
- Improved the change failure rate by 20% via code reviews
Employee Management
Conflict Resolution
Problem: improve conflict resolution within the team
Actions:
- Take immediate action
- Communicate with the team and actively listen to their concerns
- Focus on the problem and not the people
- Develop a plan to address the issue
Results:
- Address all conflicts quickly with a plan to improve
- Decreased conflicts over time
Performance Management
Problem: improve mentoring of the team and address performance issues
Actions:
- Meet weekly for 30mins for 1:1 with each team member to discuss performance updates
- Address any performance issue as soon as possible in a constructive learning approach
Results:
- Addressed all performance issues with the team
Mentoring & Development
Problem: improve team member development and growth
Actions:
- Set goals for each team member and include development items
- Meet weekly for 30mins for 1:1 with each team member to gather feedback and discuss career goals
- Followup every month on goals in 1:1 meetings
Results:
- Increased team morale by 50% through career development
- All team members include development goals every year
Team Management
Remote Team Management
Problem: improve remote team management
Actions:
- Setup tools for online collaboration and document sharing
- Setup processes to manage communication, work hours, reachability
- Over communicate as much as possible
- Focus on performance and output for performance
Results:
- Increased team morale through better communication
Team Dynamics
Problem: improve team dynamics, vision, and morale
Actions:
- Implement team identity where team should create an identity including a team name and define the responsibilities of members
- Implement team vision & mission by working with the team to develop a vision and mission used to drive the team’s focus and development
- Implement monthly team meetings for 30mins
Results:
- Increased team morale by 50% by focusing on career development and feedback
- Conducted comprehensive team evaluation resulting in targeted improvements increasing team performance by 40%
Technology
Technology Updates
Problem: keep technology up-to-date and sunset legacy systems
Actions:
- Implement plan to review current technology every 6 months
- Implement plan to update or replace systems including creating end-of-life where needed
Results:
- Created plan to sunset legacy systems within 9 months