Team Management

The team is the core of all work activities and is number one. I always consider the team's issues when making decisions.

Mentoring & Development

Mentoring and coaching my team is an essential part of the job. Through mentoring, I have improved the development and growth of both local and remote team members.

  • Conduct weekly 1:1s with team members
  • Set goals for each team member and include development items
  • Followup every month on goals in 1:1 meetings
  • Setup tools for online collaboration and document sharing
  • Support team members with growth opportunities like training, conferences, and other related activities

These actions have resulted in tangible improvements. For example, team morale has seen a significant 50% increase, and all team members had development goals included. In addition, I have sent multiple team members to internal and external training, which has improved the team's skill set.

Manager & Team Expectations

Building Trust

Team Recognition

1 on 1s

1 on 1 meetings are essential for building trust and having a successful team. The following outlines some guidelines for these meetings as well as some suggested topics to be discussed.

Guidelines

  • Frequency: 1 on 1s should occur weekly. If you have more than 10 employees, you may want to change the frequency to biweekly.
  • Time & Place: 1 on 1s should occur at the same time and place every week. Do not move the meeting around. Do not cancel it.
  • Agenda: The agenda should be shared between the manager and employee. I use a shared document with a list of 1 on 1s with agendas and notes for each meeting.
  • Repetitive Topics: Monthly, you should discuss any updates to yearly goals for employees. Quarterly, you should discuss the performance of the employee.
  • Action Items: All action items should have an owner and identify when you will follow up on the topic.
  • Feedback: Give constructive feedback and ask for feedback on management.

Meeting Topics

  • Health Check: On a rating of 1 to 10 have employees rate how they feel about the work.
  • Pending Action Items: Review any outstanding action items.
  • Roadblocks: Review any roadblocks for the employee and discuss how to remove them.
  • New Topics for Discussion: Review any new topics to discuss.
  • Periodic Topics: Discuss goals, performance, and growth periodically.
  • Feedback: Review any feedback for employee or manager.
  • New Action Items: Determine new action items along with owners and target dates to check-in on the item.

Power of the 1-on-1

1 on 1 Agenda

When Things Go Wrong

Managing a team can often include managing situations when something goes wrong. This can include performance issues, team members leaving, and other unforeseen circumstances.

Unforeseen Circumstances

Difficult Conversations

Enjoy Work and Have Fun!

We are not conducting brain surgery or sending people to the moon or doing anything else where someone's life is on the line. So, make sure to have fun! My teams are encouraged to always maintain a health work-life balance, take time off, and enjoy life.

Work-Life Balance