Team Management

My philosophy regarding management is that the team is the core component of all activities at work. The team is number 1 and 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 team member development and growth with 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 training both internal and external which has improved the skillset of the team.

The following articles include more information regarding mentoring of teams including team recognition ideas, team expectations, and building trust.

1 on 1 Guidelines

1 on 1 meetings are essential for building trust and having a successful team. Here are some guidelines for these meetings.

• 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 same 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 running list of 1 on 1s with agendas and notes for each meeting
• Repetitive Topics: On a monthly basis, you should discuss any updates to yearly goals for employee. On a quarterly basis, you should discuss performance of the employee. On a monthly basis, you should also discuss professional development and ideas for growth for the employee
• Action Items: All action items should have an owner and identify when you will followup on the topic
• Feedback: Give constructive feedback and ask for feedback on management

1 on 1 Meetings

During a 1 on 1 meeting, there are several key items to discuss.

• Health Check: On a rating of 1 to 10 have employee 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 on a periodic basis
• 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

View a Sample 1 on 1 Meeting Agenda Sheet

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.