Agile
5 Things That Maximize the Value of Training (via Leading Agile)
- Know what problem you’re trying to solve. Have that purpose in mind.
- Make sure the people you send actually want to be there and know why they’re there.
- Identify the goals of training.
- Make time for people to go through the training so they can focus.
- Have the person driving the change come in at the end and field questions about how the change will work. Otherwise, people build up negative pressure of “how is this even going to work?”
Behavior
Do Behavioral Nudges Work on Organizations? (via Harvard Business Review)
There’s been extensive research (and my company exists because of it) that nudging works at the individual level. The author cites a study where she tried to apply behavior modification at an organizational level. The issue was around companies being late in paying taxes. The solution was to define how the companies could fix the issue, a deadline, and the use of second-person pronouns.
A CEO’s Guide to Planning a Return to the Office (via Harvard Business Review)
- Don’t make big decisions until it’s necessary to do so
- Keep your personal preferences close to the vest and let others speak first
- Don’t treat employee surveys as gospel; opinions change over time. Also, ask managers separately.
- Company size matters; what works for a small startup would be too chaotic for a large organization.
- Ask what “too far” in any direction (remote, onsite) looks like and think about what will happen if you do go too far.
- Remember that big tech companies that are announcing WFA have a different set of employee skills, roles, and business climate than your company may have.
Leadership
How to Help (Without Micromanaging) (via Harvard Business Review)
- Time your help wisely. Don’t jump in and prevent problems, as sometimes having people experience problems broadens their understanding.
- Clarify that you’re there to help, not to punish or criticize.
- Align the timing of your help based on what’s useful to those receiving it.
Case Study: When Your Star Player Asks to Go Part-Time (via Harvard Business Review)
This case study presents a dilemma about what could happen when a star performer wants to go part time to focus more on family. There are many options and values to align with. The case study makes the case for several of them.
When Executives Break (via Software Lead Weekly)
This article describes behaviors of executives who aren’t able to fulfill their duties and multiple solutions to deal with that situation.
Process
When Contributing Gets in the Way of Collaborating (via Harvard Business Review)
“Employees are often praised for taking on more projects and working with a variety of people across the company. But while there is a lot of good that comes from collaboration, when we “help” too much we can boomerang into dysfunctional relationships and stalled work. Over-participating and taking on too much within a team can stifle group collaboration by sapping the oxygen in the room and making team members feel unheard and excluded. To avoid overtaking the group, follow these tips. First, find your unique contribution. Second, redefine what it means to be “helpful” by considering what the group needs. Third, stay quiet; mute before you refute to see how the discussion goes. Finally, negotiate a realistic timeline with the team in how work will proceed so you don’t become a bottleneck.”
Relationships
A Simple Compliment Can Make a Big Difference (via Harvard Business Review)
Title says it all.
Society
You’re Not Paid Based on Your Performance (via Harvard Business Review)
- The individualistic mindset in the US has led to myths about compensation: (1) that your contributions are yours alone, (2) your job performance can be objectively quantified, (3) what’s optimized for the individual also benefits the collective.
- The real attributes that determine our pay are power (who gets how much of the pie), inertia (e.g., “of course developers should get paid more than designers”), mimicry (what competitors pay), and equity (looking at the market instead of the individuals and hope the individuals don’t compare notes).
- Solutions for a fair economy: raise the pay floor, expand the middle, lower the ceiling.
- From Geoff… Recommended viewing: Michael Sandel’s TED talk on the tyranny of merit
Technology
Software Testing Is Tedious. AI Can Help. (via Harvard Business Review)
The author claims that having AI do the tedious effort of repetitive actions such as writing unit tests will free up developers for higher-leverage tasks.