All posts by Matt Maguire

03-Planning the work of a team, 04-Managing a project team, feedback, team dynamics

Managing [Remote] Teams

4 Comments

Remote work is a passion of mine. Since 2007 I’ve worked remotely in multiple jobs and in multiple capacities. Yikes — that’s 7 years of self-discipline, Skype calls, and lunchtime showers.

While I do not have any direct reports, I’m a Senior Project Manager, which means for every one of my 33 projects, I manage a copy writer, designer, data manager, implementation specialist, and client team — none of whom are in the same state as I am, let alone down the hall.

I’m always looking for ways to improve team work, manage better, and communicate clearly. All of these skills need to be at a different level when there’s no face-to-face, but some of them can translate to an office environment.

Jana Rhyu wrote a blog post on LoopUp that hits several familiar points on managing remotely that I’d like to share with you.

1. Hire the right people
Jana gives some tips on what “the right people” are. You can probably guess “autonomous self-starters” lead the list of good remote employees, but did you know that introverts are some of the best remote employees? Extroverts tend to shrivel without that face-to-face and introverts shine.

Our method of hiring the right people includes a company favorite interview, affectionately called the “Why You Don’t Want to Work Here” call. People think that working from home will be a cakewalk, until they get on this call with a random five people from across the various departments of Fire Engine RED. We tell them things like “your home will be your workplace, so some days you might hate your house,” “your friends will not understand/believe you’re working when they have a day off and try to swing by,” “your spouse will try to ask you to do errands because you don’t have a commute,” “you’ll check your email before you eat breakfast and later realize you’re starving and it’s suddenly 2pm,” and “your boss will still give you work because s/he can’t see your full plate.” It’s a relatively fun call, but a sobering one at the same time.

What would you have on your WYDWTWH call?

2. Get the right tools
Tools for telecommuters are tools for everyone. If you don’t have an IM program in your office, you might consider bringing one in. Shoot a message to a colleague when she’s on the phone and get a response, or ping someone on another floor to see if they got your file.

Google Docs is something I can’t live without. Even in an office it just makes sense to have certain documents shared and thus have the newest version accessible (and editable) on the go.

The list in the article is longer and I definitely use every one and a few more. Ask any MP team member of mine who had a long commute spared for a group project.

3. Communicate regularly
The curse of telecommuting isn’t a lack of communication, but rather an over abundance of communication. Christine Shealy wrote about The Communication Loop and I can tell you that with all your team members able to reach you on your IM, your cell, your home phone, your email, Skype, and by text, that loop gets closed! You can be on a client call but you’ll still be expected to respond to an urgent message about another client.

I’m not sure I’d recommend all the regular meetings in the blog post (what’s the point of a bi-weekly call if you already have a weekly meeting?) but regular meetings to go over progress, outstanding items, and potential problems is a must.

Meeting just to meet, however, is a pet peeve of mine. In very busy seasons with dozens of projects going at once, I understand meeting every other day to keep each ball in the air. Still, it’s great practice to cut unnecessary meetings to once a week so as to not negatively impact productivity.

4. Set the tone
“Be willing to get and give feedback” is the most important on this list, followed closely by “be direct”. I’ll let you read through these points and comment below on what’s most important in a remote or office environment.

Link to the original blog post: http://loopup.com/blog/communicating-effectively/managing-remote-teams-top-4-tips/

03-Planning the work of a team, 04-Managing a project team

Transitioning from Management to Leadership

1 Comment

I read an article this morning on HBR by Vineet Nayar that briefly outlined three ways any manager can improve, and all of them are based on the concept that to “manage” is to do a disservice — you’re much better off leading.

Though my MP path of self-improvement is about how to better “manage a project team”, it’s safe to say that we’ve all entered Goizueta with a goal to become improved leaders rather than improved managers.

What are a few differences? Vineet Nayar provides a 3-step litmus test.

1)  Do you count value or do you create value?
A manager counts value and holds rigid milestones while a leader might instead create  a team dynamic that will hit those milestones on its own. One of the commenters likened this to someone who is sick taking some pills to resolve the issue, versus someone eating right, resting, and exercising, thus staying well.

2) Do you present a circle of influence or a circle of power?
This goes into the article I posted a few weeks back about the importance of trust in leadership. Wielding power is a negative trait, but being that person who others come to for advice or encouragement is an indicator of leadership. The author only mentions how one can recognize their leadership in this point, but doesn’t recommend how to position oneself. Any thoughts here?

3) Do you manage work or do you lead people?
This relates to oversight (managing) and influencing by working alongside those in the trenches.

All in all, it seems that both are necessary, but influence and leadership are more proactive approaches to problems. Management is more reactive. The three litmus questions are overlapping and somewhat redundant, but I like the underlying point. What Vineet never says is that both management and leadership are necessary, but I’m not sure if he agrees with that.

As a general rule, after reading an article, avoid the comments section. Except in HBR.

I broke this rule and read a different take on Leadership vs Management dichotomy by “John R. Shultz”:

Leadership and management are not opposites, but two sides of the same coin. And as a coin, there is value that buys quite a lot. Flip it, and you can’t lose. It’s a win-win toss-up. Each side, when skills are sufficient, will produce outcomes that are beneficial to the enterprise and its stakeholders alike.

There are distinctions between leadership and management. Each position has its own characteristics and functional activities, but these activities are related and complementary arrangements for coordinating, controlling, and advancing organizational operations. Leaders typically envision and managers implement. But that doesn’t mean that managers aren’t capable leaders. In many cases managers have to be leaders as well as coordinators and controllers of complex transactions.

Management is an organizational construct. It exists because large public and private sector enterprises would find their existence—because of the many inputs and multifaceted process interactions—difficult if not impossible without such oversight. Accordingly, management is all about dealing with complex operations. These are practices and procedures concerned with planning, organizing, staffing, controlling and then problem solving so activities function at some kind of optimal level. Management is concerned with the immediate, the day-to-day activities, and making sure organizational transactions are completed efficiently and effectively.

Leadership, on the other hand, is about the long-term, staying relevant, and coping with changing economic and social-political forces. These include: competition, unstable markets, ability to finance short-term obligations, overcapacity, an inefficient supply chain, an underperforming workforce, and the constant pressure by stockholders for higher and higher returns. Consequently what worked today will not necessarily work tomorrow. The need to adapt and change becomes a necessity for survival and growth. Leadership at its core is about finding opportunity and then making a case for constant renewal.

Yes, managers and leaders do have different responsibilities, but their roles are not exclusive. They are joined in a mutual and beneficial relationship where leaders rally people to a cause—to a purpose—and managers’ make it all work. This however, doesn’t mean that managers and supervisors are not sufficiently expert to be leaders. Quite the opposite, these individuals are leaders at their own level and often urge fellow employees to the finish line while producing noticeable results. Being resourceful and skillful, in most cases, they ably set direction, align people, and inspire as well as deal with the mundane and the nitty-gritty. This is a symbiotic association that, in most modern enterprises, is difficult to differentiate as separate and distinct individual activities.

Which point of view do you find speaks more to you?

 

Original article here: http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/08/tests-of-a-leadership-transiti/

04-Managing a project team, team dynamics, team roles, Uncategorized

What Makes a Great Manager?

2 Comments

The article “What Great Managers Do” by Marcus Buckingham uses the old aphorism “he’s playing chess while the rest are playing checkers”, but in a different light.

Here the phrase doesn’t represent managers who are simply more strategic in their style, but likens a checkers approach to management as one that treats all employees as uniform pieces toward a success goal. Meanwhile, chess is a more apt comparison, since employees are never homogeneous.

Some employees excel in types of projects, but struggle endlessly in others. A great manager exploits the strengths of each employee and can work outside the framework of an original plan by recognizing who should be working on what.

How many have seen people fired for failing in one aspect of their job when you’ve seen them excel elsewhere? I’m thinking about the “A for effort gets generous severance” from our Netflix recruitment slide deck in particular. Would a great manager be able to save that human capital and repurpose the employee where their strengths lie? Or is that kind of effort a waste of time and resources?

Article: http://hbr.org/2005/03/what-great-managers-do/ar/1

Edit: Here’s more on the topic, including info behind the research and the book by Marcus Buckingham. http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-be-a-great-manager-2013-8

04-Managing a project team, feedback

Good Leaders Make Employees Feel Safe

2 Comments

I love TED.

Sorry, but this isn’t an article, but a video of a presentation that’s 12 minutes long. At least it’s not a 3 hour Makadok video… My boss sent this to me and I’m passing it on.

The video talks about the origins of cooperation based on the first paleolithic reactions to danger. In all, it talks about cooperation in any collective, be it a tribe railing against hunger and predators, or someone in a business that’s competing against others in an industry.

In either case, in-fighting and mistrust within the company damages our ability to work together and effectively against a common external danger.

There’s a company, NextJump that has a lifetime employment policy where no one can be fired, but if there are issues, will be coached. I must admit that I kind of laughed at that concept.

I didn’t laugh about the Barry Weymiller 2008 furlough decision, however. If you watch one thing in this video, skip to 8:30.

04-Managing a project team, team roles

Finding or Acting as a Mentor

8 Comments

In my career thus far, I’ve been in mostly start-up environments that lack a formally structured mentor-mentee program, but I’ve still had the opportunity to discover how important it is for growth. My career has exploded when I’ve had the opportunity to work with a mentor and, conversely, grown stagnant when I’ve simply worked for a boss.

This article by Rachel Ensign of the Wall Street Journal takes the point of view of someone looking to climb the corporate ladder, seeking out a mentor. You and I are more somewhere in the middle; many of us have direct reports or are managing teams, but are still in the early stages of careers.

I’ll pose these questions as conversation starters:

  • How many of you have a mentor rather than a boss (it’s possible to have both)?
  • How did you find/develop that relationship?
  • How many of you take an active role in being a mentor to others, past the required exercises of formal reviews?

Any time I interview for a job, “Who would serve as my mentor?” is one of my questions. The worst feeling in a job is just doing the work and feeling no professional progress with no one to talk to about changing the situation (or that person not listening).

A link to the original article: “http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303404704577309750220810364“