Manager Tools Effective Managers Conference, San Antonio September 13, 2007
Subtitle: "What I Did Last Week"
So, last Tuesday I traveled to San Antonio, for the Manager Tools Conference. If you’re not listening to the (free!) weekly podcasts from Mark Horstman and Mike Auzenne - you don’t know what you’re missing. In fact, if you’re not - go check out their "Basics" post here to get ready access to their core casts. Did I mention they were free?
Two days doesn’t sound like much, does it? And yet, that was quite possibly the most useful, focused and well-presented training - in anything, let alone management - that I have ever been to. And I’ve attended a lot of presentations, seminars and training over the years. Here’s the rundown of the conference content:
- Introductions (2 hours, 100+ attendees, outstanding process & technique)
- One on One’s
- Feedback
- Coaching
- Delegation
- Effective Performance Management
- Time Management
- "The Effective Manager’s Week"
… and Q&A. Lots and Lots of Q&A, to the extent that poor Mark had almost lost his voice by the end of Thursday! Seriously - the benefits that those sessions brought to the conference cannot be understated, and the availability of Mark & Mike (not to mention the able assistance of Mike S, Steve and Kate) until late in the day was very much appreciated.
Mark & Mike have six of these conferences planned for next year - across the US, in Europe, and in Australia. I cannot encourage you strongly enough to check out their (award-winning) podcast, their website, and their discussion forums for more information.
(I got to play tourist as well…):
Post Planning April 17, 2007
Yeah… I disappeared again for a while. But at least I know a few folks are still watching.
I started looking at ITIL again, so I think I’m going to look at the “rest of” ITIL, beyond the stuff that I already posted before. Working on the notes and mindmaps for that now.
That, and working out “life as an independent consultant” just seems to have gotten the better of me lately. Sorry.
Setup and Marketing…. March 15, 2007
… a new consultancy is more complicated and time-consuming that it appears. But it’s interesting and educational.
There’s likely some more involved thought and posting on this down the line, but I’m rapidly accumulating “stuff” like that, that I need to get written up and posted out here.
Into the future… July 17, 2006
Browsing through TechMeme last night, I came across a few mentions of articles in Computerworld, on how the IT employment world is going to look in 2010. Interesting stuff always, and timely right now as I consider my next position (my current position will be “downsized” at the end of March 2007).
The first article is “The IT Profession: 2010″, and that’s followed by “Hot Skills, Cold Skills”, which was the piece that initially caught my eye. It’s tagline is “The IT worker of 2010 won’t be a technology guru but rather a ‘versatilist.’”. Something to think about. Key point:
The nuts-and-bolts programming and easy-to-document support jobs will have all gone to third-party providers in the U.S. or abroad. Instead, IT departments will be populated with “versatilists” — those with a technology background who also know the business sector inside and out, can architect and carry out IT plans that will add business value, and can cultivate relationships both inside and outside the company.
Did I mention my job was coming to an end? 
I’m not actually losing my position to out-sourcing, although others at my current company have, but it’s obvious that this is happening even more so. When I was asked what I do for a living, I used to reply “computer engineer” - it was never entirely factually accurate, but it was a quick way of answering, and contextually understandable by “non-techies”. These days, I usually go with “I’m a manager”, or “technology architect”, and we can usually leave it at that. I was missing working “hands-on” in technology, but it appears that having gone down the generalist route might actually turn out to have been a good thing. One can but hope…
For more reading on the above, Marshall Sponder at WebMetricsGuru, has broken the story down into comment-sized chunks, but the original article is pretty easy to scan through to see what “the survey said” about which positions may be “safe” or “hot”, and which may need to be rethought.
Working Backwards? July 12, 2006
Catching up on my reading, and there’s an article in the July 2006 issues of Business 2.0 about the changes that have been made at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and the underlying process - you can read the article yourself by clicking on the magazine image over on the right.
The part that caught my eye was this:
Moving forward by working backward Aziz’s secret is a counterintuitive management practice - nicknamed “working backward” - that he invented on his arrival at the Grand. The strategy calculates the maximum revenue that each business or space could generate in a perfect world - that is, if every customer spent the most the market could bear and if traffic reached its physical limits.
Aziz then subtracts actual sales from that hypothetical number and calls the difference a loss, even if the venue is making money. His formula for closing the gap usually starts with a jackhammer.
That’s 180 degrees from the way most U.S. companies do things, which is to benchmark based on existing sales: Microsoft, for instance, is aiming for 12 to 14 percent growth next year on about $44 billion in revenue.
Once you think about it, it falls into that category of “well, duh! That’s obvious!”. Well, yes, I suppose, but not until you’ve thought about it that first time. And it readily applies to service orientated issues as well - assume a service level of 100% as the ideal (in some areas, perhaps over 100%?), and then map against actual service delivered. Delivering less than the target is a failure.
It’s just another tool to add to the collection - ITIL, standard business methodologies, Six Disciplines, project management — anything that adds knowledge and rigor of process is a good thing, in my mind.
Back on Track? July 5, 2006
So, I’m getting back on track with a number of things. Particularly hard to do when my home office has a window through which all I can see is deep blue sky, not a cloud in sight…
Anyway - first thing I’m doing is working my way through the Manager Tools podcasts on Time Management; not “Time Management” in the sense that we normally think about it, and that I still have pretty much under control through GTD, but more the “bigger picture” stuff, and sorting out some of my overall priorities. This entry comes while I wait for coffee to brew, and I take a quick break in between the two parts
I also note on their site that Mark Horstman, who’s management writings I learn a lot from, has posted that he’ll be posting more regularly - specifically, on “Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays”. THE first thought through my mind, I must confess, was “Buffett fan?”. Mark wrote a post yesterday commenting that no-one had guessed the reason he picked that blogging schedule - I’ve just left my “guess” there. I guess we’ll see.
I have the album queued up for playing later - there’s not a hope of my getting any work done if I start playing beach music right now, though!
OK - back to work I go!
Audiobooks & the Personal MBA April 13, 2006
I guess sometimes I’m just behind the curve a little… In this particular case, I’m talking about audiobooks. I was never really been a fan of them, for a couple of reasons:
- I know myself to be a visual, rather than aural, learner. I can work in the “speak and listen” mode, but if I’m given a choice, I prefer to work from a written report, book, etc.
- Technology. Some audiobooks are long - very long. In the past, I had no ready way of stopping listening to the file at some particular point, and then coming back to it later, the next day, whenever, and continuing from where I left off. This was made even worse if I wanted to use a portable player to play part of an audiobook, then something else like some music, and then return to the audiobook.
Well, a couple of things have changed my mind on all of this lately.
- Available time. I’m not traveling as much as I used to, which would have been a great time to have been listening to these things, but my commute is running a pretty regular 45 minutes each way at the moment, and that’s working well as a “sensible” block of time to listen to an audiobook.
- Available technology. I acquired an iPod not so long back, and as well as using it to schlep music and video around, as part of trying out the assorted features, I ran a couple of audiobooks off of it. With no additional action on my part, the iPod remembers where I was in the file, and restarts from there, every time. I’ve noticed that iTunes does as well, and with iTunes connected to my home stereo as well, this gives me a lot of options in playing audiobooks if I want to.
- Personal development (I). No-one stays the same, and as we get older, our styles and preferences, while remaining rooted in who and what we are, change, adapt, and mellow. Given the nature of the work I’ve been doing over the last few years (a lot of face-to-face work), I find I’m more comfortable listening to non-fiction audiobooks as an alternative to
reading the book. - Personal development (II). I’ve been aware of the Personal MBA website for a while, been a member of the site, and browsed the discussion forums, and I have a list of all the books involved in this project readily available at my desk. I haven’t actually been “doing” the Personal MBA for a while, however. It’s one of my Q2 “things to do” for this year, however, and when I’ve finished my current batch of non-fiction reading, I’ll be moving on to something from the Personal MBA list. In fact, I already own several of the books from the list, and will be rereading
them.
In addition to the Personal MBA site, however, my eye was particularly caught by an article “MBA On The Run”, which I originally saw here, but now has a dedicated site. A recent full write up on it can be found here. This is essentially what I’m going to do - I’m going to listen, rather than read, to as many of the books on the Personal MBA list as I can, read the rest, and buy physical copies of any that I particularly like, or feel I’ll want to reference more than occasionally (the finance books, for instance). There’s a few books that aren’t on the PMBA list that I want to listen to as well, that I haven’t gotten to yet for various reasons. Right now, for instance, as well as physically reading “The World Is Flat” at home, I’m listening to “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell on my commute. I’ll have completed it after 5 “commute days” (I haven’t been in the office every day this week), and there’s no way I would have finished it in that time if I’d been reading it. For some more reading on the PMBA, if you haven’t seen it already, you might want to read this Business Week article.
There’s another hidden benefit as well - I’m lucky enough to be able to read fast, naturally, but I also speed read, deliberately, when I read non-fiction. Sometimes - not often, but sometimes - I miss a key point because of that, and have to go back and review it. I can’t do that when I’m listening. Everything just “flows”. I can nudge the tempo of the audiobook if I wanted to, but at least in this case, there’s no need. I’m enjoying the book, and I’m enjoying the “lack of effort” it’s taking me to listen to it.
I got it from Audible by the way. I signed up for their one-year plan, so I have a dozen credits to use (books are one credit, periodicals such as the Harvard Business Review are 1/3 of a credit. How you use them is up to you. If you choose not to use a credit, or use them all up, other downloads run at a 30% discount. I’ve got a
few things from them, which will keep me busy for a while - and as a “freebie”, I get a one-hour digest of the New York Times each day, which I listen to while I’m working through the first batch of morning email in the office. All in all, a good deal.
And finally, I should thank Phil Gerbyshak for the link to the MBA On The Run site - his daily links postings made “catching up” a lot less painful when I got back from vacation - thanks!
Review: Six Discplines for Excellence April 12, 2006
Some time ago, I was sent a copy of the book “Six Disciplines for Excellence”, by Gary Harpst, and asked to do a review when I was done with it. I’ve read it through twice now, and this is the review I promised. It’s a lot later than I intended it to be, and for that I sincerely apologize.
From the back of the book: “This book is NOT for those who are looking for a quick fix. Six Disciplines is a “long-term fitness program, not a fad diet”. I think that’s an excellent description. If you’ve been reading my blog here, you’ll know that I’m “into” ITIL, and process methodology as a whole, with a technical focus. Six Disciplines has made a very nice addition to my process skills arsenal with its focus on the business side of the house.
The Six Disciplines break down as follows:
- Decide What’s Important
- Set Goals That Lead
- Align Systems
- Work The Plan
- Innovate Purposefully
- Step Back
and each of those major headings above breaks down into additional sections, which are then explained fully in the book.
For an overview, you can either go to the Six Disciplines website, or consider the image below.
The thumbnail above will expand to a full-size MindMap if you click on it. In this instance, I’ve deliberately used an earlier-draft of the MindMap that I Was making as I read the book, rather than the completed version, and I won’t be making the actual MindMap available for download - that wouldn’t be fair to the book publishers, and would likely violate copyright as well. You should be able to see from the image, however, that this is a circular, continuous improvement methodology, with outputs from one section readily feeding into another, and that there are linkages throughout the methodology (the MindMap looks a little messy to show that; remember that if you’re working with one of them in the MindManager application itself, you get to filter and turn on & off as much detail as you need at any given moment).
Frankly, I wish I’d had this book a few years ago, when I was part of a project that DID create a global IS department, from several smaller departments, and set visions, mission statements, processes, and so forth in place, many of which are still in operation today. We got it done, but at times it seemed like we were winging it, as there was no central reference like this to go to, other than process steps we defined for ourselves. If I was in that situation again, this would be a process guide that I turned to. I’m honest enough to admit that I might not follow it to the letter - the curse of man is that he likes to change things to his own preferences - but it would definitely be a good starting point.
In reading the book, I’m struck that the author spends time focusing on HOW to achieve maximum benefit from each of the six interdependent Disciplines, and not just providing a laundry list without explanation. There are plenty of “lists” and “summaries” out there, but getting a strong sense of the reasoning behind a recommendation adds to the value.
The book is subtitled “Building Small Businesses That Learn, Lead and Last”, and that’s a great focus; while it may not scale to a larger company in its entirety, there’s no reason individual departments within such couldn’t benefit as well.
I’ll be completing my note-taking of the book shortly, embedding it all into the MindMap that I started, and along with my ITIL maps, project management maps and so forth, the Six Disciplines will form a permanent part of my reference set that I use when I work as a manager.
Still Relaxing March 30, 2006
Vacation is a good thing, and I’m still relaxing in the UK. No substantive posts to come until next week, I’ve decided, but here’s what’s coming up when I get back to the States next week:
- the ITIL series will continue. Problem Management is next, and then one of the biggies - Change Management;
- I’ve just read Six Disciplines for Excellence by Gary Harst (Amazon) and I’ve got a review of that that I need to type up;
- I’ve also had the chance to catch-up on the last few Manager Tools podcasts (yeah, I know, that’s not really vacation listening, is it?!), and I’ve got some notes that I may well pull together into a MindMap and publish, like I did recently.
- and a couple of other ideas that I’ve got bubbling around that may well turn into something sensible here.
Good chance you’ll get to see some family photos in the next day or two as well - sorry about that One of the reasons I’m here in the UK is that Saturday is a party for my stepfather’s 60th birthday, and his and my mother’s 25th Wedding Anniversary. Warning: Gary + Alcohol + Digital Camera + Internet Connection Ahead!
Gentle reader, I thank you for your time and attention, and I’ll see you next week!
Tactical is the new Strategy February 16, 2006
Great post by Chad Dickerson that I wanted to highlight, as it’s one of the “core values” that I try to work to. In summary: “Details Matter”.
Tactical is the new strategic — Chad Dickerson’s blog
“Strategies” are big and sweeping and inherently pass the task of implementation to someone else. Tactics are inherently about executing. The distance between “strategic” and “tactical” is measured in meetings, PowerPoints, conference calls, and, well, “not writing code.” Limiting (or even mostly eliminating) that distance is the key to making things happen.
I’m not saying that strategy isn’t important, just that strategy directly combined with tactical skill is the real killer combo. “Strategy” in the absense of tactical engagement is a loser’s game. If you’re a manager who gets down in the muck to make things happen (not to be confused with “micromanagement”), take heart: tactical is the new strategic.
When You Go To The Interview - Part Two February 12, 2006
A couple of days ago, I wrote “When You Go To The Interview“, and I’m very happy, and lucky, that Mark Horstman of “Manager Tools” added two great comments to the post. For the folks that only see this stuff via RSS, I’m copying those comments below (with Mark’s permission), and then adding some more comments of my own at the bottom.
Gary-
GREAT POST! Really like your thinking.
I don’t know if I’ve ever made it really clear on our show, but I spent 7 years recruiting for major corporations. I have interviewed tens of thousands of candidates, and placed thousands. So, I come to my perspective honestly (and, frankly, painfully).
I am going to check out the posts on answers you’ve got, and see what suggestions I can add.
I do want to add one comment, regarding resumes. You mentioned that some of your readers may not “get along with” the one page resume idea. If they don’t, they’re indulging a mistaken personal belief that more is better. Folks, there’s just no way those second and third pages are getting read. PERIOD. Even for tech jobs, the number of resumes received is such that the decision is made in MOMENTS. And, for those of you hiring managers who might prefer them, remember - resumes’ purpose is to get the interview. The vast majority of resumes that are too long (>1 page) never get to you. This may make recruiters and HR bad people, but it doesn’t change the reality.
When I get a multi-page resume (and I get 50 resumes a week, unrequested), I IMMEDIATELY think two things: (1) uninformed job seeker, and (2), limited upside career.
One other thing: I LIKE multi-page resumes. Yes, you read that right. BUT, I like them for their ability to CAPTURE all that I have done. I use them to review what I’ve done and choose the best stuff to go on the one pager that I SEND OUT to companies/recruiters.
Okay, I’m off my soapbox! Watch those multi-pagers, folks - they’re hurting you and you don’t know it.
Mark Horstman
Manager ToolsPS: I’ll post again once I’ve checked out the sites!
OK - that’s the first one. Here’s the promised second post, from a little later that evening:
Gary-
Went to the answer sites you posted. The first site has some okay answers, and for someone who hasn’t ever interviewed, it would be helpful. If you’ve got 7+ years of professional experience and can only do that well, all the interview answers in the world won’t help you.
The way to answer weakness questions is patently offensive. Chocolate? Seriously - this is rude.
Here’s the right way to answer the weakness question. First, you should assume you’re going to get this question, and therefore have analyzed the job to understand what the core strengths are that are required. DON’T choose to talk about a weakness (we all have more than one!) that is a core job requirement.
Once past that, your answer should have THREE PARTS. (1) Qualify your answer, (2) State the weakness, (3) Describe what you’re doing to improve.
For instance: “On occasion (qualifier), I procrastinate (weakness). I’ll push a task back as long as it’s not critical, in deference to some other work. What I’ve started doing lately (improvement) is posting my project schedules, as well as setting up reminders to keep me on track.”
Or, “Every once in a while, I jump into a project to make early progress, rather than taking time to get a sense of the various issues. What I’ve started doing is simply adding tasks on the front end that are about level setting and relationship building, and that’s made a big difference.”
Their mouths will hang open, I promise.
One more thing - both sites have too many questions.
You really need to be exceptionally ready for TWO: “tell me about yourself”, and “give me an example of an accomplishment (which shows blank)”.
If you handle these two well (and btw, tell me about yourself should be 3-4 minutes long, not 1 minute), the others can be forgiven.
(Relatedly: be VERY careful about following ANY guidance from Haldane (cited on one of the sites). They’re a fee-based firm, and my experience with them is consistently unprofessional.
Hope this helps.
Mark Horstman
Manager Tools
Well, I think my first thought is that I hope I’m never in competition for a job with Mark! 
That said, some more thoughts and responses to the above.
Handwritten Notes After A Job Interview? February 10, 2006
Following up both on my post yesterday, and on Doug’s post “10 things to help you get hired“, because of this comment:
Doesn’t a hand written thank you card make you look like an incredible suck-up? Sure maybe some hiring managers get off on that sorta thing, but… I’d consider that overdone.
I’d send a hand-written note. I do that for a few different things anyway though - I like pen-and-paper, as a change from the electronic life. That said, if I was interviewing now, it would be for a manager/director/VP type role, and that sets the expectations somewhat. If you’re fresh out of college, and you’ve just interviewed at Yahoo! for instance, would a note be appropriate?
It’s really going to depend on your own level of comfort with these things, as well as the “vibe” you got from your interviewer. I don’t believe it’s ageist to say that you might get a different reaction to the note from a fifty-something manager than you might from a twenty-something one.
Think about this though - one of the key points in what Doug’s writing about, and what I was touching on as well, is that you need to differentiate yourself. Initially in your resume, and then in your interview, and then finally in their memory of you while they’re deliberating. If the interview process has run over four or five days, and they’ve seen ten, fifteen, twenty candidates, and in the middle of this your note turns up - think you might stand out a little bit from the rest of the crowd now?
Not directly related to job hunting, but on paper notes in general, there’s an article from early January over at “paper notes in a digital world” that might be worth a read. It’s worth taking a look at the comments on that as well, and then judge for yourself how a handwritten note might be received.
When You Go To The Interview February 9, 2006
I already pointed out Doug’s post “10 things to make sure you don’t get a job offer“, and it’s receiving favorable attention - one of those “been there, done that” things, I suspect.
In any event, I think Doug could just as easily have titled it “… don’t get invited to an interview”. It happens that I’ve been helping counsel someone over the last couple weeks, for an interview he had this week. Given that the interview went pretty well, I thought I’d offer up my thoughts on what to take with you to the interview, and a little bit of the interview prep. Maybe Doug can pick it apart in the comments
I wrote all of this down in summary on a 3″x5″ card for the person in question, but I get to go into a little more detail here.
1. Two or three extra resumes. One of them is for yourself, to read before you go into the interview. Interviews are “high-stress” environments for most folks, and while there’s no doubt that you know everything that you’ve put on your resume (unless you’ve been really creative!), it doesn’t hurt to remind yourself of not just what you’ve written, but how you’ve written it - that’s the only exposure the interviewer has had to you so far, remember. Additionally, you may find that the interviewer brings one or more of their colleagues into the meeting with them – now you’ve got a resume ready and waiting for them, without having to mess around getting copies made then and there, if the interviewer hasn’t already done so.
On the subjects of resumes, there’s a great podcast over at the Manager Tools site, which is worth listening to. They have a sample resume up as well. They sell the idea of the one-page resume, and it’s definitely a good idea. I can see some folks not getting along with the idea though, so – if you’ve sent in a two- or three-page resume, you may find mileage in taking along a one-page version. You can always leave it as a “leave behind” after the meeting, can’t you? Conversely, if you sent in the one-pager, you could have a more detailed resume available. It’s not always appropriate to do this, I think, but you’re not going to know until you get there. Having options is always a bonus.
2. A list of your training, conferences attended, speaking engagements, etc. etc. Anything you think appropriate that you might want to reference, that you didn’t include in your resume. It’s there for you, if you need to refer to it; it’s there to leave behind if it becomes appropriate. Not appropriate for all positions, certainly, but isn’t it nice to be prepared?
3. Your 90 or 100 day plan. I “stole” this idea from Bren’s Slacker Manager site. He originally wrote about it here, , and followed up on it here, along with the observation that he’d got the job he’d interviewed for. . This is the only thing that I’m writing about here that I haven’t done personally in earlier interviews in my career. I can say quite definitely that I’ll be doing this for my next interview, whenever that may be. I think it’s a great idea. I’m going to also observe that for the last few years, I’ve been a hiring manager, and sat in on more interviews than I can remember, either as the primary interviewer, as part of the technical screen, or as part of an overall interview panel, and no-one has ever offered up one of these plans in a session I was in. It would have stood out, quite definitely. I want that when I go interviewing again. So, read Bren’s posts – and read the comments on them as well, and then have a think, and try it yourself.
4. A list of interview questions. Actually, there’s two lists you need to have, I think. First, either or both of the lists at these two links:
http://purana.csa.iisc.ernet.in/~gkumar/Questions.html
http://spaces.msn.com/chiefskipper/Blog/cns!A59D550BCED8263B!780.entry
The first link has some sample answers. The second, just a list of questions. You’re going to get asked some of those questions. Absolutely, without a doubt. Not all of them, I certainly hope, but some of them. Print them out, think about them, maybe come up with some sample answers on paper yourself – whatever works best for your own style. I am certainly not advising that you take these lists out at the interview and read from them! But it’s all part of the preparation – things you can read the morning of the interview, en route to the interview if you’re not driving, in the office lobby while you wait, and so forth.
The other list of questions you should take is one you’re going to have to make up yourself. You’re almost certainly going to be asked at the end of the interview “and do you have any questions for me?”, or some variant thereof. Have some ready. Preferably not about the pay and vacation policy, at least not yet! But, tied in to items five and six below, there’s going to be something you’re going to want to know about. If there’s any risk at all of you feeling the stress of the interview and answering “errr, no… thanks…”, then why not have the questions listed out ready? In this instance, I think it is OK to bring the list out, and refer to it. It’s vaguely possible all your questions will have been answered in the interview, but at least you’re going to show that you put the time into thinking about it. You can probably expand on one or more of them anyway.
5. Anything and everything relevant to the position you’re applying for. The job advert, if there was one, a copy of your application letter (and form, if there was one), copies of any additional correspondence, everything. Getting a job is a job in itself, and this is the kind of detailed preparation and planning that will show out – and stand out – to your advantage.
6. Finally, whatever research you’ve done on the company. Reports on it from the internet, or from your local newspaper. A copy of their annual report, maybe. This is the stuff I leave showing at the top of my binder, folder, whatever I’m carrying it all in, when I set it down on the desk. Sometimes garners a question, sometimes not. If they ask, “so, what do you know about [company name]?”, don’t you want to be the candidate that doesn’t answer “er, not a lot, actually”?
Put all the above in a binder, portfolio, padfolio – whatever you’re comfortable carrying that doesn’t look like it had last night’s groceries in it. Take a pad and a pen as well. Sure, you might not need it, and they might provide some when you get there, but like I said – getting a job IS a job. I don’t doubt for a minute that there’s a number of folks reading this going “well, DUH!”. But I don’t exaggerate when I say that I’ve seen dozens of folks go through interviews completely under-prepared. And you know what? An interview is a meeting. If you’re not prepared, and not capable of handling that, then that is the impression that I’m going to get of how you’re going to handle meetings when you’re at work. Not the impression you’re going to want to give really, is it?
Anyway, all the above is, as they say, just my two-penn’orth. Hopefully the links at least are worth the price of admission.
Good luck.
New Blog: Doug Hampshire February 7, 2006
As might have been guessed if you followed yesterday’s link (not many folks did, but that might have been because of the way I did the link in snipurl, and I deliberately didn’t put a lot of information in the post), Doug Hampshire has started a blog here. I know Doug as a manager, a techie and as a friend, and I am very glad that he’s started writing - his first post is “10 things to make sure you don’t get a job offer“. Go check it out, and leave him a comment or two letting him know you’re there, what you think, and maybe suggest other aspects of this topic that he could write about.
Oh, I’ve been guilty of #7 on his list (and it was a server room, not a restaurant!)
Manager Tools - Managing Your Boss January 31, 2006
Mark and Mike over at Manager-Tools have done it again with their podcasts last week and this.
In “Managing Your Boss - Part 1” and “Managing Your Boss - Part 2“, they’ve run through the five aspects of their process/methodology for establishing a good/better relationship with your boss, and understanding where they’re coming from. As I was listening, as with my earlier piece on their Development Challenge, I was taking notes, and these are represented in the images and link that follow. As I was working through the pieces, I was already thinking that I’d offer something up on my site, from the reverse of their perspective - for the folks that have, do or will work for me, so that they have an idea of some of the things I might want considered. Sure enough, sharing these concepts with your team is one of the summary points identifed in the podcast.
If you’re reading this piece on or close to it’s publication date, rather than looking at an archive page, there’s a competition piece in the podcast itself - go check out the second podcast, and have a shot.
As before, I’ve used Mindjet’s MindManager - if you don’t have it, you’re welcome to the jpeg images below; click on them for the full images. I’ve put two images this time, just to show that you can be quite selective in what you look at on the map at any given time.
If you do have MindManager, or the viewer available from their website, you’re welcome to the full map in the link below.
Download the Manager Tools - Managing Your Boss MindMap here.
(Disclaimer/Acknowledgement - all content on the MindMap is from the Manager Tools podcast, and is the work of Mark Horstman and Mike Auzenne; all copyright is theirs and acknowleged. The content on this page merely represents my notes of their presentation).
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