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Product Management and Leadership Guide

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  • Be ready to talk about your favorite physical/digital product for yourself or for other people and do a proper ā€œproduct tear-downā€. Use the ā€˜CIRCLESā€™ method from Lewis Lin, by far the most useful mental model.
  • Know the ā€œSARā€ (or STAR or SPAR or similar) structure and the ā€œpyramid principleā€ for organising your thoughts and answers. S, T, P, A, R refer to situation, task (or problem), action, result. Basically: some context, what was the problem, what did you do about it, and what happened? The pyramid principle developed by Barbara Minto, a consultant, refers to grouping your answers into themes that are easier to digest.
  • It also helps to know a few frameworks ā€” 3C, 4P, Porterā€™s 5 forces, Market Entry, etc at the back of your mind.

Interview

PM interview:

  • Design
  • Strategy
  • Estimation
  • Behavioral
  • Technical

Startegy

Additional Product Strategy Practice Interview Questions

The best way to get better at Product Manager interviews is by actually doing them. You can practice by yourself out loud or even better with someone else. Here are some sample interview questions to get you started:

  • How would you increase YouTubeā€™s daily active users ?
  • What are some ideas for improving mentorship on the LinkedIn platform?
  • What is your favorite product and why?
  • Start a new product category for Amazon -- what would you choose and why?
  • If you want to launch a new social networking product, what are the primary considerations?

Estimation

  • Learn hard facts: I know I said you donā€™t need to know the answers to the questions, but let me rephrase that. While you donā€™t need to memorize the answers, itā€™s crucial to know certain ubiquitous numbers. Letā€™s say youā€™re interviewing for Google. What is the market share of Google Search? How much of the pie does Google Cloud Platform have? What was Googleā€™s revenue and profit in 2017? Knowing these numbers, and more, helps more than youā€™d think. To make your life easier, here is a short (and shabby) fact sheet I created while preparing.

Technical

  • Data Structures and Algorithms: GeeksforGeeks was my best friend here. I went through all the sorting algorithms and basic data structures used. Also brush up your CS fundamentals: OOPS concepts, Networking frameworks, how internet works, how WiFi works, what are the different protocols used and so on. Remember, you have to be so well-versed such that you can explain all this even to a 5 year old. To make lives easier, hereā€™s the word doc I used while preparing, use this and keep adding more.

  • System Design: Ooh, we've hit bulls eye. Most people either donā€™t prepare or donā€™t prepare enough for this. Avoid that mistake, and use this GitHub repo as your Bible or Quran or Bhagavad Gita. Donne has done a brilliant job of breaking down everything needed. But no need to delve too deep; just practice the ten example questions given first.

  • Pseudocoding: Leetcode and a brilliant engineer friend of mine were my strongest pillars. I did not spend a lot of time here, as I knew they wouldnā€™t ask anything too crazy. If youā€™re well versed with coding, this should not be a hard section. Just make sure to enunciate, brute force first, optimize next and check for edge cases. This YouTube channel by Kevin Naughton is super, super useful.

  • How to crack technical questions in PM interviews

Additional Technical Practice Interview Questions

The best way to get better at Product Manager interviews is by actually doing them. You can practice by yourself out loud or even better with someone else. Here are some sample interview questions to get you started:

  • You are part of the Google Search web spam team. How would you detect duplicate websites?
  • What are some of the technical challenges with building a system to help restaurants receive orders electronically?
  • Facebook recently identified that mobile app users in 3rd world countries with significantly lower bandwidth have a poor user experience. How would you reduce bandwidth consumption across Facebookā€™s mobile app?
  • If you were the Product Manager for Gmail, how would you reduce the storage size on Gmail servers?
  • How do you monitor performance and measure success of a recently launched product/service ?
  • How do you gain credibility from the development / engineering teams as a new product manager?
  • What is the importance of engineering and technical teams as stakeholders ? How do you integrate them into the overall product vision?

Behavioral

  • There are multiple sites that give you example behavioral questions, but at the least, cover the basics: Why you? Why this company? Why this role? Whatā€™s your expectation? Whatā€™s your biggest success? Whatā€™s your biggest failure? and How do you cope with a bad manager?

Key Takeaways

Consider the following best practices:

  1. Clearly define the problem and the objectives
    • Make sure you understand the problem upfront. Candidates will sometimes latch on to a small part of the prompt that they heard and spend a lot of time going down an obscure path.
    • You should restate the problem and your assumptions about that problem in your own words and confirm it with the interviewer.
    • State any key assumptions you are making and ask follow up questions to clarify.
  2. Start with user needs
    • No matter the type of problem, keep the needs of your users first.
  3. Communicate your approach and provide some structure
    • Think and communicate how you are going to structure the problem before diving into it. The primary goal of case questions is to evaluate your problem solving process and abilities, not to evaluate whether you got to the correct answer. In many cases, there is no single correct answer.
    • Creating some structure around the problem is not only a good way to demonstrate that this is how you approach problems, but it is also a helpful interview tool. If you start by outlining your approach, you are less likely to forget to cover a certain aspect.
  4. Have a clear methodology
    • There are many prioritization models out there (e.g. the RICE model). Find one or two that resonate with you and be prepared to use them, since prioritization questions are quite common in Product Manager interviews.
  5. At each part of the problem, start broad and then narrow in
    • At each part of the process that youā€™ve structured, start by brainstorming several different options, and then use some stated criteria to prioritize and narrow in.
    • You want to make sure you consider a wide range of options and show that you can think creatively, but also that you know when to focus on the most promising option. Both are critical parts of the product management process.
  6. State your approach at the outset
    • Structure is critical - provide some outline upfront for how you plan to attack the problem.
  7. Gain familiarity of common technical solutions
    • Itā€™s valuable to have a basic architectural understanding of some well known products -- for example Google Search and Facebook Newsfeed.
  8. Understand the differences between mobile and desktop applications
    • In preparation for your interview, review the key differences and considerations when building an application for mobile vs desktop. This is particularly important if the company you are interviewing with has a mobile product.
  9. Study the technology of the company you are interviewing with.
    • Prior to the interview, gain a basic familiarity with the companyā€™s key technology. This preparation will not only help you answer questions you are asked, but can also inspire questions for you to ask the interviewer.

Prioritization

There are many factors that can go into prioritization. Some common ones includes:

  1. Engineering Effort
  2. Revenue Impact
  3. Customer Satisfaction
  4. Competitive Advantage
  5. Mission Alignment

Also

  • Stock options: If youā€™re in the US, working for a startup, you need to know about how companies are funded and how stock options work. Thatā€™s tricky territory not easy to explain in a summary other than to say ā€œget clued up about finance because itā€™s your money and future weā€™re talking about.ā€ Regardless of gender, ignorance is not cool. If youā€™re curious about the employer perspective on stock options for employees, I recommend Fred Wilsonā€™s MBA Mondays posts from back in 2010, particularly the ones on ā€œHow Much?ā€, Vesting, Restricted Stock and RSUs and Options.
  • For all other negotiations (money, time, flexibility): I found that Josh Doody had some helpful advice for how to think about negotiations. His newsletters are informative but you can read his book too.
  • For women in particular, Anna Marie Clifton wrote a long post about how she negotiated for an additional $15,000 at Yammer. Silence can be a great ally in negotiations, and itā€™s useful to learn how to wield it.

Read

Conversion Funnel Analysis:

Advice for someone interested in getting into Product Management:

  • Talk to other Product Managers: It's valuable to hear a first hand perspective -- what they enjoy, the biggest challenges, etc.
  • Ask yourself why: It's important to do some introspection on your motivations for being a Product Manager and why you believe the role is the right one for you.
  • Mentorship is key: When evaluating job opportunities, take into consideration the expected level of mentorship and guidance you can receive from an experienced Product Manager at the company.

The top qualities interviewers look for in Product Manager candidates:

  • Passionate: Does the candidate truly care about the users and the problems they are trying to solve? Candidates who are excited and energized about solving hard problems are going to be more successful.
  • Problem Solver: A skilled problem solver is comfortable taking a large problem and breaking it down into smaller ones.
  • Strong Communicator: A Product Manager has many audiences -- it's critical to know how and what to communicate depending on who you are talking to.
  • Self-Starter: A successful Product Manager takes initiative -- one who not only identifies problems but takes the next step of trying to solve it. A Product Manager's role is filled with ambiguity, and it's important for individuals to have the mindset to just figure things out.

Common types of questions you may get in a Product Manager interview:

  • Behavior Questions: These are extremely common and intended to assess your skills as a Product Manager based on your prior experiences and background. Know your resume really well so you can speak to any part of it. It's also a good idea to be prepared with a few projects or products you worked on that you are most comfortable talking about.
  • Case Study Questions: These can take different forms but are usually Strategy, Design, or Technical or some combination of the three. Practicing example case questions will prepare you to be more comfortable and confident answering these types of open-ended questions. Check out Lessons 2 and 3 from this course to review case study interviews in more detail.

Some tips on how to stand out in a Product Manager interview:

  • Use the STAR: When answering a behavioral question, such as describing a problem you solved, consider the STAR Method to structure your answer:
    • Situation : Provide context for the problem
    • Task : Explain what needed to be done
    • Action: Describe specifically what you did
    • Results: Explain the ultimate outcome
  • Remember to demonstrate learnings: Often, more important than the ultimate outcome is what you learned along the way that helped you grow as a Product Manager. Make sure to highlight this when discussing your experiences.
  • Always break down the problem: Candidates who provide some clarity and structure to open-ended questions will stand out.
  • Above and beyond: It's not always practical or appropriate, but to really stand out, consider creating a product related proposal or project that is beneficial to the company and provide this as part of the interview process.

Growth Product Manager

Growth Product Manager is a relatively new role within the Product Management domain. Some aspects of a Growth Product Manager role that are unique and exciting:

  • Tinkering is key: Growth Product Managers are constantly trying new experiments, testing new ideas, and doing many of these at once.
  • New experiments more than new features: Growth Product Managers focus on how to get more customers to use existing features. A major challenge is identifying and experimenting new ways for customer adoption.
  • Quantity, not just quality: Sometimes in Product Management, the focus will be on building a small set of very high quality features to address customer needs. As a Growth Product Manager, quantity is critical -- you need to test a lot of ideas at once.

VP of Product

Examples of her day-to-day role as the VP of Product, including:

  • Morning review of emails to identify which need urgent attention
  • Looking at product metrics to see the direction her products are headed
  • Structuring her day to spend time on day-to-day tactical work as well as long term strategic thinking
  • Balancing the various requests that come to her (e.g. production bugs, sales team requests, customers feature requests, etc)

Project Management

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Technical Manager

Title Description
Team Lead Roadmap Roadmap
Engineering Manager Resources A list of engineering manager resource links.
awesome-engineering-management Pointers and tools for learning and day-to-day practice of engineering management & leadership.

šŸ“Š Building diagrams, flows and charts

  • AWS Architecture Icons - The official AWS icon set for building architecture diagrams

  • diagrams.net - Diagram Software and Flowchart Maker

  • Cloudcraft - Cloudcraft ā€“ Draw AWS diagrams

  • Creately - AWS Architecture Diagram Tool | Draw AWS Diagrams

  • SketchBoard - Draw AWS Architecture Diagrams Online

  • SmartDraw - Easy Flowchart Maker | Free Online Flow Chart Creator & Software

  • Miro - The Visual Collaboration Platform for Every Team

  • Figma - Design, prototype, and gather feedback all in one place with Figma

  • Canva | Flowcharts - Free Flowchart Maker - Create Flowcharts Online

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Soft-skills for the Manager

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results)

OKRs (or objectives and key results) can be used to create accountability, transparency, and alignment within their organizations.

As a core component of any performance management plan, goal setting helps businesses overcome the challenges of scaling their workforces. OKRs are a popular goal-setting framework that businesses use to define and measure progress across different levels within the organization. When used effectively, OKRs spark innovation, unite teams, and create a clear path for taking companies to the next level.

While there have been a number of goal-setting frameworks throughout history such as SMART goals, OKRs were first introduced at Intel by management scientist Andy Grove and later popularized by Google in the late 1990s. Today, OKRs power thousands of organizations from Spotify and Amazon to the United States Navy.

How OKRs Drive Business Results

OKRs help businesses manage performance in five core ways:

  • Alignment: OKRs get everyone on the same page around what teams are doing, why theyā€™re doing it, and how their work moves the organization forward.
  • Prioritization: OKRs bridge the gap between long term goals and the daily work necessary to achieve them. This empowers employees to prioritize day-to-day tasks and long-term initiatives.
  • Transparency: OKRs foster transparent company cultures by informing everyone of the impact and priorities of teams and individuals across the organization, top-down from the CEO to the intern.
  • Accountability: OKRs create ownership of performance expectations and remove any room for gray areas as to whoā€™s responsible for meeting specific goals.ā€
  • Empowerment: OKRs show employees the impact of their work and give them a sense of ownership over their progress.

As a proven goal-setting framework for companies of all sizes, OKRs are effective because of their basic structure and practical application.

OKRs divide goals into achievements and the actions that support them. They are structured around two fundamental questions:

šŸ’  Structure

OKRs divide goals into achievements and the actions that support them. They are structured around two fundamental questions:

  • Objective: Where do I want to go?

The Objective is the goal of the entire organization, team, or individual. Objectives are typically qualitative and set the direction for what every level of the business wants to achieve in a certain amount of time.

  • Key Result: How will I get there?

Key Results (KRs) are the measurable outcomes that need to be achieved in order to meet the objective ā€“ā€“ somewhat like a ā€œto-do listā€ for accomplishing an overall goal. KRs help track progress and are generally metrics-driven, using the teamā€™s key performance indicators.

šŸ’  Application

The main benefits of OKRs are largely based on the way they are put into practice and applied across organizations.

šŸ”¹ Organizational levels

Individual and team goals should be connected via measurable key results to high-level company objectives. This interplay of business goals boosts employee engagement and creates overall business alignment.

šŸ”¹ Alignment

Every company should aim for OKR alignment between organizational and team levels, but there are two different approaches companies can take to achieving it:

  • Strict alignment: In this approach, key results translate directly into the objectives of the level below them.
  • Directional alignment: In this more flexible approach, organizations establish objectives that feed into the key results of higher levels but donā€™t mirror them exactly.

šŸ’  Qualities of a Successful OKR

The OKR methodology distinguishes itself from other frameworks for setting goals with its unique approach to blending both ambition and practicality. Itā€™s also designed to encourage company, team, and individual-level transparency and accountability.

  • Objectives should be ambitious; inspirational targets tend to make people at all levels of your organization think bigger, such as stretch goals.
  • Key results should be measurable; giving company goals a finite endpoint allows businesses to accurately quantify progress when they reach a milestone.
  • OKRs should be transparent; visibility across organizations creates a sense of accountability, and gives teams context to make informed decisions.

šŸ’  A Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing OKRs

1. Designing an OKRs Program

Organizations must identify how they will configure OKRs in their goal-setting system before launching so that they can design a process that suits their needs.

šŸ”¹ MISSION, VISION, & STRATEGY

Before implementing an OKR program, companies should clearly define the mission, vision, and business strategy that their OKRs can support. Your OKRs should be translated from your strategy, drive the achievement of your vision, and be in alignment with your overall mission.

šŸ”¹ OPERATIONS

A companyā€™s business context should dictate its approach to goal-setting. Before establishing OKRs, companies should evaluate different aspects of their day-to-day operations, such as headcount, organizational structure, legacy processes, project management capabilities, and more.

šŸ”¹ SYNCHRONIZATION

If youā€™re introducing OKRs to your company for the first time, a best practice is to launch without strict alignment and instead focus on directional alignment. Dependencies increase the likelihood of bottlenecks, so we recommend that companies avoid making things complicated.

šŸ”¹ OWNERSHIP

When HR teams are the sole driving force behind implementing and managing OKRs, it sends the message to the rest of the organization that OKRs are an administrative process. In order for an OKRs plan rollout to be successful, it needs to have public executive sponsorship.

2. Rolling Out Your OKRs Program

šŸ”¹ EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT

While it might not be feasible to have every employee involved in every part of the OKR process, employees should be clear on who is responsible for setting and tracking OKRs at each level, what projects and metrics they should prioritize, why the organization is introducing a new goal-setting process, and how their work connects to the business as a whole.

šŸ”¹ WORKFORCE TRAINING

Goal setting is a learned rather than innate skill, so organizations need to provide proper guidance to employees on how to set quality OKRs. Team meetings and workshops (for executives, managers, and employees) are a great way to support newcomers to the OKR methodology and, in subsequent cycles, encourage alignment across the organization.

šŸ”¹ ORGANIZATION

For companies of all sizes, tracking OKRs can be a challenging process. Organizations like Google have built internal tools. Others use ad hoc methods like spreadsheets, and a growing number of companies are using dedicated OKR software to keep company goals transparent and quantifiable.

3. Administering OKRs

šŸ”¹ GRADING OKRs

Grading is the process by which organizations objectively evaluate performance on OKRs. OKRs are graded on a scale between 0.0 to 1.0, as pictured below. Each key result is graded, and the average of the key results is used to create the grade for each corresponding objective.

If youā€™re getting a perfect score on your OKRs all the time, thatā€™s a sign you should be setting more ambitious goals. Likewise, if youā€™re consistently scoring below 0.3 on your goals, theyā€™re probably too aspirational. OKRs shouldnā€™t be moonshots ā€” consistently underperforming means it might be time to readjust your objectives and key results.

šŸ”¹ SHARING PROGRESS

OKR recap meetings are essential. At the beginning of every quarter, all levels of your organization should get together and discuss how they measured up to the OKRs set at the beginning of the previous goal cycle. Direct reports and managers should integrate OKRs into their one-on-one meetings.

šŸ”¹ INTEGRATING LEARNINGS

While grading is about objective measurement, learning is about contextualizing successes and shortcomings within a given OKR cycle to achieve better results moving forward. Evaluation of OKRs should happen regularly, but each cycle should also be capped by a retrospective conversation on what went well, what didnā€™t go well, and what learnings can be applied to the next quarterā€™s roadmap.

ā“FAQ

  • Should OKRs focus on output or outcomes?

The purpose of OKRs is to redirect focus away from output and towards outcomes. The key difference between these two mindsets is that outcomes focus on what was achieved, whereas output focuses on how things are achieved.

  • How should OKRs be used in performance reviews?

Ultimately, this is a personal decision that every leadership team has to make for their own company. But regardless of what you decide, OKRs are not synonymous with employee performance evaluations, and companies who intend to connect OKRs to performance shouldnā€™t do so in isolation. Rather, they should be integrating OKRs into a full review of all performance management aspects.

šŸ’­ Conclusions

The OKRs framework is a powerful management tool for helping businesses define broader goals and the quantifiable actions that support them. Here are some final tips for getting OKRs to work for your company:

  • Keep your OKRs flexible. Donā€™t obsess over alignment between levels.
  • Use learnings from old OKRs to iterate and create new OKRs.
  • Highlight executive sponsorship when rolling out OKRs plans.
  • Set OKRs frequently ā€“ā€“ ideally quarterly but at least every six months.
  • Ensure OKRs are ambitious, measurable, and transparent.
  • Leverage tools that make tracking OKRs easier and top-of-mind.

šŸ“° Articles

Essential Feedback

Feedback is the process of helping others gain self-awareness about their actions and their impact

The focus of feedback should be to help others to thrive. Good feedback speeds up learning and builds collaborative and engaged teams.

Quality feedback speeds up learning, improves collaboration and increases engagement.

A way to think about feedback that avoids this is as 'reinforcing' or 'redirecting'. In this framing, all feedback is positive.

Reinforcing feedback is when your feedback encourages someone to continue a certain behavior.

Alternatively, redirecting feedback encourages someone to adopt a new behavior in favour of an old one.

In both cases, the focus is to help a person to thrive. Criticism on its own is not feedback.

Request a feedback

When requesting feedback, it's important to keep a few things in mind:

  • Be specific: Be clear about what you're looking for feedback on. Whether it's your own performance or someone else's, provide specific prompts and questions that will help guide the conversation.

Clearly communicate what area or aspect you would like feedback on. This helps the person providing feedback to focus their response and provide more meaningful insights.

  • Provide context: Give some background information about the project, the goals, and any challenges faced. This helps the person providing feedback to understand the context and provide relevant feedback.
  • Seek constructive feedback: Request feedback that is actionable and specific. Ask for suggestions on how you can improve or areas where you can grow. This helps you to identify areas of strength and areas that need improvement.
  • Be open-minded: Feedback can be difficult to hear, especially if it's critical. However, it's important to approach feedback with an open mind and a willingness to learn and improve.
  • Create a safe space: Make sure the person you're requesting feedback from feels comfortable sharing their honest thoughts and opinions. Create a safe and supportive environment where they can provide constructive feedback without fear of repercussions.

Create a safe and non-judgmental environment where the person giving feedback feels comfortable sharing their honest opinions. Avoid becoming defensive or dismissive of the feedback you receive. Remember, feedback is an opportunity for growth and improvement.

  • Ask open-ended questions: Encourage detailed and thoughtful responses by asking open-ended questions that require more than a simple "yes" or "no" answer. This allows the person providing feedback to share their thoughts and insights more fully.
  • Listen actively: When receiving feedback, actively listen to what the person is saying. Avoid getting defensive or making excuses, and instead focus on understanding their perspective.
  • Take action: After receiving feedback, take time to reflect on what you've heard and think about how you can use it to improve. Consider creating an action plan to address any areas of improvement that were identified.
  • Say thank you: Finally, remember to thank the person for their feedback. Let them know that their thoughts and opinions are valued and that you appreciate their willingness to share them with you.
  • Be grateful and show appreciation: Acknowledge and appreciate the time and effort the person is taking to provide feedback. Express your gratitude for their input, regardless of whether the feedback is positive or critical.
  • Follow up: If there are specific actions you plan to take based on the feedback received, consider sharing that with the person who provided the feedback. This demonstrates your commitment to learning and improvement.

Remember, the goal of feedback is to learn and grow, so approach it with an open mind and a willingness to embrace both positive and constructive criticism.

šŸ”ø From Engineering Manager perspective:

  1. What did you enjoy most about working on this project?
  2. What were the biggest challenges you faced while working on this project, and how did you overcome them?
  3. How do you feel about the project overall? Are you proud of the work you did?
  4. What did you think of the project timeline? Was it realistic, or did you feel that it was too rushed or too slow?
  5. Were there any communication issues during the project? If so, how do you think we could improve communication in the future?
  6. What was your favorite feature that you worked on in the project?
  7. Is there anything you would have done differently if you had the chance to do the project over again?
  8. Did you feel that you had all the resources you needed to complete your tasks successfully?
  9. How would you rate the quality of the work you and the team delivered on this project?
  10. Finally, do you have any feedback for me as your engineering manager or for the rest of the team?

šŸ”ø For Manager:

  1. How would you describe my communication style during this project? Was I clear and effective in communicating expectations and feedback?
  2. Did I provide you with the support and resources you needed to complete your tasks effectively? If not, what could I have done better?
  3. What do you think were my strengths as a manager during this project?
  4. What areas do you think I could improve on as a manager? Do you have any suggestions for how I can improve in those areas?
  5. Did you feel comfortable coming to me with any concerns or issues you had during the project?
  6. Was I approachable and supportive when you came to me with concerns or issues?
  7. Did you feel that I was able to provide you with clear direction and guidance when needed?
  8. Did I foster a positive and collaborative team environment? If not, how could I have improved in that area?
  9. Did I recognize and appreciate your contributions to the project? If not, how could I have done better?

šŸ”ø For Data Scientist/ML Engineer from Software Engineer:

  1. What are some areas where you think I excelled during the project?
  2. What are some areas where you think I could improve in my work as a data scientist/machine learning engineer?
  3. Were my communication skills effective and clear during our interactions?
  4. Were there any times during the project where you felt I could have been more proactive or taken more initiative?
  5. Were my deliverables on time and of high quality?
  6. Did I work effectively as part of the team, and were there any issues with collaboration or teamwork?
  7. Did I provide sufficient documentation for my work?
  8. Were there any challenges or obstacles that I encountered during the project, and how did I handle them?
  9. Did I show a good understanding of the business context and goals of the project?
  10. How would you describe my overall performance as a data scientist/machine learning engineer on this project?

šŸ”ø For Data Scientist/ML Engineer from Software Engineer and from Manager perspective:

  1. How effective was the data scientist in providing you with the data and insights you needed to complete your work on the project?
  2. Were the data scientist's contributions to the project valuable? If so, can you provide some examples of how their work helped the project succeed?
  3. Did the data scientist collaborate well with you and the rest of the team?
  4. Were the data scientist's analyses and conclusions well-supported by the data? Were there any issues with their approach to data analysis that you noticed?
  5. Were there any challenges you faced as a software engineer that the data scientist was able to help you overcome? If so, how did they help you?
  6. Were there any areas where you feel the data scientist could have improved in their work on the project? If so, can you provide some specific feedback on how they could have improved?
  7. Did the data scientist communicate effectively with you and the rest of the team? Were there any areas where their communication could have been improved?
  8. Did you feel that the data scientist was able to adapt to changing project requirements or priorities as needed?
  9. Did the data scientist show a willingness to learn and grow throughout the project?
  10. Finally, is there any additional feedback you have for the data scientist that could help them grow and improve as a data scientist?

Tips for positive feedback.

Whether your feedback is reinforcing or redirecting, your focus should be on helping a person to improve. To do that it is important to ask yourself:

  • What is my intention in giving this feedback?
  • What impact do I want my feedback to have?
  • Is my feedback constructive?
  • Is my feedback actionable?

Take the 'blur' out of your feedback.

  1. Micro-yes: get buy-in and prepare the individual for the conversation. For example, "Can I share feedback with you about X?"
  2. Data: provide a specific data point. For example, "I noticed yesterday that you did X."
  3. Impact: explain the impact on you or others. For example, "I mention it because as a result, Y happened."

Structure feedback

Giving feedback without thinking it through can result in a confusing mess.

You can give structure to your feedback by using the LifeLabs Learning ā€˜BIQ methodā€™. BIQ stands for Behavior, Impact and Question. The BIQ method is super useful for both performance reviews and informal feedback conversations.

  • Behavior: What did you actually see? Don't make assumptions about intent.
  • Impact statement: What was the consequence? Why does it matter and who was affected?
  • Question: What question do you want to ask to open the dialog?

Focussing on specific behaviors reduces ambiguity, sharing the impact gives understanding, and asking a question opens the dialog for real change to happen.

So you've planned your feedback and you're ready to share it, but is it the right time for them?

Rule of thumb: When it comes to feedback, especially redirecting feedback, avoid surprises.

The fix: ask permission first.

Asking permission gives others a say in when they receive feedback. This has several benefits:

  • Prepares them to be open to your feedback
  • Shows your intention is to help
  • Ensures enough time and space for a full conversation

When you ask for permission, be specific about what you'd like to share. For example:

  • ā€œCan I share some feedback with you about our meeting earlier today?ā€
  • ā€œDo you have 10 minutes today to debrief on the presentation this morning?ā€
  • ā€œI noticed a few things that might improve your presentation. Would you like me to share them with you?ā€

To avoid making assumptions, focus on behaviors you can observe. For example:

  • ā€œIn the team meeting yesterday, you were giving short answers.ā€
  • ā€œI noticed that you didn't finish that task on time.ā€

This makes it much easier for the person to understand what triggered your feedback. It allows them to explain what they were thinking or feeling so you don't have to guess.

Is it possible to give too much feedback?

Feedback is important for your team's growth, but too much too fast can be overwhelming. It's a lot to take in and makes it harder to act on it in a constructive way.

Counteract this by prioritizing your feedback. Focus on what will have the most impact on peopleā€™s success.

Focusing on 1 or 2 feedback areas at a time will give them space to absorb it and respond constructively.

If you're unsure about what feedback will be most impactful, just ask! For example, before giving feedback on a document, you might ask: "Are you looking for feedback on the strategic direction? Or more on spelling and grammar?"

šŸ’­ Conclusions

  • Communicating data-driven feedback to reinforce or redirect behavior
  • Separating the person from the problem to increase openness
  • Asking questions to generate a genuine conversation
  • Seeking to understand feedback rather than responding defensively.

Ideas to improve on Feedback

Deliver effective feedback to your team members that allows them to understand it, reflect on it, and learn from it to make change for the better.

Feedback is the process of helping others gain self-awareness about their actions and their impact

Quality feedback speeds up learning, improves collaboration and increases engagement.

šŸ—ŗļø

Title Description
Communicating feedback that is meaningful

    Prepare your feedback to make difficult conversations easier and help your direct reports develop quickly.

    Research from LifeLabs Learning found that great managers give more frequent and more useful feedback than average ā€“ including positive and critical feedback. Using a Feedback Prep Grid will enable you to plan out your feedback and then deliver your it in a way that's brain-friendly and actionable.

  1. Micro-yes: get buy-in and prepare the individual for the conversation. For example, "Can I share feedback with you about X?"
  2. Data: provide a specific data point. For example, "I noticed yesterday that you did X."
  3. Impact: explain the impact on you or others. For example, "I mention it because as a result, Y happened."
Title Description
Hold kick offs and retros

    āž”ļø Ritualize feedback by holding kick offs and retros for every project

    Normalize feedback sharing and accelerate team performance by starting all major projects with a kick off.

    These sessions where you define project outcomes (including productivity and learning goals).

    Next, schedule your project retrospective, reviewing what went well and what could have been better.

    Why?

    Research on surgical teams shows that taking time to reflect and learn from successes and failures improves performance even more than getting additional practice!

    Instructions

  • Schedule a 30-90 minute meeting at the start and end of major projects.
  • For kick-off meetings use a template to structure.
  • For retrospective meetings use a template to structure.
  • Invite all stakeholders.
  • Explain that your goal is to align on project success, then pause to reflect, share feedback, and extract the learning.
Ask the 10% Question

    āž”ļø Next time you ask for feedback, say: "What could be 10% better?"

    To create a feedback culture, pull for feedback on a regular basis.

    Not only will you expedite your own development, you will send a strong signal-setting message to your team, demonstrating that feedback is expected and rewarded. Make it easy for your direct reports to give you feedback by showing how it will benefit you, and by keeping your ask small

    Why?

    We find it easier to give feedback when a request is specific and the risk feels low.

    Instructions

    Pull for feedback at least once this week by asking the 10% Question.

    For example: "I would really love your help. Can you share your feedback on X? What went well? What could have made it 10% better?"

    Want to get better feedback? Ask a better question. Hereā€™s how.

  • ā€œTo help me keep improving, Iā€™d love to get your feedback on my facilitation of our last retro. What was one thing you liked? What was one thing I could have done 10% better?ā€
Reflection moments

    āž”ļø Team reflections at the end of meetings and projects

    Build time into the end of meetings and projects for all team members to reflect on the process.

    For a team meeting, when announcements are made or decisions agreed, ask them to spend 5 minutes reflecting on the process of the meeting and how communication went. For larger projects use a tool like GroupMap to take the team through an hour long process.

    Why?

    These moments of reflection are a great way to evaluate success, gather feedback to share, and take on learnings. The team can implement changes for future projects and use for individual development.

    Instructions

    Great questions to ask and discuss include:

  • What went well that we'd do again?
  • What can improve for next time?
  • Anything we're still unsure of or need clarity on?
  • Are there action/s to take from this feedback?
Break up triangulation

    āž”ļø Encourage direct feedback on your team

    Triangulation happens when someone offers second-hand feedback.

    This scenario is common among individuals or teams who are not comfortable sharing feedback directly e.g. "A tells B about something that C did, and B delivers the feedback to C." And, if not handled well, triangulation can quickly escalate to distrust, disengagement, and a toxic work culture.

    Why?

    When a recipient doesnā€™t know the feedback source, the message is typically too vague to be helpful. Worse yet, the recipient is often left feeling frustrated and anxious, wondering who said something behind their back and why the message wasn't delivered directly.

    Instructions

    Let your team know that you do not support triangulation, and ask everyone to hold one another accountable to giving feedback directly. If someone brings you feedback about someone else:

  • Redirect: Ask "Have you shared this feedback directly?" If not, ask: "How can I help you prepare for the conversation?" In the case of conflict, offer to mediate the conversation.
  • Credit the source: If the indivudual is unwilling to share, ask: "If I deliver this message, can I let the person know they can follow up with you if they have any questions about the feedback?"
  • Collect the data: If the individual is still uncomfortable sharing the message, say: "In that case, I will keep an eye out for this behavior, so I can share the feedback from my perspective."

    • Pro tip: Learn more about not getting tripped up in triangulation.
Establish feedback norms

    āž”ļø Set expectations with your team about how and when to share feedback

    Share why you think feedback is important.

    In your next team meeting and in your 1 on 1s, share why you think feedback is important e.g., "when we give one another feedback, we help each other grow. Being direct about what we think is going well and not so well is the most helpful thing we can do for one anotherā€. Invite your team to give you feedback, and ask them to share their feedback preferences. Bonus: ask each direct report what they'd like you to give them feedback on.

    Why?

    Feedback expectations vary widely by culture and by individual. Without shared feedback norms, miscommunication and conflict are likely to happen.

    Instructions

    At your next team meeting, share your commitment to creating a feedback culture. Ask team members to share their feedback preferences and capture your decisions in a team playbook. For example, answer the questions below together:

  • How often should we give one another feedback?
  • Should we share feedback in person, over email, Slack, etc.?
  • How often should we ask one another for feedback?
  • What types of things should we share feedback on?
  • How can we make it easy for people to give us feedback?

    • In your 1 on 1 meetings, ask each direct report about their feedback preferences and what they would like you to give them feedback on.
Elephants, Dead Fish and Vomit

    āž”ļø Categorizing better dialogue in meetings

    Arrange your conversations in a way that makes everyone feel heard.

    After receiving survey feedback that employees didn't feel they could be open and honest, the Airbnb executive team categorized their dialogue in meetings under three areas: 'elephants', 'dead fish' and 'vomit'.

  • Elephants: 'big things' in the room nobody is talking about
  • Dead fish: 'things' from the past people can't let go of
  • Vomit: is for situations when someone just needs to be heard.

    • Why?

    Improve meeting effectiveness with clearly-defined opportunities to contribute on what often goes unsaid in organizations out in the open.

    Instructions

  • Ask your team if they feel this type of meeting methodology could help get better clarity and talk about situations more openly.
  • Facilitate for meetings when this is appropriate.
Timing is everything

    āž”ļø Providing feedback in the moment or as close to it.

    Timely feedback increases the chances of people being more aware of their performance and being able to make changes. Whether the feedback is positive or constructive, provide the information as closely tied to the event as possible. Within 24 hours is ideal.

    Why?

    Normalizing feedback as part of everyday conversation on what people are doing well or areas for improvement vs. waiting for a formal review helps it be better received.

    Instructions

  • Look for opportunities to recognize great performance, it's a powerful motivator. Recognition fosters more of the appreciated actions.
  • Pull aside a team member in private for any constructive feedback, ask permission first and look to work on a solution together.
  • Look to make this feedback timely, specific and frequent for your team members.
Feedback loops

    āž”ļø Team speed is a function of the frequency and quality of its feedback loops.

    Donā€™t use smart goals, OKRs, or similar mechanisms as the only way to create focus.

    Instead, inspire the team with questions that frame its goals as challenges to be solved, and then solve those challenges through constant experimentation. That is the only way to make decisions both quickly and effectively.

    Why?

    Imagine youā€™re driving a car down a windy road. Now imagine that youā€™re only allowed to touch the steering wheel once every ten minutes. How fast would you drive the car? Most people would say, ā€œreally slowly!ā€ In this sense, your team is just like a car: in order to move fast, you need frequent, high-quality feedback loops.

    Instructions

    Take the following steps to implement fast feedback loops:

  • Articulate your team's strategic objectives as challenges, aka questions to be answered.
  • Establish a weekly routine of running experiments as a team to solve your challenges.
  • At the beginning of each weekly meeting, share context in the form of stories and metrics to see how the last week's experiments affected performance.
  • Given your current context, ideate on and agree to your next set of experiments.
  • Every month, reflect on your pace of experimentation. How many experiments did you run? Were they enough? How can you free up more time for experimentation? Or, how can you make each experiment faster and more efficient?
Provide direct and helpful feedback

    āž”ļø Be direct and constructive, so feedback come across clearly and respectfully

    Offer direct and helpful feedback for improvement.

    Attempting to soften a point when addressing tough or sensitive issues can result in misunderstandings. Tools like the 'feedback sandwich' have steered people off track by offering compliments on either side of bad news, and people misinterpreting what was intended.

    Why?

    Being direct, constructive, and straightforward with your message and its importance will be interpreted clearly and respectfully.

    Instructions

  • Let your team member be aware you'd like to offer them some feedback for improvement.
  • Ensure you have clear examples of the behavior and it's impact, and how it's not useful in the situation.
  • Allow them time and space to hear the feedback, and to respond with their understanding of the situation and offer some insight into how or why it's occurring and solutions to prevent it in the future.
  • If required, offer examples of constructive ways of working they could adopt to prevent this happening in the future.
  • Agree what you both feel success would look after this conversation.
  • Agree to check in again within a 2 week period re progress, and again in 4 weeks as a measure of change.
What you say vs. how you say it

    āž”ļø How you say something often has more impact than what you're saying

    It's not what you say, it's how you say it that often leaves more of an impact.

    Messages we send are often misinterpreted. This can be based on the words we have used, the behaviors or mannerisms we exhibit, and the tone being misread.

    Why?

    Some research suggests that when people are interpreting one another's communication they observe it broken down as: 7% is the words we speak, 38% is the tone we use (how you use your voice) and 55% is our body language and mannerisms. A lot of this interpretation is believed to be sub-conscious and automatic.

    Instructions

    Next time you have a colleague/ customer come towards you, consider how you can adjust your posture, facial expression and tone to have a more open-style approach.

  • Consider the impact of the way you hold yourself can have.
  • An open approach can see a better outcome with others.
  • Try softer eye contact, arms relaxed by your side (uncrossed), smiling, turning to face people, tilting your head or softening your voice.
Re-think your feedback cadence

    āž”ļø Increase the cadence of feedback for employees

    An example of this is to abandon performance ratings and create a more frequent and feedback-focused performance management process. Every quarter, every employee can sit down with their manager to give and receive feedback and discuss goals from the quarter prior and upcoming quarter. They can also discuss career pathing.

    Why?

    By increasing the cadence for feedback, you can ensure a regular discussion and status updates of how employees are feeling, and how theyā€™re progressing against goals. This helps to address concerns immediately and to stop any tension or stress from festering.

    Instructions

  • Set up a quarterly feedback session with each employee.
  • During each session, discuss the positives and negatives of the weeks gone by.
  • Set some goals for the following week and discuss what kind of blockers they will face.
  • Donā€™t forget to celebrate wins and give positive feedback.
Use the Playing Cards Method

    āž”ļø Make feedback useful every time by being specific not blurry

    Each playing card suit represents a different type of feedback.

    The LifeLabs Learning Playing Cards Method is a framework that makes it easy to give useful feedback every time.

    ā™£ļø Club = negative, blurry feedback (e.g., ā€œyou come across as rude.ā€)

    ā™ ļø Spade = negative, specific feedback (e.g., ā€œI noticed you spoke over me a few times during meeting, and I mention it because I found it hard to get my thoughts across.")

    ā™„ļø Heart = positive, blurry feedback (e.g., ā€œYou crushed that sales call!ā€)

    ā™¦ļø Diamond = positive, specific feedback (e.g., ā€œI liked that you asked follow up questions to really understand the clientā€™s needs.")

    Why?

    Most feedback fails to make an impact because it is too vague for us to apply. Be sure to give spades and diamonds only to make your feedback useful.

    Instructions

    Notice which type of feedback you give most often. Convert your clubs to spades and your hearts to diamonds.

    Pro tip: If someone gives you a club or heart, ask them to de-blur it. For example, "Thanks for the feedback! Would you please share an example so I better understand?"
Feedback. Clarity. Action. Follow up.

    āž”ļø Keep teams consistently updated with feedback, clarity, action and follow up

    This four-part process will ensure that everyone is getting the information required in a timely manner. When you share feedback, ensure others have clarity of exactly what it means (and it is the same as your intent). Take action and follow up with the progress made. This process can apply to project updates, performance evaluations, new hires, key strategy or product changes.

    Why?

    Many leaders can fall short in two areas above. They give feedback but do not clarify that everyone involved has the same understanding. This will always impact the action taken. Next, many will miss the final part to loop back and follow up on progress made, promoting deadlines or priorities to be missed.

    Instructions

    Get into a habit of using this 4-part model with your teams, make them aware that you're adopting it and what to expect in conversations you're having. You'll have better communication and encourage accountability both ways.

Web Sources

Strategic Thinking

Strategic thinking is a process that enables you to work with your team on plans to achieve your goals. Strategic thinking is a skill built through experience and observation.

The key thing that great strategic thinkers do differently is that they pause (even if just for a minute) to think about how they are thinking. They pause to define terms, to contemplate what matters most, to create measurables, and to think about context, including asking, "Wait, what do we mean by this term?"

Developing this type of thinking depends on focusing on trends, challenging the norm, provoking different perspective, questioning assumptions and reading between the lines - all aspects that take time and determination to practice.

Develop these skills to make better decisions in the face of uncertainty.

Structuring skills

Structuring skills: the ability to create structure even when something is vague.

ā–¶ļø The tool? Gap analysis and scaling questions.

Scaling Questions

Some common scaling questions to get you started:

  • Completion: How complete is the project Iā€™m working on, 1-10 scale? What would move it one point?
  • Efficiency: How streamlined is xyz currently? Where would I (realistically) like it to be by now? What would move it one point?
  • Satisfaction: How happy am I with how things are going?
  • Impact: How successful is xyz?
  • Skill level: How skilled am I at xyz?

These are just a few sample questions. The key point is to train the brain to think in terms of numbers.

Why practice scaling questions?

Researchers at LifeLabs Learning studied the difference between good and great managers. They saw one key difference between them: the great managers had a habit of helping their teams think in concrete, measurable ways, even when things don't seem measurable. Adding numbers creates both a reality check and a relative progress bar to track change against.

So, teams with great strategic thinking skills have a habit of asking:

  • Where things currently are
  • Where one would like those things to be by a certain date
  • What actions move the needle between those two points.

Gap Analysis

Spread the gap analysis habit to your team.

When managers ask their direct reports gap analysis questions, strategic thinking skills spread. They soon become part of the teamā€™s way of communicating. This starts to happen even when their manager isnā€™t around. Sounds small, but makes a big difference.

Your mission in the next few days is to find a way to ask your direct reports a gap analysis question. Choose one of these or create your own:

  • How are things currently going with [xyz project], 1-10 scale? What would move it one point?
  • How satisfied are you with [the amount of feedback you are getting]? What would move it one point?
  • How would you rate the usefulness of our 1-on-1s? What would move it one point?
  • How clear do you feel about your priorities? What would move it one point?

Thatā€™s a wrap on first strategic thinking habit: asking gap analysis or scaling questions.

'Red flags'

Awareness of common red flags means you can avoid strategic mistakes.

Pausing to think about the common mistakes - the red flags - will build awareness of your teamā€™s habits. This creates what researchers call ā€˜contextual cueingā€™ for managers. Youā€™ll begin to sense when a team member is about to make a strategic mistake, and can then take action to avoid it.

In 1-on-1s or team meetings this week, begin asking your team questions like those:

  • What strategic thinking habits matter most for our team, in your opinion?
  • What are the most common strategic thinking mistakes you/we make?
  • When donā€™t we think strategically as a team?
  • What conditions create strategic mistakes?

Building awareness about strategic capacity is a great thing for a team.

Research shows that teams who think strategically have a habit of thinking about the whole picture of a problem. They think about a full range of potential factors that may be contributing to it.

In doing so, great strategic thinkers create solutions that last, rather than solutions that are short-sighted.

Contextualizing skills

Contextualizing skills: the ability to look at the full picture before diving into the wrong solution.

ā–¶ļø The tool? 3-lens analysis.

ā€˜3-lens analysisā€™

Hereā€™s how it works. Think about a project that someone is working on now and struggling with.

Now, take 1 minute to look at this problem with different lenses. Flip through each lens (imagine the lenses eye doctors use when testing your vision):

  • Lens 1: The person

In what ways (if any) might the individual be contributing to the problem? (Things like their workstyle, lack of skill, motivation, clarity.)

  • Lens 2: You

In what ways (if any) might you be contributing to the problem? (Maybe you didnā€™t provide feedback, didnā€™t set clear expectations.)

  • Lens 3: The team/ organisation

In what ways (if any) might the team/organisation/systems be contributing to the problem? (Things like interdependencies, unclear processes, conflicting priorities.)

This 3 minute exercise of ā€˜flipping through 3 lensesā€™ helps train the brain to think through the many potential causes of a problem. This is what psychologists call ā€˜multivariate thinking'. It means you can fix the problem - strategically - for the long haul.

Find a way to plant 3-lens questions into your 1-on-1s. Common questions you can ask direct reports are:

  • Should we look at this from different lenses?
  • What other perspectives could we take on this?
  • What are some other potential contributing factors we should consider?
  • Should we do a quick 3-lens analysis on this before diving in?

Asking your team questions adds structure and context to a problem. With practice, team thinking can change.

Some common questions to try adding to your everyday conversations with your team:

  • Letā€™s put some numbers on this! On a scale from 1-10, where are we at with xyz?
  • Whatā€™s the gap here - where are we now and where do we want to be?
  • What would create a 10% improvement? What would move us one point closer to our goal?
  • Letā€™s pause here before diving inā€¦ what lenses should we look at this problem from?
  • What else do we need to consider?
  • Should we do a 3-lens analysis on it, to make sure weā€™re working on the right fix?

Prediction skills

Prediction skills: Itā€™s the ability to think forward and anticipate issues before they come up.

UC stands for ā€˜Unintended Consequencesā€™

Doing a UC check means you see potential problems before they happen.

  • Imagine this:

A manager hops in to help direct reports rather than coach them. As an UC, direct reports donā€™t get to learn how to think more strategically about their own fixes. The manager is constantly needed and busy.

  • Picture this:

A direct report cares so much about doing a great job and being a great contributor that they perfect their work before asking for any feedback. As an UC, people feel excluded from the process. Corrective feedback isnā€™t received on time. And the direct report feels surprised by reactions they didn't expect. The direct report would have been seen as a much more skillful contributor if theyā€™d gotten feedback earlier, even with an imperfect draft. UC alert!

UC checking is the bread and butter of great strategic thinkers.

Try using the words ā€˜unintended consequences checkā€™ at least once - even if in your own mind. Ask yourself:

  • ā€œShould I/we pause to do a quick UC check on that?ā€
  • ā€œAre there any UCs Iā€™m not thinking of?ā€

Pre-mortem

You may have heard about post-mortems. Post-mortems are done to figure out what caused something to fail. Post-mortems are done after a project is over.

In a pre-mortem, you flip the script. You think about an upcoming project that hasnā€™t yet happened, but imagine it completely failed. Now, you list reasons for why the project failed. Finally, you come up with mitigations to help reduce the chances of those things happening.

  • Project or goal you have (you can also list a life goal).
  • Imagine it failed. What caused it to fail? List a few ideas.
  • Whatā€™s a 10% mitigation you could do to buffer against this happening?

What do pre-mortem questions look like in practice?

Pre-mortem questions arenā€™t hard and donā€™t need to be like a formula. The goal is only to have a habit of pausing to ā€˜think forwardā€™. This means doing a quick check for potential risks and blockers, and then creating mitigations.

Here are some pre-mortem questions you could ask your team.

  • Letā€™s pause for a moment and think forward: what could get in the way of this project going well?
  • What might we be overlooking?
  • Imagine that this project would fail. What would cause it to fail?
  • What lack of information could set us back?
  • What are some of the risks or challenges we might not be thinking about but should be?
  • Whatā€™s one thing we can do to increase the chances of success by 10%?
  • What are some mitigations we can do to prevent issues from happening?

With your team, share this: ā€œOk team, letā€™s do a quick pre-mortem on this before we dive in. Imagine we are looking into a crystal ball, and this project has failed. Itā€™s a mess. Now, everybody, take 2 minutes and write down all the reasons why you think the project failed.ā€

Collect the ideas, have the team vote on what they think the biggest risk is from the list. Then, brainstorm a list of mitigations for that top risk.

Improve on Strategic Thinking

Work with your team to develop an agreed approach and plan towards achieving a desired outcome and goals. Build skills in critical thinking, analysis, creativity and innovation.

Strategic thinking is a skill built through experience and observation

Developing this type of thinking depends on focusing on trends, challenging the norm, provoking different perspective, questioning assumptions and reading between the lines - all aspects that take time and determination to practice.

šŸ—ŗļø

Title Description
Practicing the basics of strategic thinking

    A critical step to being strategic is the ability to manage your own biases.

    Being strategic encourages you to develop critical thinking skills that allow you to be self-aware and question your own assumptions or ideas. Noticing and accepting that your thoughts and ideas aren't always the best solution is crucial. Once you do this, you'll find that you're more open to verifying facts, listening to new opinions and developing the best-solution approach with your team.

    Begin by asking yourself:

  • What do I believe to be 'true' about this situation/ process/ person? e.g. changing the way we do things will upset the team, so we keep it the same.
  • How does my perspective help the situation? e.g. the team is efficient and hitting their quarterly targets.
  • How does my perspective hinder the situation? e.g. limits the room for growth, keeps things the same, disempowers people.
  • What alternatives could I consider? e.g. changing the way we do things can be consulted with the team for input.
  • How would that change the outcome we're after? e.g. consult with the team on impact of 'one improvement' to their way of working to make it better.
Title Description
Stop, start, continue

    āž”ļø Shifts in behavior to drive the organization towards delivering objectives

    When asking the team to adopt the strategic priorities, think 'stop, start and continue'.

    A powerful way to shift and align people on how to deliver is to collectively agree to three behavioral changes. One to stop, one to start, and one to continue that everyone agrees will lead to success. One business recently hit a reset on their priorities and agreed that success can only happen if the entire team stopped arriving late to meetings (respecting each other's time), started fortnightly retros (assess on/off track) and continued their positive attitude (enjoy working together).

    Why?

    Teams need to see that how they are working is delivering impact or incrementally nudging the organization towards success. This comes from alignment of behavior and mindset.

    Instructions

    This can be done as a collective exercise, in person or through digital platforms for remote staff.

  • Ask everyone to take 5 minutes to reflect on the strategy, and how they'd like to contribute towards its implementation and their current way of working.
  • Take a further 10 minutes to write down three things they'd be willing to commit to: 1 x stop, 1 x start, 1 x continue.
  • Collect the responses into three piles.
  • As group/s, take 30 minutes to ask people to share their ideas and why.
  • As group/s, take 30 minutes to assess each pile, place up on a wall and group them into like-minded, share any further explanation.
  • Ensure each group shares with each other, so that everyone hears the ideas on each stop, start, continue.
  • Let everyone vote: which behavioral shift will have the biggest impact for success towards the strategic priorities being delivered. Everyone gets one vote for each stop, start and continue; three in total.
  • Assess which is the most popular and agree as a team to commit.
  • Take a further 5 minutes for each behavior to agree how success can be measured.
Share an A4 Strategy Sheet

    āž”ļø Help others see the big picture with a one-page strategy snapshot

    Help your team link up work to big picture goals by creating an A4 Strategy Sheet for every project.

    An A4 is the size of a single sheet of paper. This is just the right amount of space to describe your initiative in detail without causing information overload.

    Why?

    We often lose sight of how our small, daily tasks impact big-picture goals and priorities. Many leaders either fail to help employees make the link or they overwhelm them with too many details.

    Instructions

    For each initiative you lead, create a single-page strategy snapshot, including:

  • What you are looking to achieve?
  • How you will measure success?
  • How the initiative links up to company-wide goals?
  • Who is involved?
  • And the major milestones.
  • The LifeLabs one-page template is a good starting point.

    • Pro-tip: ask your direct reports to create an A4 for each project they are driving.
Build a mind map of scenarios

    āž”ļø Build an outlook of scenarios to help you see long-term

    We can be entrenched in our thinking about a product, process or customer, and keep business as usual with focus on the short-term. Drawing up potential long-term scenarios will help with planning, how to forecast potential changes to the business, and ways to address these.

    Why?

    Have a deeper insight into your staff, customers, industry and market, and the ability to motivate people to solve these.

    Instructions

    Using a piece of A3 paper, in the center write down the scenario you like to change e.g. people completing annual reviews on time.

  • From this center scenario, draw a new line for each potential outcome you could address to make it happen e.g. educate managers, educate staff, simplify the process, simplify the documentation, automate with new software.
  • From each of the outcomes you've identified - draw a further line and write down the first few steps to get this scenario active e.g. educate managers: (1) talk to our managers about concerns/ challenges they face (2) collate feedback with 3 key insights (3) look at how other companies educate their managers.
Start with 'Why?'

    āž”ļø Use Simon Sinek's three Golden Circles to communicate.

    'Start With Why' is Simon Sinek's mission to help others do work which inspires them, and uses real-world examples of great leaders to show you techniques in how they communicate their 'why' first, and how you can adopt their approach to inspire your team.

    Why?

    Great leaders and companies naturally get this right by starting all communication with 'why' they do things, eventually followed by 'how' they do things, until finally revealing 'what' it is they actually do.

    Instructions

    Draw up the 3 golden circles model, and have the team discuss and agree the following:

  • Look at the reason behind what you do, your 'why' e.g. Apple - to shake things up and make us think differently
  • Look at the way you do things, your 'how' e.g. Apple - beautifully designed technology
  • Look at what you actually do or produce, your 'what' e.g. Apple - iPads/ iPhones/ iWatch/ MacBook etc.
  • How can this be applied in communications with customers, and internally for new products and ideas?
Constrain to create

    āž”ļø Impose constrains to promote innovative thinking

    Imposing constraints can force you to come up with brilliant ideas faster.

    The adage 'think outside the box' is often used to encourage blue sky thinking and limitless possibility. However, being urged to think outside the box rarely makes a difference to the solutions we eventually generate. A chef given an open brief to 'create a new menu for the winter' may find it difficult to generate anything original. But when given specific limitations such as only use seasonal products sourced locally and limit yourself to $20/ head, the creative juices begin flowing.

    Why?

    Every time new constraints are introduced, it sparks new ideas because it forces you into a direction you haven't considered before. Introducing constraints such as limiting the number of materials you use or imposing an ambitious timeline often forces you to create something original.

    Instructions

    The next time you are looking for a new solution to a problem, consider imposing some artificial constraints when brainstorming a solution, for example:

  • Limit yourself to 10% of the time allocated
  • Give yourself half the allocated budget
  • Develop a non-technical solution.
Ask 'why' more often

    āž”ļø When given a responsibility, ask why to get context of its impact

    Understand the 'why' behind a task makes performing it clear and motivating.

    We're often given a responsibility or task without questioning the context of how it can impact the overall outcome or goal. It's important for skills in long-term thinking to grasp the impact of why what you're doing impacts an entire process, not just the immediate result. There is a well-told tale about a janitor at NASA having a conversation with President Kennedy about what he does, when asked he responded, "I'm putting a man on the moon", he saw cleaning the bathrooms as his part to helping get the astronauts into space.

    Why?

    If you clearly understand the 'why' you can ladder your contribution to the bigger goal.

    Instructions

    Ensure for each task you're assigned you understand the bigger picture of why this impacts the overall goals your team is working towards. Ask your manager "how does this task impact the overall outcome and next steps?".
How does this affect the strategy?

    āž”ļø Keep focus by asking yourself and team, how does this affect the strategy?

    Keep the focus of your team and self on the strategic priorities.

    Stay aligned to the organization strategy, especially when making decisions, by consistently asking, "How does this affect the strategy?"

    Why?

    Often strategies are set at the beginning of the year and reviewed haphazardly and even forgotten, this ensures there is incremental builds in everyday decision making towards the focus areas of the organization.

    Instructions

    To keep strategy front of mind for everyone when making decisions, weigh up different approaches and consider the impact on the strategy. To build further:

  • How will this contribute to success?
  • How can I/ we remove any blockers?
Ask Five Whys

    āž”ļø Uncover blind spot and tease out assumptions using the 5 whys analysis

    Lean Six Sigma training teaches a simple tool called the ā€œFive Whysā€.

    It is a great way to understand a customer problem and figure out which aspects your team can work on.

    Why?

    The process gives your team a robust understanding of a problem and its impact.

    Instructions

    To implement the 5 whys analysis work with your team, agree on a problem statement. Then ask the questions:

  • Why is this a problem? Your answer to this question becomes your second problem statement.
  • Repeat this process five times to uncover the root cause of your initial problem.

    • This process gives your team a robust understanding of a problem and its impact. For a more detailed explanation of the process you can check out the Atlassian Playbook, they have a great guide on how to implement the process.
Know your audience

    āž”ļø Assess how stakeholders will think, feel and act if you solve their problem

    The success of a strategic priority is based on an intimate understanding of your audience.

    Know your audience, these stakeholders can be both internal and external to your organization. Clarify who is impacted and what they know now, and how they can think, feel and act in the future if you can solve their problem.

    Why?

    Understanding your audience will ensure that the solution is custom-fit for their needs.

    Instructions

  • Use any demographic and psychographic data available to you on the audience e.g. customer profiles, personas, break downs of Dept roles, engagement surveys.
  • Meet with people from your audience to engage with them on understanding their world 'now' vs. 'ideal' world in the future, if this problem was solved.
  • Build connection with these people with the intent of helping to solve their problem. This may require several different stakeholder groups and a culmination of which priorities need to go first.
Adopting a solutions-led mindset

    āž”ļø Adopting a solutions-led mindset requires you to believe there is always an outcome to achieve.

    Often this requires you to also let go of a fixed way of seeing the outcome having to be. Focus is diverted away from the problem towards the solution.

    Why?

    Ensure an outcome is achieved using analytical skills to determine what is working or not, persistence to keep working on an outcome and not give up, and the ability to set a plan and a course of actions to take.

    Instructions

    Here are some ways to adopt a solutions-led mindset:

  • Be clear on what needs to be achieved - the outcome and deliverables
  • Set the plan, stages and actions required
  • Allow time for feedback and reflection on what is and isn't working, document this
  • Adapt the plan, stages and actions as required from the insights on what is and isn't working
  • Share any changes with others involved and how this impacts the outcome and deliverables
  • Repeat this process as required.

Productivity

Knowing how to harness more productive ways of working is essential for all managers.

Manage your own and the team's workload and energy levels to maximize outputs, quality delivery and personal wellbeing.

The most common productivity challenges they face fall into 4 categories:

  • Time awareness
  • Prioritization
  • Organization
  • Focus

Understanding these categories will allow you to quickly diagnose and resolve issues for yourself and your team. Youā€™ll make your life easier, and become an even better manager faster.

Time awareness

Great managers communicate time differently.

They model time integrity by being precise with their language. Your time awareness tool #1 is to use time language. Hereā€™s how itā€™s done.

  • Instead of saying: ā€œShall we move onto the last item on the agenda?ā€
    • Say: ā€œIn our last 10 minutes, shall we move onto the last item on the agenda?ā€
  • Instead of saying: ā€œCan you send me that file ASAP?ā€
    • Say: ā€œCan you send me that file by 3pm (EST)?ā€
  • Instead of saying: ā€œDo you have 2 seconds to chat about X?ā€
    • Say: ā€œDo you have 15 minutes to chat about X?ā€
  • Instead of saying: ā€œThis needs to be done today.ā€
    • Say: ā€œThis needs to be done by 6pm today.ā€

Respecting time is as easy as choosing your words carefully.

In these examples the great managers avoided using ā€˜blurryā€™ time language. These are things like ā€˜ASAPā€™, ā€˜2 secondsā€™ or ā€˜EODā€™. Instead they used clear and precise language. Doing so allowed them to get aligned, avoid misunderstanding, and show respect for their team's time.

How will you clearly communicate time?

To make a habit of using precise time language, you can share your commitment to ā€˜time integrityā€™. Try saying something like ā€œI want to make an effort to be more precise in my communication around timeā€.

Or start ā€˜deblurringā€™ or clarifying time words. For example, when someone asks you if you have ā€œone moment,ā€ you can say: ā€œI have 5 minutes right now or we can discuss it in our 1-on-1. Which do you prefer?ā€

If someone asks for a favor and promises that ā€œit will take you no time at all,ā€ you can bring time awareness into the conversation.

Do this by saying, ā€œI want to make sure I can follow through if I say yes. Can I ask some questions to make sure I have enough time to help?ā€

To make a habit of using precise time language, you can share your commitment to ā€˜time integrityā€™. Try saying something like ā€œI want to make an effort to be more precise in my communication around timeā€.

Or start ā€˜deblurringā€™ or clarifying time words. For example, when someone asks you if you have ā€œone moment,ā€ you can say: ā€œI have 5 minutes right now or we can discuss it in our 1-on-1. Which do you prefer?ā€

If someone asks for a favor and promises that ā€œit will take you no time at all,ā€ you can bring time awareness into the conversation.

Do this by saying, ā€œI want to make sure I can follow through if I say yes. Can I ask some questions to make sure I have enough time to help?ā€

As you go about your day, take the time to notice how the team is talking about time. When you see unclear time communication:

  • Model ā€˜time integrityā€™ by catching and ā€˜de-blurringā€™ your own time language
  • Ask your team a time integrity question (for example, ā€œwhat does EOW mean to you?ā€)

One of the most effective things a manager can do to create shared time awareness is to simply make sure meetings run on time.

Starting and stopping meetings on time is your time awareness tool #2.

This behavior has a positive 'domino effect' on the rest of your organization. Doing it yourself spreads the habit. It also sends a signal that time integrity is a normal part of work rather than an occasional pleasant surprise.

How to adopt the habit of running meetings on time.

Before introducing changes into your meeting norms, set the context for your team. To ā€˜frameā€™ the conversation, you could say:

ā€œTo model time integrity and respect your time, I would like to introduce a new norm of starting and stopping our meetings on time. Hereā€™s what I was thinking [insert suggestion], and I would also love to hear from you and see what other ideas you have.ā€

Now you have the context for the change, here are some tips to help you make it happen.

  • Start on time, even if only a few participants are present
  • Ask people to assign time estimates to each agenda item
  • Choose a timekeeper and/or use an audible timer to keep everyone on track
  • Put a clock in the room or add a countdown on the digital screen
  • Lock the door (physically or digitally) when the meeting starts, making it impossible for late participants to join

2 ways to increase your teamā€™s time awareness:

  • Using precise time language
  • Start/stopping meetings on time

What does a time audit look like?

Track your activities and their impact at 30-minute intervals. Track the time from when you get up to when you go to bed. You could do the audit throughout the day, at different points in the day, or at the end of the day.

You can choose one of the many time audit apps available or use a simple spreadsheet. In your audit you can track:

  • The time period
  • What you were doing
  • If it was planned or reactive
  • How it affected your energy levels (energised, neutral or drained)

Knowing exactly how you spend your time has real benefits.

While time audits call for deliberate action, the benefits are much greater than the effort invested. Time audits increase awareness of:

  • Where your time goes
  • What youā€™re doing with your time
  • What tasks energize or drain you
  • When are you most productive

When the team shares their insights with you, itā€™s a great coaching opportunity around time awareness.

Hereā€™s some questions you could ask. Choose 1 or more of these questions to ask your team at the end of the audit.

  • Did anything surprise you?
  • Are there activities you should make sure you make time for in the future?
  • Are there activities you can batch-process/consolidate to be more efficient?
  • Are there certain times of the day youā€™re more productive than other times?
  • Are some of us doing certain tasks much faster or slower?How can we learn from each other or better distribute responsibilities?

Prioritization

'MIT methodā€™ (most important tasks)

The basic idea is to start (or end) your day by writing down the 3 most important tasks you hope to accomplish in the next 24 hours.

How hard is it to say ā€œnoā€?

One of the great benefits of creating an MIT list is that it allows you not only to prioritize whatā€™s most urgent and important, it also helps you stay disciplined. It becomes easier to say no to requests that are less of a priority.

Spread the habit by asking your team to name their MITs, and do it often.

To really make the most of the tool you can:

  • ask about MITs as a coaching question in your 1-on-1s
  • start daily team meetings with an MIT review
  • use MITs as a tool to align on priorities with your team, manager, and other leaders across the organization.

In the morning, note down your 3 MITs and end your day by checking off your list and ceremoniously putting it in the trash.

Bucket Method

Creating ā€˜bucketsā€™ of work tasks helps your team make sense of all the things they need to do.

  • First, encourage your team members to pick their main ā€˜bucketā€™ or area of focus for the quarter. These buckets are their main objectives. (Help them define them if needed.)
  • Next, under each bucket have them outline what goals each bucket links to.
  • Then, every day, have them fill in the tasks they need to complete to make progress in each bucket.

**For example:**

Bucket 1: Build app

  • Goals this quarter: Add 3 new features
  • Tasks for today: Interview sales team to understand client needs

Bucket 2: Onboard new hires

  • Goals this quarter: 4 weeks to proficiency
  • Tasks for today: Create checklist for first week of onboarding

Bucket 3: Develop my team

  • Goals this quarter: Engagement score of 90%
  • Tasks for today: Give feedback to each team member, announce shadowing program

Coaching around the bucket method helps cement it in the working day.

When youā€™ve helped your team members create their buckets, get more out of this productivity tool faster by asking coaching questions. Choose 1 of the following example questions to ask your team.

  • What are your buckets for this quarter?
  • What made you choose these?
  • How do you define success for each one?
  • What percentage of your time has been going to each bucket?
  • What else have you been doing other than work in these three buckets?
  • Does it make sense to adjust your buckets or find ways to reduce or remove the other activities
  • How can you push back on requests so itā€™s possible to stick to your priorities?

Organization

ā€˜Consistent Capture Systemā€™ or CCS

Encourage your team members to ā€˜close the loopā€™.

When it comes to work, most peopleā€™s minds are full of ā€˜open loopsā€™. These are swirling reminders and snippets of information.

The solution to all these open loops is to encourage your team members to create a ā€˜consistent capture systemā€™ or CCS. This is a concept inspired by author David Allen. A CCS is a reliable, go-to place to record information instead of storing it in memory. The most important CCS types capture:

  • To-do items
  • Appointments
  • Deadlines
  • Notes (including key points, ideas, and instructions)

Your mission is to close the loop by committing to using a single CCS and embed the tool in your team.

  • First, be sure to keep yourself organized and model good organization habits by having a CCS of your own. Write down and commit to a single tool to capture your to-do items.
  • If your team members donā€™t already have a CCS, encourage them to experiment with options. They should pick the CCS that works best for their brains and stick to it.

Recording information in a single, reliable place may seem like a small thing. But it can have real impact.

The value of creating a great CCS for your team is that you can set their minds free. Theyā€™ll be free to:

  • solve problems
  • detect patterns
  • develop relationships
  • generate new ideas

Ask ā€˜who, what, whereā€™ questions and get commitments made.

Having a closed loop culture is especially useful in team meetings. Itā€™s training your team to make a habit of asking closed loop questions like these:

  • Who is capturing this?
  • Who is owning this?
  • Who else needs to be involved?
  • What needs to be done?
  • When does this need to get done?

Not only does a closed loop culture mean thereā€™s shared accountability, it also saves the entire team time and frustration trying to remember who was responsible for what and when.

Focus

What is self-interruption?

A self-interruption is a turn away from your workflow. This means things like checking email, texts, social media, starting new projects or getting a snack.

The result? Interruptions increase stress, errors and frustration. This leads to wasted time and worse performance.

How can you help your team reduce interruptions?

Co-create ā€˜if-thensā€™

One solution to reduce internal and external distractions is to anticipate them in advance and create rules. These rules help you make your best intentions happen and automate your behavior. We call them simply: ā€˜if-thensā€™.

Hereā€™s how if-thens work.

  1. Think of a distraction you want to avoid (for example, too many emails)
  2. Select a behavior to counter it (batch processing emails)
  3. Find an ā€˜environmental promptā€™ (an action, time or place) to trigger the desired behavior. For example, if itā€™s 12pm, then I will batch process my emails for a half hour.

Instead of deciding in that moment how to handle a distraction, use your pre-programmed if-then to guide your actions.

Hereā€™s some examples:

  • Distraction: Social media
    • If: Open laptop in the morning
    • Then: Write down my MITs
  • Distraction: Someone asks a quick question
    • If: Question is complicated
    • Then: Schedule a later time to discuss
  • Distraction: Email notifications
    • If: Need to focus
    • Then: Turn off alert

Pomodoro technique

The toolā€™s name is the Italian word for tomato, and comes from its creator, Francesco Cirillo. Itā€™s based on a tomato-shaped kitchen timer he used to stay focused on his work as a university student.

The Pomodoro technique means working within strict time limits. Hereā€™s how it works.

  • If the Pomodoro starts, then spend 25 minutes focused on a task.
  • If 25 minutes pass, then take a mandatory five-minute break.
  • If you get interrupted (or interrupt yourself), then you have to start over.

Kanban

This final productivity tool is great for helping your team improve focus, and can also improve time awareness, prioritization, and organization.

Itā€™s a multifaceted tool that takes its name from the Japanese word for ā€˜signā€™ (kanban). The Kanban system comes from the world of Toyota car manufacturing, where managers introduced visual signs to increase production efficiency.

Kanban is a scheduling system that tracks the progress and ownership of tasks by moving cards through a series of columns.

  • Each task is represented on a card. Cards start their journey in the ā€˜backlogā€™ (or ā€˜to doā€™) column.
  • When youā€™re ready to begin working on a task, you move that card to the ā€˜doingā€™ column.
  • This simple action is at the heart of the Kanban Systemā€™s ability to generate focus. Itā€™s an explicit agreement between you and your brain about the task youā€™ll be working on until youā€™re ready to move it into the glorious ā€˜doneā€™ column.

Improve on Productivity

Manage your own and the team's workload and energy levels to maximize outputs, quality delivery and personal wellbeing.

Knowing how to harness more productive ways of working is essential for all managers

Apply tested time management hacks, be aware of your impact on others, learn how to communicate priorities to your team and recognize how to optimize broken processes to strengthen skills in this area.

šŸ—ŗļø

Title Description
Focusing on what's most important

    āž”ļø Use the Three Big Rocks approach to prioritize and get things done.

    Stephen Covey coined the Three Big Rocks approach, as a way to prioritize, and create an easy way to make progress towards the major things you want to accomplish this year. An example of a big rock could be launching a new product line, overhauling a process, hiring a new department lead, and even improving your own health and wellbeing.

    Imagine your week is divided into seven buckets. If you fill each one up with little pebbles, grains of sand and whatever else comes your way without planning ahead, there will be no room for the "big rocks" (your priorities). Your buckets fill up faster than you know it, and once your buckets are full, youā€™re done. You canā€™t get bigger buckets. Often, these big rocks can get pushed back from week to week because we never have time to do them - our days fill up too quickly. To avoid this, it helps to get the important stuff done first.

    If you are struggling to achieve the things that are most important:

  • Name your Three Big Rocks.
  • At the beginning of each week reflect on why you'll be proud to achieve them.
  • Block out time in your diary with things you can do towards achieving them, like a meeting, attending an event, writing a memo, delegating a task or reflective thinking.
  • Chip away at them each week and include stakeholders when necessary.
Title Description
Urgent vs. Important

    āž”ļø 4 quadrants to label tasks and prioritize time more effectively.

    Eisenhower, ex-President of the US, is quoted saying 'that which is important is seldom ever urgent, and that which is urgent is seldom ever important'.

    He developed a 4-part decision matrix to label tasks as high/ low urgency and high/ low importance, which has enabled people to prioritize their time more effectively. Urgent tasks are the ones that need to be dealt with immediately. Important tasks are the ones that contribute to long-term missions and goals. We often allow urgent to trump important because of our own or others poor time management.

    Why?

    Taking this approach allows you to be more efficient with your time. You have a limited amount of time in your week, so it is worth considering how you will set aside time for important tasks. You might need to set a deadline for tasks before they become urgent, and blocks of time to complete. Alternatively, you could try setting reminders or ask others to review the work so stick to deadlines.

    Instructions

    For each of the four quadrants of this matrix you can try a different approach:

  • High Urgency/ High Importance: DO tasks or often termed firefighting, meeting a deadline or approval before close of business.
  • High Urgency/ Low Importance: DELEGATE tasks and usually urgent due to the impact of others, like a team member missing a deadline putting everyone else behind or tasks that can be delegated like admin.
  • Low Urgency/ High Importance: DECIDE tasks often planning tasks like strategy presentations, research and consistency of looking after own wellbeing. Actively deciding when to start, update and complete these to ensure they are managing over time. These need time in the week to be a priority.
  • Low Urgency/ Low Importance: DELETE tasks or time wasters like social media, office chit chat, or clearing emails.
Eat the frog

    āž”ļø Get the task you resist most completed first, to minimize time wasting

    Complete the task you are resisting most, first thing in the morning.

    The time and energy spent delaying a task is often more than the effort it takes to complete it. 'Eat the frog' refers to the slimiest or trickiest task you need to do, and was coined by Brian Tracy in his best-selling book.

    Why?

    Mornings are typically when people are most productive and also ensures that the task doesn't weigh over you for the rest of the day.

    Instructions

  • Do the task you're most avoiding first thing in the morning. This is before emails, distractions and other priorities come in.
  • Can you see what difference this makes with a routine task of your role, or something you have been resisting lately?
Change the rules

    āž”ļø Change the the way of working to be more productive

    Identify rules in your organization that hinder team productivity and empower people to improve or create new rules.

    Processes should simplify your business. Excess procedures will suffocate it.

    Why?

    Agree and demolish the unwritten ways of working that are based on assumptions, complicated process or annoying behaviours.

    Instructions

    Lisa Bodell from FutureThink explains a process to 'change the rules' as:

  1. Brainstorm with your team answers to the question: If you could get rid of any rule, either remove it or change it, what would you do and why?
  2. Let them know there are red rules, that cannot be touched (e.g. legal, government regulations). Everything else is a green rule, and open to challenge.
  3. Listen. You'll hear what has been holding people back, assumptions they have, process flaws, and what annoys them most. Most of these things aren't even rules to begin with.
  4. Group the answers into themes.
  5. Ask each team member to write down the ONE rule they would like to see change that would make a big difference.
  6. Ask each team member to place their post it on a value/effort decision matrix and see what emerges.
  7. Facilitate discussion on what has low effort/ high value and how to prioritize/ break down barriers to take action.
Use your Friday

    āž”ļø Use an hour each Friday to allocate tasks, confirm meetings and set priorities

    Set up your week the Friday prior.

    A common complaint is starting the week behind the eight ball, by setting out the plan for your week the Friday prior you can walk in more confident of exactly what priorities you have. One team use an hour of power each Friday to allocate tasks, confirm meetings and set priorities.

    Why?

    Starting Monday prepared and with focus on what is important will ensure you're more productive and won't fall into Monday-itis tendencies.

    Instructions

  • Set up time in your diary for planning time, Friday afternoon can often be quiet and a good time to assess the week ahead.
  • Set aside time in the diary to commit time to work on big tasks, agree any critical meetings to attend and skip any that aren't, write down your top 3 priorities for the week ahead and deadlines.
Three questions for better time management

    āž”ļø Better time management occurs by creating, promoting or allowing behaviors.

    Ask three questions to manage your time better.

    When you're looking to improve how you manage your time you need to look both at your own behaviors as well as the impact of others. Assess whether you are 'creating', 'promoting' or 'allowing' behavior to happen.

    Why?

    Allows you to value your own time and that of others better.

    Instructions

    Here are three great questions to address:

  1. Am I creating this? e.g. no planning, reacting to tasks as they pop up.
  2. Am I promoting this? e.g. saying 'yes' without clarity, take on others' lack of management as my priority.
  3. Am I allowing this? e.g. don't ask for help, take on the entire task, lack of delegation, taking back incomplete tasks to finish your way.
One thing I'm saying no to

    āž”ļø Manage Dept workflow by fairly distributing workloads

    Have each person share at the beginning of the week, the 'one thing they are saying no to' and why. It may be a meeting clash, a deadline that can be moved, or a function they don't need to attend. Encourage another team members to assist, step in or agree that it isn't a priority.

    Why?

    Helps people to have clarity on where they add value, what priorities for the team are, and how they can help colleagues out when swamped.

    Instructions

    In team meetings, include a section around 'one thing I'm saying no to this week'.
Sharpen the saw

    āž”ļø Take time between tasks to re-charge and re-fuel for long-term productivity

    Sharpen the saw is a well-told comparison between two men that were both cutting down trees for a living, one worked for just under an hour and stopped to take a drink and have something to eat, and sharpen his saw.

    The other didn't stop and worked tirelessly all day long. Who cut down the most trees? Taking time between tasks to re-charge and re-fuel makes you more productive in the long-term.

    Why?

    We are most productive in 20, 50, 90 min bursts, taking a 5-10 min break and time to re-focus on next task.

    Instructions

  • Don't try to maintain high energy through the entire day without stopping, break it down into sessions and down time between meetings and tasks.
  • Use the transition time to prepare for what is next, have a drink or food, or 5 minutes to relax.
  • Requires you to have discipline to stick to working this way and also to schedule your time and tasks as such.
Team Meeting Tempo

    āž”ļø Simple practices for more effective meetings

    If everyone involved can apply more discipline to their behaviour in meetings, the team will have better discussions and finish on time.

    Practices include:

  • Trim the attendee list: the more people in a room, the less time each person has to talk, so keep it to the essential players. To keep people informed (and from feeling left out) send out notes afterwards
  • Stay on task: start and end meetings on time, and schedule meetings for 25, 50 or 80 minutes to give people transit time.
  • Put away devices: if you're not present in the meeting, why are you in the meeting?
  • Stick to the meeting's purpose: identify upfront the goal of the meeting: is it a status update, a decision-making meeting, a brainstorming session? Then stick to that goal, it's frustrating to be in a status meeting that suddenly turns into a brainstorm if you're not involved in that project
  • Choose a Facilitator and a Recorder: the Facilitator is responsible for keeping the meeting on time and topic, but they can't do their job unless all attendees give up some power. The Recorder captures notes, not meeting minutes, but decisions made and next steps.

    • Why?

    People complain about meetings, but the truth is, in today's collaborative work environment, meetings are how work gets done. Implementing a few simple rules will lead to better discussions, ultimately energizing your team and setting a tempo to your meetings that people want to be part of.

    Instructions

    Spend 15 minutes before setting up a meeting to plan:

  • Send out the invite with a clear purpose
  • Write out your introduction to the meeting to let attendees know the purpose, why their input is valuable, and assign roles and responsibilities.
Email response policies

    āž”ļø Clarity around email response expectations

    Provide clear expectations on when work activity is appropriate after standard work hours, by offering clarity on email response expectations.

    Instead of instituting a ban on emails after work hours, develop clear policies around when someone is expected to respond to an email (or other communication).

    Why?

    Having policies about response expectations ensures everyone is on the same page. It also doesn't inhibit employees from sending ideas/ requests outside of normal hours - there is just no expectation that a response will occur until the following work day.

    Instructions

    Within your team, determine what the current norms are for sending and receiving emails and messages.

  • Discuss what hours employees would like to be 'no response required' times.
  • Discuss how this works with people remotely / when travelling / in other time zones.
  • Discuss other approaches, like waiting to push 'send' until standard business hours.
Planning your day

    āž”ļø Spend 15 minutes the day prior to plan your next working day

    This includes confirming meetings with others and being on top of your calendar to ensure no meetings are missed and time is allocated in your day to perform tasks, e.g. block out time to assign to a specific project part.

    Why?

    This ability to pre-plan will feel like you're in control of the day ahead, and a pro tip is to do the same on a Friday for the week ahead to map out your time well spent.

    Instructions

    Spend 15 minutes near 3pm in the afternoon to map out the next day, prioritize any immediate deadlines and re-allocate time to work on tasks and attend meetings.

Coaching skills

Articles

Meeting mastery skills

The best managers donā€™t just run meetings, they design experiences.

Meetings are common and difficult. Thatā€™s why knowing how to lead them is one of the most powerful ways you can stand out as a manager.

4P Opener

Title Description
ā€˜Pā€™ is Purpose

    Purpose is why the meeting is happening. For example: ā€œThe purpose of this meeting is to [update, explore, decide...]ā€

    This first P links up to the goal of the meeting, to make sure itā€™s a strategic use of time. Without a purpose statement, conversations will pull in different directions. This causes confusion, frustration and inefficiency. Clarifying purpose up front also helps participants focus on the topic at hand. It means theyā€™re less likely to get distracted by thoughts from earlier meetings.
ā€˜Pā€™ is Product

    Product is what the group will have at the end of the meeting that didnā€™t exist at the start. For example: ā€œWe will leave here with [five ideas, a decision, a list of next steps...]ā€

    Weā€™ve seen how purpose means thereā€™s a broad focus area. Product creates a mental progress bar in everyoneā€™s minds toward the ultimate result of this specific meeting.

    The more tangible the product, the more likely people will be to hold each other and themselves accountable for staying on topic.
ā€˜Pā€™ is Personal benefit

    Personal benefit is the reason meeting participants will feel motivated to contribute. For example: ā€œThis will help you/us [save time, feel aligned, make an impact...]ā€

    The personal benefit statement should spark motivation to achieve the product. Without an explicit personal benefit, it can be easy for people to ā€˜check outā€™ and become passive bystanders.

    A personal benefit statement also gives you, as the meeting leader, an opportunity to link to why youā€™re passionate about this topic.

    Research shows that the meeting leaderā€™s mood at the start of a meeting spreads to the rest of the participants, whether itā€™s positive or negative. When youā€™re excited about the meeting topic, your team is more likely to get excited too!
ā€˜Pā€™ is Process

    Process means how we will structure the conversation. For example: ā€œWeā€™ll spend the first half on agenda point X, and the second half on point Y.ā€

    Process outlines how the group will achieve the product. Ideally, this takes the form of an agenda shared in advance of the meeting and again at the beginning. Research shows that agendas rapidly improve meeting quality.

    Now letā€™s look at how an agenda gives the structure your meeting needs.

Meeting Types

The most common meeting types are:

  • šŸ”ø Inform: share information, news, thoughts, and/or feelings or answer questions
  • šŸ”ø Explore: ask questions, generate ideas, spark insights
  • šŸ”ø Narrow: debate, prioritize, vote, decide, work out a plan of action

Agenda

The agenda is a tool to keep focus throughout the meeting.

  • Make your agenda visible throughout the meeting
  • Check off each item on the agenda as you complete it to spark more dopamine (the chemical released in the brain that makes you feel good)
  • Write time estimates for each agenda item, then record how long each item actually took to build time awareness skills.

As well as the agenda, you can also clarify other process points for the meeting. These are things like ground rules and instructions for how to use any technology used in the meeting.

šŸŸ  ā€˜Informā€™ type meeting

šŸ”· 1: Round-robins

A round-robin is a process of going around to hear from each person in the group. Round-robins are efficient because you donā€™t have to wait around and wonder who will speak next. They also help harness the collective wisdom of your team, instead of letting just a few voices run the show.

Research shows that when people take equal turns in a conversation, this leads to better team performance. This is more important for performance than even collective team member IQ! So, when you do round-robins, be sure to give everyone equal speaking time.

And a final tip from the professionals. Use a timer you can hear so people can track their own talking time, or use a video call plug-in that shows participants how long each person has been speaking.

Get people involved early and change the dynamics of the meeting

A round-robin is a helpful tool whenever you want to hear from everyone in the group, and itā€™s especially useful at the start of meetings. When you get peopleā€™s voices in the room early on, theyā€™ll be more likely to contribute throughout the meeting.

Here are some examples of common round-robin prompts weā€™ve seen great managers use in their team huddles. Choose one question you could use for your next round-robin.

  • What is one win, frustration, or learning from the past week/yesterday?
  • What did you get done yesterday?
  • What are you working on today / what are your top priorities?
  • What are your roadblocks or obstacles?

šŸ”· 2: Rotate roles

For regular meetings to give information, great managers ask team members to take turns leading. That way people donā€™t get stuck in a position of high power or low power. Common roles to rotate include:

  • Facilitating
  • Timekeeping
  • Note-taking
  • Sending minutes

Rotating roles gives everyone an opportunity to be visible and to share in administrative tasks. It teaches people to be better meeting participants by building empathy for all roles. As a bonus, each person brings their own ā€˜flavorā€™ to these roles, creating variety in what could otherwise become a monotonous meeting.

šŸ”· 3: Shorter meetings

A fun ā€˜lawā€™ of meetings is Parkinson's Law which states that work expands to fill the time allotted to it.

If youā€™re meeting for an hour, experiment by reducing it to 55 or 50 minutes. If youā€™re meeting for half an hour, reduce it to 25 minutes. Besides giving people more free time (they will love you), shortening the meeting time creates a little bit of extra stress which focuses the mind.

šŸŸ  ā€˜Exploreā€™ type meeting

We've seen how ā€˜Informā€™ meetings are all about a simple exchange of information. The purpose of ā€˜Exploreā€™ meetings is to generate new insights and ideas together. Over the years, these types of meetings have become more popular. But sadly, research shows that they are usually less productive than coming up with ideas on your own.

So, how can you avoid the common pitfalls of these meetings and harness their power? First, make sure you set aside time for silent, solo ā€˜ideationā€™ (when you come up with ideas), as well as ideation in a pair or whole group.

šŸ”· 1: Defer judgment

The number one rule for ideation is to defer judgment (which is different from ā€˜no bad ideasā€™). Deferring judgment simply means you do not judge the merit of an idea during the brainstorming session.

Studies show that when we defer judgment we come up with more ideas and better ideas. Researchers at LifeLabs Learning observed that great managers reminded people to defer judgement. They did this even if they were generating ideas in silence (sometimes we can get in our own way).

And when exploring ideas out loud, they pointed out when participants were critical or even gave excessive praise. Doing this helps avoid switching on the groupā€™s judgment filters.

ā–¶ļø Here's a sample of part of a conversation.

Explorer: Oh! Another option we havenā€™t considered yet is changing our work hours.

Narrower: That would never work. People wonā€™t agree to a different schedule.

Meeting facilitator: Whoops. That sounds like an evaluation of the idea. Can you hang onto that concern until we start narrowing down our options?

šŸ”· 2: Idea quotas

Want an easy shortcut to helping people be less judgy? Assign an idea quota.

For example, set a goal of generating 10 ideas in 10 minutes or have teams compete over who will come up with more ideas. Paradoxically, a focus on quantity leads to higher quality. An idea quota also helps push people beyond boring, surface-level solutions. It keeps people digging even after they think their well of ideas has dried up.

šŸ”· 3: Cross-pollinate

The enemy of exploration and ideation is ā€˜groupthinkā€™: going along to get along. The best managers recognized the power of bringing people with diverse backgrounds and views together. They made their exploration meetings better, faster, by deliberately cross-pollinating peopleā€™s perspectives. Just as cross-pollination gives life to brand new varieties of plants, it also gives life to brand new ideas.

To become a great cross-pollinator faster, get in the habit of asking questions to encourage looking wider.

ā–¶ļø Here are some samples.

  • Whose perspective might we be missing?
  • Do we have enough diversity of people and perspectives in the room?
  • What other people, departments, companies, industries, or even species have solved a similar problem?
  • What can we learn from them?

šŸŸ  ā€˜Narrowā€™ type meeting

šŸ”· 1: Declare the DACI

Many of the great managers LifeLabs Learning studied used some kind of decision-making framework with their teams. They did this both in general and especially during narrowing meetings. One of our favorites is the ā€˜DACI Modelā€™, which stands for:

  • Driver: the person ā€˜behind the wheelā€™ of an initiative who is responsible for getting it across the finish line. Just as in a car, there should only be one driver.
  • Approver(s): the person or people who make the final decision. Sometimes the Driver and Approver are the same person. If there are many approvers, make the approval process clear. For example: single approver, two approvers and a tie-breaker if needed, consensus (all agree to support the decision), majority vote (51%).
  • Consultants: people who give input, suggestions, feedback, or execute components of the work.
  • Informed: people who are updated along the way and when the work is done.

Without a clear Approver and Approval Process, debates can go on for some time and the loudest voices typically win out.

The beauty of DACI (and similar models) is that it helps you and your team make implicit (or unexpressed) expectations explicit.

To make an immediate improvement in the quality of your Narrow meetings, declare the DACI and Approval Process from the start.

šŸ”· 2: Impact/Feasibility Map

When everyone is clear on how the decision will be made, itā€™s time to do the work of moving toward the decision. If youā€™ve already generated a wide range of ideas, a helpful tool to narrow the list is an Impact or Feasibility Map.

Hereā€™s how it works:

  • Write each idea the team generated on a separate physical or digital ā€˜sticky noteā€™.
  • Combine all the ideas.
  • Remove any duplicates.
  • Plot each idea on the spectrum of ā€˜impactā€™ and ā€˜feasibilityā€™.

Impact is how likely it will be that the idea achieves the desired result. Feasibility is how realistic it will be to act on this idea given existing constraints like time, money, and the teamā€™s skill level.

For example:

In this chart, imagine your teamā€™s goal is to double the number of attendees for the next conference.

  • Idea A might be to invite an A-list celebrity. It would probably have a big impact, but it isnā€™t workable given your budget.
  • Idea B might be to rename the conference. It would be easy, but itā€™s unlikely to have a significant impact.
  • Idea C is the sweet spot (high impact and high feasibility), for example letting attendees buy a second ticket for 50% off.

The goal of this exercise isnā€™t to have complete agreement or even to know for sure how to categorize each idea.

The point is to narrow your list of ideas down to those that are most likely to succeed and to hear peopleā€™s reasoning in the process.

While impact and feasibility are the most common criteria, you can also do this exercise with other criteria like:

  • speed versus cost
  • aesthetics versus functionality
  • convenience versus environmental impact

The final tool for improving Narrow meetings keeps any conflicts that come up focussed on the ideas, not the people.

šŸ”· 3: Pros, cons, and mitigations

After your long list dwindles down to a small list of workable, high impact ideas, itā€™s easy for debate to follow. When conflict is constructive it can be a terrific force for ensuring that decisions are thoughtful and strategic. But conflict can also easily turn personal. One of our favorite tools to keep conflict helpful is spelling out the pros, cons, and mitigations for each idea.

From Me vs You, to Us vs the Problem

The brilliance of this framework is that, instead of having people debate one another, you turn the teamā€™s focus toward the ideas. Hereā€™s how it works, one idea at a time:

  • Pros: Going round-robin, each person shares what they see as the ideaā€™s pros, strengths, and advantages.
  • Cons: Each person shares what they see as the cons, risks, and disadvantages of the idea.
  • Mitigations: Each person proposes mitigation suggestions to amplify the pros and reduce the impact of the cons.

Course-correction formula

Behavior observation + impact statement + process suggestion

For example, if there is little discussion happening, you might say:

ā€œIt seems weā€™re quiet today (behavior observation), which means itā€™s hard to tell if weā€™re aligned (impact statement). How about we take five minutes to brainstorm some questions in silence so we can all gather our thoughts, then share (process suggestion)?ā€

  • What would be your observation, impact and process statement if a few people are doing most of the talking?

ā€œIā€™m noticing weā€™re not hearing from everyone, so weā€™re not getting the benefit of different perspectives. Letā€™s go round-robin (and say ā€œpassā€ if you prefer not to share).ā€

  • What would be your observation, impact and process statement if people are straying away from the topic?

ā€œSince we only have 10 minutes left and this is our chance to make a decision that impacts all of us, should we go back to the agenda and add the other topic to the parking lot?ā€

  • What would be your observation, impact and process statement if people are shooting down one another ideas?

ā€œIt looks like some of us are coming up with ideas and some of us are evaluating them, so weā€™re not making progress. Letā€™s defer judgement for this meeting, then we can look at pros and cons of each idea next week.ā€

1 on 1 meetings

Improve on 1 on 1 meetings

Learn how to have regularly scheduled meetings with your direct report to offer guidance, support, feedback and bounce ideas that contribute to their growth and build a strong working relationship.

1 on 1 meetings are an important part of every managers relationship with their team member

Theyā€™re a designated place for you to exercise your most important manager skills, have meaningful conversations and to deepen your connection with your direct reports.

šŸ—ŗļø

Title Description
Title Description

Support

šŸŽ“ Courses

Title Description
Be There Certificate Learn to support someone struggling with their mental health through this online course created by Jack.org in partnership with Born This Way Foundation.

Tools

Title Description
Confluence
GroupMap A real-time online brainstorming tool for meetingsworkshopsconferencesclassroomsevents. GroupMap gives you a simple, yet powerful tool to Design, Discover and Deliver meetings, workshops and training sessions that help people think better together.
miro Miro's infinitely zoomable canvas and web whiteboard enables you to work the way you want to. Unleash your creativity, plan projects from all angles, and create
MindMeister MindMeister is an online mind mapping application that allows its users to visualize, share and present their thoughts via the cloud.
app.diagrams.net Create diagrams and online mind mapping application that allows its users to visualize, share and present their thoughts via the cloud.
Figma Figma connects everyone in the design process so teams can deliver better products, faster.

Web Resources

Web Sites

Title Description
re:Work re:Work is a collection of practices, research, and ideas from Google and others to help you put people first.
Culture Amp Support Guide Support Guide
Culture Amp Expert insights on performance management, employee development and employee engagement for HR professionals and people leaders.
LifeLabs Learning Your company needs exceptional leaders and powerful teams. And your managers need the most essential skills in the shortest time. Thatā€™s our specialty at LifeLabs Learning.
Work Life Atlassian Blog
Products & News Atlassian Blog
Trello Blog Helping teams work better, together
Radical Candor Based on the bestselling book Radical Candor that launched a global management revolution, our suite of products and services are designed to level up your skills, fix your feedback fails and support your Radical Candor journey.
FutureThink Accelerated Skill-Building
Lattice The leading people success platform

GitHub Repositories :octocat:

Title Description
awesome-leading-and-managing Awesome List of resources on leading people and being a manager. Geared toward tech, but potentially useful to anyone.

Articles

Title Description
How Google Sold Its Engineers on Management High-performing knowledge workers often question whether managers actually contribute much, especially in a technical environment. Until recently, that was the case at Google, a company filled with self-starters who viewed management as more destructive than beneficial and as a distraction from ā€œreal work.ā€ But when Googleā€™s people analytics team examined the value of managers, applying the same rigorous research methods the company uses in its operations, it proved the skeptics wrong. Mining data from employee surveys, performance reviews, and double-blind interviews, the team verified that managers indeed had a positive impact. It also pinpointed exactly how, identifying the eight key behaviors of great Google managers. In this article, Harvard Business School professor Garvin describes how Google has incorporated the detailed findings from the research into highly specific, concrete guidelines; classes; and feedback reports that help managers hone their essential skills. Because these tools were built from the ground up, using the staffā€™s own input, theyā€™ve been embraced by Google employees. Managers say that theyā€™ve found their training to be invaluable, and managersā€™ ratings from direct reports have steadily risen across the company.

Podcasts šŸ—£ļø šŸŽ§

Title Description
How I Built This Guy Raz is the founder and CEO of Built-It Productions, and an award-winning podcast host. He has interviewed over 200 highly successful entrepreneurs, innovators, and idealists to uncover their most impactful business stories.
Deep Questions Computer science professor and New York Times bestselling author, Cal Newport answers his podcast listenerā€™s questions about work, technology, and his top-rated book, ā€œDeep Workā€.
Masters of Scale by Reid Hoffman an investor and Co-Founder of LinkedIn who gives his listeners an inside look at how companies grow and scale at large. By testing his theories with legendary leaders, he connects the dots between new entrepreneurial strategies and long-lived best practices.
Radical Candor

    by Kim Scott, Jason Rosoff, and Amy Sandler

    Host Amy Sandler challenges the status quo by teaching leaders how to practice the principles of Radical Candor. This management philosophy is based on balancing empathy with direction to create a culture of feedback, empowerment, and cohesiveness.

    Amy leads discussions with Radical Candor co-founders, Kim Scott and Jason Rosoff, about what it means to be Radically Candid, why itā€™s hard, and why itā€™s worth it.

    Dive into actionable tips to help your team do their best work with empathic, specific, and sincere leadership.
The Broad Experience This podcast features short, 25-minute episodes that spark candid conversations about professional careers and success in the workplace. Hosted by journalist Ashley Milne-Tyte, ā€œThe Broad Experienceā€ tackles some of the biggest issues facing women in business, work, and leadership.
The LEADx Leadership Show This show features podcast host Kevin Kruse, who interviews top leadership experts and business executives to help you accelerate your career.
At The Table Patrick Lencioni is one of the most notable experts in leadership and business. With his simplistic and approachable style, Patrick provides valuable insights into every work-related situation.
Hacking Your Leadership Chris Stark and Lorenzo Flores share their expertise on leadership language focused on soft skillsā€”like empathy, emotional intelligence, and a desire to make personal connections.
Dose of Leadership This podcast is the ultimate leadership resource of inspiring, educational, and motivating interviews with real-world leaders by Richard Rierson
Teamistry Hosted by award-winning documentary and feature film director, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, ā€œTeamistryā€ unveils the incredible behind-the-scenes stories of teams who joined together to achieve amazing human triumphs.

Communities

Slack Communities For Product Managers

Title Description
Product School
Slack Channel created by Lewis Lin Already has over 5000 people looking for mock practice partners
FirstRound Talent (by invitation only)
Ken Nortonā€™s Blog and newsletter (specifically in the GV portfolio)
Culture First community form Culture Amp The People Geek Slack community brings together diverse individuals and skilled thought leaders from around the globe. Together they share experiences and learn form each other.
People Geeks Encourage you to use this site to ask questions, share experiences and engage in meaningful conversations with other People Geeks around the world.

Womenā€™s communities

Title Description
Women in Product newsletter Women in Product Facebook group
Women 2.0 (more engineering focused but thereā€™s the occasional PM role in there too)
Advancing Women in Product
Twitter, LinkedIn, Product School, Product Tank, Product Hunt, On Deck Daily, some sub-reddits, etc.
Job Search

Mailings

Title Description
Software Lead Weekly A weekly email for busy people who care about people, culture and leadership.
Open Source Agenda is not affiliated with "Product Management And Leadership" Project. README Source: ElizaLo/Product-Management-and-Leadership
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