Team apathy doesn’t hit all at once, it starts slow and builds until one day you wonder how you got here. But there are signs that it might be happening on your team. People start working on “stuff” with no real goal in mind – priority, and severity go out the door. Things become “hard to explain” or “it’s all in their head” – generally because they don’t want to write it down. Customer tickets…
And let’s not start with – it could all blow up in your face and the world could end. If the worst is that the next release might be later but your current release is already on track to be late, then the worst case is that you could have a late release (give or take). We use the “What’s the worst that could happen?” – excuse as a push-off to not doing anything because…
Over time, teams stagnate, they become comfortable in what they are, who they are, who is the GOTO, and how things get done. Little things have become embedded processes because “that’s just how we do and there is no point in trying something else”. It’s at this time that the team needs a shakeup, a jolt, a kick to try something new. Perhaps it’s switching people around (Jeff takes on customer tickets this month, Julie…
New Teams are always fun – and when I say fun I mean that cues up two immediate emotions. “Yes, let’s do this.” – ready to jump on a call and meet. “Yes, let’s do this.” – teeth chattering, worried about what that first call will be. Both are excited, one a little more nervous than the other which is key to identifying as a leader as this helps to develop your approach to the…
My favourite part of Remotely Prepared was the Cold Opens. I saw them almost as these little microblogs that got the idea out to everyone as to what we were to discuss and had them interested to stay for the rest of the show. It’s why they are used so heavily in TV, if you can grab the audience in 30 seconds, they’ll stay for the remaining hour to see what happens. If we apply…