Ask them how they are doing. Tell a joke. Ask everyone a fun question. Poke fun at yourself. Learn something new about them. Your meetings have a goal, but the first one should always be – “we’re a team and we’re in this together” – make sure everyone always knows that.
It’s tempting at some point during a project, epic, feature, or any piece unit of work to go back to the way you used to do it because it was “easier”. But the question that has to be asked in that equation is – “Easier for who?” For your team? For your stakeholders? For your QA team? For who, this is the question. It might be easier for you to go back to how you…
We all get behind, all fall behind. We all have too much on our plates and some days are struggling to keep above board to ensure we can get it all done. And while we are trying to deal with that, new priorities are coming in that “have to be done yesterday”. If you’re leading a team and feeling this need to catch up, like you need a second to take a breath, get stock…
How can we deliver faster. And my gutshot initial reaction? “Let’s talk with your team.” There is generally shock on everyone’s face when I answer the question in that way particularly because they initially think – “but they are the team that is currently delivering slowly?”. Yes, but do know why they are delivering slowly, what is holding them back, what is blocking them, what ideas they have to make it better? These are the…
It never works. It never works because people have questions and you’re not answering them. Ramming change through your team without hearing their concerns or input is about as valuable as ramming a car into a tree to take it down. Sure you might “get the job done” but in the process, you’ll destroy the car, hurt the driver and leave the downed tree a mess so it can’t be reused for anything else. Ask…