Tag Archives: team development

Never too early—rarely too often

We’ve got a rather large project going on at the moment and a shrinking window to get it done. The deeper we dig into this mound of work, the more and varied things we pull out. What started as a… (read more)

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A Manager’s Smile

We moved offices this past week, relocating the IT department (and one other) into a new space. The new space is light and airy and is laid out on the open office plan.1 Initially we were skeptical but we’re making… (read more)

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Sharing the vision

We spent a good part of a day at the GCC National Youth Leadership Training course last week talking about “Sharing the Vision”. There was so much presented throughout the week that I doubt many of the 48 participants got more… (read more)

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More thoughts on the stages of Team Development

From my 2016 NYLT notes: Day 3 Adults frequently try to start at Performing while still actively Norming. So when Storming hits, it can be quite explosive.   Team individuals (vs true team members) who are accomplished (practiced? mature? aware?)… (read more)

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Three top Leadership skills

There are dozens of skills that every leader should develop and each assumes a different importance in a different situation. So picking three top ones is a risky task but one I was asked to perform recently. Here’s an expanded… (read more)

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Virtual Lunches?

Joel Spolsky takes on an important topic in his post today on lunches and I share with him a firm belief in the value of intentionally sharing a meal. It can be an important tool in your work-life balancing act. It can… (read more)

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Connect in some way

I’d already been heavily involved in Unix/Linux for nearly twenty years by the time I found myself assigned as the leader/manager of the Windows Engineering team. Even some of my closest colleagues scoffed when they heard the news. How could… (read more)

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In their cube

Seth Godin’s post on Empathy sat me down to pound out this post on something I did frequently while managing IT Teams at a previous employer. Very simple but unconventional. I’d sit at their desks. That might sound creepy, so… (read more)

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All I Really Need to Know (about management) I Learned From my Toddler

Over the years I’ve learned quite a lot from being my toddler’s Dad. Here are some of the things I’ve been able to adopt and put into practice in my role as a leader and manager of technical people. Ask… (read more)

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Lingering at the table

Stanley Ott has another great post over at VCI this month. He encourages us to slow down over our meals to create “leisurely times of conversation and mutual encouragement.” Building team-friendly environments One of my favorite ways to build an… (read more)

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