Dear _____, Welcome to the team! We’re very excited that you’re finally here. Here’s your desk, your MacBook Pro, your Linux workstation, monitor, etc. etc. Of course, get whatever keyboard you want (this one is surprisingly popular), and let me know if you need any other equipment. Most people use Eclipse, but feel free to […]
Tag Archives: Management
A Tale of Two Cities A couple of years ago, I got the dreaded phone call. I left work, packed up my family, and drove down to Philadelphia to say goodbye to my dad. As we drew close to the city and my mobile phone’s battery hit single digits, we randomly chose a hotel near […]
Growing up, I always imagined that there would come a time when, suddenly, I would be an adult. When I would look like the adults around me, talk like them, act like them, and feel like I imagined they felt. Childhood stretched into adolescence, I left for college, lived abroad, took on different workplace responsibilities, […]
The following are concepts from psychology that are important for you to understand. They form a key foundation for understanding why people do the things they do, particularly in extremis. All of these phenomena relate specifically to decision-making, will power, and reacting under intense pressure – most are also common experiences, which is why it’s […]
Transitions are always the hardest times. Even when all of the decisions have been made and you’re just waiting for things to play out, it’s emotionally uncomfortable to be betwixt and between. Frequently, though, the situation is more ambiguous – everything’s up in the air, the key decisions haven’t been made, and there isn’t even […]
As I mentioned previously, I’ve been running a reading group for the managers and leads on my teams. We just finished The Power of a Positive No, which was written by one of the authors of the highly influential Getting to Yes. This had been recommended to me by a member of TripAdvisor senior management, […]
Being a single guy was fun. I could stay up all night programming, sleep in on weekends, hang out with friends, go to bars and clubs, hop on a plane on short notice and disappear on vacation for a week or five. I’d go out to a movie or restaurant without a second thought. I […]
When I first started managing, I remember thinking that I knew what was going on in the team. How people felt. What the issues were. How people were doing. Which made it all the more painful when I was blindsided with reality a little while later. Times have changed, as have I (I hope), and […]
It’s hard to help people develop, especially when it comes to the soft skills involved in management. You can give them new responsibilities, push them with concrete tasks in areas in which they’re weak, or discuss issues and possible solutions… but this presupposes that you know what the problems are, and that you know how […]
Hi _______, First of all, congratulations! Taking responsibility for a new team is a big step, and the most public form of praise that you can get. There’s nothing that says “great job” quite like having large amounts of administrative tasks dumped on your plate. :) Second, I wanted to write a quick note with […]