Manager Tools

This guidance describes how to respond initially to a direct who pushes back in various ways to an instance of feedback.

This guidance recommends asking your directs for work to be done - meaning requesting things in the form of a question – rather than stating your desire for something to occur.

This guidance describes how to deliver an unofficial performance evaluation when your direct is failing and may either not realize it or is resisting changing.

This guidance describes how to deliver an unofficial performance evaluation when you need to communicate something that can’t go on an official eval.

This guidance tells you how to use performance evaluations to improve your basic succession planning.

This guidance recommends how to address behaviors in meetings that reduce meeting effectiveness, based on a popular 2012 Wall Street Journal article. This Chapter deals with handling a Naysayer – someone who tries to kill every idea, even after everyone’s agreed.

This guidance tells you how to potentially get some informal self development guidance from your manager by asking three simple questions.

This guidance tells you how to avoid the mistake of “Agenda Fascism” in One on Ones.

This guidance recommends how to address behaviors in meetings that reduce meeting effectiveness.

This guidance tells you how to do One on Ones with your directs who work a different shift than you do.

This guidance recommends the 'Ready Now/Ready Next' Approach to Succession Planning.

This guidance recommends greeting all of your directs when you first interact with them each morning, and how to do it.

This guidance recommends how to address behaviors in meetings that reduce meeting effectiveness.

This guidance tells you how to structure meeting agendas around the biggest, most important items.

This guidance tells you what to do when one of your directs spends too much time on social media.

This guidance recommends how to address a direct who likes part of his/her job and won’t stop doing it, or won’t focus on other areas that are more valuable.

This cast concludes our recommendations on focusing on behaviors because behaviors are measurable and aggregated behaviors ARE performance.

This guidance recommends focusing on behaviors because behaviors are measurable and aggregated behaviors ARE performance.

This cast concludes our guidance on what to say when your directs say, “Can I give YOU some feedback?”

This guidance tells you what to say when your directs say, "Can I give YOU some feedback?"

This guidance recommends a standing ground rule at all meetings: No “buts,” only “and”.

This guidance describes how to use a RACI [Responsible, Accountable, Consult, Inform] Matrix when determining project responsibilities.

The conclusion of our guidance on ethical behavior.

This guidance describes how to avoid having your directs give you work that you’ve already assigned to them.

Our guidance on ethical behavior. Although this show was originally recorded as a Career Tools cast, we've included it for free for our Manager Tools listeners and Licensees given the underlying assumption of ethical behavior in all our recommendations.