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How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

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Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#61

Post by [deleted] »

LgWoodenBadger wrote: post #20
jph wrote: post #12

Great article IMHO especially suitable for new teams, new managers, and top down understanding. Kudos! For people who are stepping into existing teams, I suggest writing ground rules. Ground rules are clear explanations of team expectations. Ground rules can be simple, bottom up, and help improve teamwork: https://github.com/joelparkerhenderson/ground_rules I agree fully with the author about writing objectives. Obje…

Core-hours are 9am-5pm? Aren't those just the normal busines hours for white-collar work?

[deleted]

Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#62

Post by seanmcdirmid »

dahart wrote: post #59
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention you can’t adjust your hours at all to avoid rush hour or cooperate with a spouse in day care management. 9-5 is necessary for banks, but not for software developers. Having a few core hours is necessary, but if it’s 8, you can no longer call them “core”.

> if it’s 8, you can no longer call them “core” You are lucky if you think 10-12 hour work days don't exist in software development. You might also be forgetting about flex schedules, core hours may include the entire working day and may be a signal that substituting 9-10am for 5-6pm is not acceptable because you were hired to do a job that depends on your presence when others are also there. There are multiple legit…

No, they really can't do that, at least they can't document it, unless the employees are non-exempt or they wish for the employees to be paid overtime. Even having core time at all sounds like a non-exempt requirement, let alone the whole day.

Many managers are completely oblivious to federal labor laws, unfortunately.

Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#63

Post by gaius »

kolpa wrote: post #32
LgWoodenBadger wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Core-hours are 9am-5pm? Aren't those just the normal busines hours for white-collar work?

Wow. "core hours" is full time, but there's also mandatory overtime. Anyone not in the boss's timezone has to to work weird hours to satisfy the micromanager's desire for fiefdom face-time. Work starts before 9am every day, to prep for a 9am dressing-down. This is not a place where anyone with a choice would want to work. > * Each workday has a team standup meeting. We choose 9 a.m., because it sets the tone for the…

We choose... We choose... we expect

That’s the royal “we” isn’t it?

Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#64

Post by lmilcin »

dahart wrote: post #59
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention you can’t adjust your hours at all to avoid rush hour or cooperate with a spouse in day care management. 9-5 is necessary for banks, but not for software developers. Having a few core hours is necessary, but if it’s 8, you can no longer call them “core”.

> if it’s 8, you can no longer call them “core” You are lucky if you think 10-12 hour work days don't exist in software development. You might also be forgetting about flex schedules, core hours may include the entire working day and may be a signal that substituting 9-10am for 5-6pm is not acceptable because you were hired to do a job that depends on your presence when others are also there. There are multiple legit…

I work from Poland. In my previous job I participated in a number of projects. I would typically do some hours within my "normal" working hours but then have those strange meetings. For example, one regular meeting was at 1AM my time which was when the project team would meet -- half of it was US, half of it was China.

Generally meeting anybody from West Coast meant I had to stay late, for some reason I was never able to organize meeting that would have more than one US West Coast person come early to work

Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#65

Post by sesteel »

gregskloot wrote: post #34
jph wrote: post #12

Great article IMHO especially suitable for new teams, new managers, and top down understanding. Kudos! For people who are stepping into existing teams, I suggest writing ground rules. Ground rules are clear explanations of team expectations. Ground rules can be simple, bottom up, and help improve teamwork: https://github.com/joelparkerhenderson/ground_rules I agree fully with the author about writing objectives. Obje…

The ground rules idea is awesome. In the article I refer to something similar as "team customs"... I like your name better!

I've been multiple places where these are called "Team Agreements" and they are reviewed regularly as part of the retrospective process.

Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#66

Post by blowski »

A useful set of tips, but when I first became a manager, my biggest problem was thinking there was some magic formula to get the best out of my team. I was looking for a YAML config script, but human beings don’t work that way.

Now, with a bit more experience, I spend more time listening to people and working out how I can help them with their specific need.

As a sidenote, I hate the euphemisms “release” and “let go”. You’re firing them. Pretending that you’re doing it for their sake doesn’t make it easier for them. So just cut the bullshit. You can be honest and compassionate.

Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#67

Post by anothergoogler »

jph wrote: post #58
anothergoogler wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd have some sign language for anybody who tried enforcing "sign language ground rules." > * I have a teammate who likes to write the core rules on the whiteboard before each meeting, and point to them when he starts the meeting, and each time a participant needs reminding. Are you working with school children or professionals?

> I'd have some sign language for anybody who tried enforcing "sign language ground rules." Are you working with school children or professionals? For example the Executive Director was deaf, a significant number of client staff were hard of hearing, and there were 100K school students, including special needs students, and many recent immigrants who were starting to learn English. All online materials were provided…

You didn't make it at all clear that your sign language rules were to serve the deaf and hard of hearing. This is not a common workplace situation so perhaps you understand my confusion.

Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#68

Post by jbarmash »

sesteel wrote: post #65
gregskloot wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ground rules idea is awesome. In the article I refer to something similar as "team customs"... I like your name better!

I've been multiple places where these are called "Team Agreements" and they are reviewed regularly as part of the retrospective process.

Also, I've called it Working Agreements. Here is a great post about them - https://giffconstable.com/2016/03/getting-tactical-product-t...

Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#70

Post by dahart »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #62
dahart wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if it’s 8, you can no longer call them “core” You are lucky if you think 10-12 hour work days don't exist in software development. You might also be forgetting about flex schedules, core hours may include the entire working day and may be a signal that substituting 9-10am for 5-6pm is not acceptable because you were hired to do a job that depends on your presence when others are also there. There are multiple legit…

No, they really can't do that, at least they can't document it, unless the employees are non-exempt or they wish for the employees to be paid overtime. Even having core time at all sounds like a non-exempt requirement, let alone the whole day. Many managers are completely oblivious to federal labor laws, unfortunately.

It would help to have more specifics about who & what you're talking about, I'm not sure what you mean when you say they can't do that.

But, I worked in a very well known Hollywood film studio that had mandatory 10 hour work days with an 8 hour core window, not including crunch times. They factored overtime pay into the schedule. This meant that all employees were being paid some 1.5 time, that double-time would hit sooner than you'd think, but also be a lower rate than what you might expect. It was all documented and reported on my tax forms, and within the bounds of California law AFAIK.

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