Category: memo

The current public health situation may require managers who have never had distributed employees to learn how very quickly. Three key points to keep in mind as you adjust:

• Deadlines and deliverables. Your team members’ time is no longer about physically being somewhere and “proving” that they have been in an office for 40+ hours/week as a measure of accountability. You’ll have to lean much harder on project plans and hold people to deadlines and deliverables as the primary system of accountability
• Clarify communication channels. What is email for? Chat? Text? Other forms? Be clear and consistent with how they are used, including expected turnaround times for responses.
• Working from home is hard for a lot of people. For example: If there is no private space to get work done, if they are in the middle of kids, dogs, roommates, and a host of other daily distractions…go easy. First time remote work is challenging for most of us and you will learn a lot about your teammates’ home lives. What is happening at home is no reflection on the type of employee they are. Do your best to brainstorm ways to help your teammates get their work done, even if it means shifting their deadlines and deliverables.

~Nicole

Do you have a question about management, or a success story you’d like to share? Let us know via support@digamo.app. Your message may be featured in a future entry (anonymously, of course).

Psychological safety is a necessary condition for great ideas and innovations to emerge. It is also the manager’s responsibility to cultivate it. Instead of thinking about your team, think about students in a classroom. If a teacher asks “any questions?” and there is a risk of punishment, being ignored, or being ridiculed for speaking up, which students will raise their hands? Alternatively, a teacher who has established that asking questions is part of the normal course of learning will be able to draw out voices that largely go unheard. Encouraging and rewarding questions is even better methodology because asking questions is a first step toward articulating innovative problem-solving. 

Psychological safety is a necessary condition for retention as well. Knowing that it is safe to bring up issues related to how one is experiencing work means the manager will be clued in a lot faster to issues that could otherwise lead to someone quitting. 

~Nicole

Manager action/reflection: How do you respond when someone suggests an idea that you don’t agree with, like, or value? How do you respond when someone complains to you? How do you react when someone asks a question you think is basic? Instead of reacting quickly, try one of these responses: “Tell me more,” “I’m trying to understand what’s behind your question,” “I appreciate this, can you elaborate?”

Do you have a question about management, or a success story you’d like to share? Let us know via support@digamo.app. Your message may be featured in a future entry (anonymously, of course).

While trainings and tools are great to build your management skills, the most impactful method is trial and error. Incorporating lessons immediately into your repertoire is much easier with a peer who is going through the same thing. Get yourself a management buddy. Here’s how to ask:

“Hi Amy,

I’ve been working on being a more effective manager and since we are in a similar situation—both new managers, same team size/function, similar tenure, etc—I thought it would be cool for us to chat about how we’re doing as managers. Like, lunch once a month?”

Copy. Paste. Send. You did it.

What you’ll find by doing this is that:

• some mistakes you thought were huge might not have been
• some mistakes you thought were small should be given more attention
• you’re doing well in ways you don’t realize
• you are not alone.

~Nicole

Manager action: Identify a buddy, someone who you think has good judgment and is in a relatively similar situation. Don’t be disappointed if your first person says they’re at capacity. Move on to someone else. In a small company, this might be tough. Ask someone outside your company, just keep actual names of direct reports confidential.

Self-reflection: Will you be able to be vulnerable and honest with your management buddy, or will you tend to paint yourself in the most flattering way?

Being a manager is not for the faint of heart. Congratulations for being brave enough to try.

This week, we’re seeking courage from ourselves and from the people we manage. From managers, it looks like delivering that tough feedback we’ve been avoiding, or remaining calm in the middle of what might feel like chaos. From our teammates, it might look like speaking up in a meeting to offer a dissenting opinion, or trying something outside their normal skill set.

Whatever it is, courage is not about not being scared. It’s about being scared, nervous, or anxious, and taking action in spite of that fact.

Manager action: Be on the lookout for acts of courage this week. Did a usually quiet person speak up? Did someone try something new and difficult? It’s your job to notice when that happens. When you see it, address the person one-on-one and say directly, “I saw you do that. That took courage. Good job.” The responses may surprise you.

Self-reflection: When was the last time you modeled courage for your team? 

~Nicole

Do you have a question about management, or a success story you’d like to share? Let us know via support@digamo.app. Your message may be featured in a future entry (anonymously, of course).

You will make mistakes. It’s unavoidable. How you react to making mistakes is, however, within your control. Defensiveness, excusing it away, or ignoring it will tank your credibility quickly. Your direct reports don’t expect you to be perfect, but they likely expect you to know how to own up, apologize, and try not to make the same mistake again. Hearing “I’m sorry” goes a long way, especially when it comes from a leader. Not only are you owning your error, but you are modeling for your team that the sky doesn’t fall when someone messes up.

Manager action: Is there something you should have apologized for, but haven’t? It’s not too late. This is a great time to rebuild some of that credibility and strengthen your relationships.

Self-reflection: How do you usually react when you are called out on making a mistake? How can that improve?

~Nicole

Do you have a question about management, or a success story you’d like to share? Let us know via support@digamo.app. Your message may be featured in a future entry (anonymously, of course).

Great managers look out for pay equity on their team. Not only is it the fair thing to do, but comp inequities can undermine your credibility as a manager. If your company is engaged in unfair pay practices, there will come a time when you, as a leader, will have to answer for that. It’s tough to do if you don’t have a track record of advocating for fair comp. 

Where to begin: If you don’t already know your company’s compensation philosophy, ask someone in HR to share it with you. Feel free to ask questions about it so you really understand what’s behind the decisions about compensation. Also remember that “compensation” includes salary, benefits, bonuses, equity, and other perks. So even if things look clear and fair in terms of salary, your company may have work to do on the philosophy behind equity distribution. 

I’m always surprised to learn that there are managers who do not know how much their direct reports make, or how that was decided. It is one of your responsibilities as a supervisor to get a working understanding of comp and begin advocating for a system that ensures equity.

Click here to learn more about why pay equity is important to your company.

~Nicole

Do you have a question about management, or a success story you’d like to share? Let us know via support@digamo.app. Your message may be featured in a future entry (anonymously, of course).

Feedback isn’t always a huge conversation about a major mistake, conflict, or interpersonal issue. It’s also not unidirectional, from manager to direct report. As important as it is to give good feedback, managers have to be deft at soliciting feedback as well. This can be tricky at first, because many of us are understandably reluctant to criticize our bosses. The first step then is to build trust among the team in your ability to receive feedback. Asking questions of your direct reports like “How do you think I could have handled that better?” or “What would you change about our [all-hands/ daily stand up/ regular team] meetings?” will signal that you are seeking to improve as a manager and teammate.

On teams with cultures where respectful, productive feedback is the norm, teammates are seeking to make workflow smoother, as well as support the professional development of colleagues. Presumably you’re here because you want to be a stronger manager. Find out how to improve from those who know best, your own team.

Manager action: Begin to incorporate receiving feedback into your one-on-ones. As a normal course of conversation (about once a month), ask “What feedback do you have for me?” The way you model listening, considering, and acting on the feedback will open up conversations for everyone on the team to level up.

Self-reflection: When was the last time you modeled courage for your team? 

~Nicole

Do you have a question about management, or a success story you’d like to share? Let us know via support@digamo.app. Your message may be featured in a future entry (anonymously, of course).

You have to rest. No, really. This “rise and grind” thing isn’t sustainable for anyone.

Acknowledging the fact that proper rest has become a luxury for too many working people, this is your reminder to think about how you can plan for some non-work time in the near future. Use it to catch up on sleep, sit quietly for a while, unplug from social media, and just let your body and mind repair themselves. 

If you need to be convinced of the importance of rest, I refer you to what the good researchers at Johns Hopkins have to say about sleep. In short, it heals the body and keeps our minds sharp. The health benefits of resting and being away from work are well-documented as well, including reducing the risk of heart disease and boosting your immune system.

Manager action: Plan at least two consecutive days off, not just a regularly-scheduled weekend. Make the commitment to unplug from work, and follow through. You’ll be modeling good self-care practice for your team. 

Self-reflection: If you are in a work loop of long days and few breaks, what in your life is being deprioritized as a result? Thinking about the answer, are you ok with that trade off?

~Nicole

Do you have a question about management, or a success story you’d like to share? Let us know via support@digamo.app. Your message may be featured in a future entry (anonymously, of course).

Thanks for finding us, whatever your reason for being here. 

Healthy workplace culture starts with our roles as managers. In addition to keeping tasks on track, we must also work to engender trust on our teams, invest in professional development for our direct reports, resolve conflicts with minimal damage, give and receive actionable feedback… the list gets quite long.

This series of micro lessons are based on my 25 years of management experience, including 15 years of training other people to be good managers, especially of diverse teams that seek equitable outcomes. I hope they’re helpful on your journey.

~Nicole

Do you have a question about management, or a success story you’d like to share? Let us know via support@digamo.app. Your message may be featured in a future entry (anonymously, of course).