All in People
Many times I get to work with existing teams. This generally means they have a shared relationship and know how to operate effectively. Many other times, however, I have to integrate someone new into the team. This is a great opportunity to add to the team’s culture and bring in some new ideas. The time spent onboarding is never wasted and helps the team as a whole improve.
Having a project team is one thing, but having everyone feel ownership of the work is something else.
Teams are people working together. This includes those times we have to work over time, on holidays or into weekends. I’ve made this into a rule; if any member of my team is working, so am I.
Transitioning roles can be exciting… but one thing we have to remember is to let go of the old one. Staying too involved cheats our replacement out of valuable experience, and holds us back.
Feedback of some form is required for us to improve. Good feedback needs to be both timely and specific, otherwise some of that great utility is lost.
It’s very easy to forget that our coworkers are people too. Odd as it sounds, keeping in mind everyone is human first is incredibly important to building strong relationships.
Feedback is can be hard to give or accept. It requires a culture that is open to providing and receiving it, and an open mind set that everyone can do better.
From time to time we’ll find something wrong in the systems we support. While dealing with it is important, spreading the word is also critical to success. Sure, it might be nothing, but it could also be a lot worse, and you’ll want folks ready to help.
When we discover a problem or error the first thing we should do is let others know. This not only gets more eyes on the problem, but helps avoid others being surprised and escalating the problem.
Mistakes… we’ve all got them, but not many of us own up to them. Calling ourselves out is scary, but helps us grow in many ways… it also helps us build stronger relationships and trust.
Telephone is a great game to play as kids, but playing it at work presents a whole host of challenges. Cutting out the folks in the middle and finding the source of the request is critical, as is your followup.
Perseverance, or the ability to keep going, despite hitting brick walls repeatedly is a great skill to have. Having it means we can weather unexpected challenges more easily, and makes it easier to reach if they crop up.
“I” shaped skillsets are deep in on area of expertise, and light on others. This results in an individual very well versed in specific topics, but they may need support to fully maximize their impact.
Keeping details in mind is incredibly important in life. Without them we can never really be sure what we’re doing… unfortunately many times though, we lose sight of this and suffer for it.
Everyone’s got questions they need answers to… but not everyone asks them. Speak up. Even if someone thinks you’re a fool for a few moments, you've given yourself a chance to improve.
Flexibility is an ever-more-important skillset. Bending yourself to a task lets you meet new folks, explore new areas, and even avoid things you don’t want to do.
Frequently back-and-forths are a signal that text communications are failing. When you notice this it’s best to change the medium - look for voice or video (or in person!) based communications to break the cycle.
Not doing extra on a task is hard… we always find something we can add, or something that was “missed”. Doing this, howe ver, distracts us from the actual task. At best it results in a weaker final product… at worst, complete failure.
It’s easy to learn a system by exploring it… just click around and learn. Learning yourself, however, is a bit more complex.
