Leading A Team - OK on Friday

What to do when you are promoted to the leader of your team?

Q&A: “I was promoted to manager. How should I build relationships and solve problems with the team, considering we just recently were on the same level?”

“Status will get you nowhere. Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone.” (Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie)

My usual approach to this is that “manager” is first and foremost a role. This role, like other roles, incorporates responsibilities and certain attributes. It also has its pros and cons. Not everyone wants to be a manager. Not everyone can or should be a manager. The level in the hierarchy, unlike the role, is practically not as important in communication and problem solving. It just provides you with some tools, which is a different topic. However, when you are promoted to a manager role, you will need to adjust your communication and approach, but not quite in the way you might think.

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Q&A: Should I fire this employee?—Approach, Framework And Full Decomposition

“On the Plains of Hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions, who, at the Dawn of Victory, sat down to wait, and waiting…”—Sam Ewing, writer

OKonFriday: How To Decide Whether To Fire Someone

Before we dive into the topic, please note that this article is for people who manage other people. It’s like a “doctors only” warning in a medical article to avoid wrong consequences.

Q: Should I fire this employee?

The short answer I would give to this is, in most cases, “Yes”. Simplified. An additional question to ask would be “When”. But let’s break down the question and look at the framework so you see where I come from.

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Do you have a “toxic” team? I’ve got good news for you

What is a toxic team? Toxic people? No, Not really.

Better way to define it as toxic relationships between people in a team. And it’s important, because if we say that people are toxic it is impossible to change, but if we say behavior is toxic, this is a whole different story.

And the good news is that it is totally under a team manager’s area of influence. So if you are managing a team, and it now behaves in a “toxic” way, it is not hard to fix. I’ll tell you four simple steps to take so you can improve it right away.

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What Is Wrong With 360-Degree Feedback?

The 360 degree feedback method was introduced somewhere in the 1950s and is still chart-topping more than 7 decades after. While it does provide a value, there are things to consider before using it.

The main point is bias and reasoning behind someone’s opinion. Even though this method is considered by many as non biased as there are many participants who provide feedback.

But look at this from a team’s perspective, not a theoretical one. You have certain people and everyone with certain reasoning. So when you ask for a feedback in a form of 360 degree you can do the following:

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