tl;dr:“What we recognize is what we reward,” and we often reinforce behaviors accidentally e.g. when ask a team to demo an upcoming release, add a Slack emoji high-five response to a comment, we are recognizing something we like about someones behavior and signaling to those around us that we want to see more of that behavior. Lara provides us with an exercise to establish how we are recognizing and rewarding our teams and reports.
tl;dr:"We’re intentionally limiting this process to two experiments because tons of change at once will be scary and confusing for folks. We’re also going to limit the experiment timeline to 2-3 weeks; the goal is to be able to gather data at the end of your first 60 days in your new leadership role." After crafting experiments, develop your communication plan, implement your experiments and prepare to share the results.
tl;dr:"Consider team dynamics, the projects on this person’s plate, and what you want the future to look like. The employee may: (1) Be highly respected so you want to optimize for supporting their teammates and helping them feel secure after they leave. (2) Be disruptive to team culture, so you want to optimize for a smooth and speedy departure with minimal conflict. (3) Have a lot of connections to folks you may want to hire for future roles, so you want to ensure they have a really positive experience in the last few weeks. Lara walks through the playbook.
tl;dr:Lara introduces the PIP decision framework: (1) Ask yourself if you believe the person will be able to meet expectations within 30 days and consistently thereafter?” (2) If yes, ask what haven't you stated clearly yet to this person about what to expect in this role?” (3) State the gap between their work and what’s expected in their role as clearly as possible to see if the new clarity changes things. (4) Ask what's in their way of meeting these expectations?
tl;dr:Asking “is there anything I can do better” rarely elicits a helpful response. Instead, identify a skill you’re hoping to improve and request feedback on it. "This approach has the benefit of being easier for the person giving you feedback, and more impactful and useful for you." For example, if you want to improve in strategy, ask the following questions (1) "what outcomes - positive or negative - have you seen from my efforts at strategy?" (2) “What new approaches or tactics do you think I should experiment with here?”
tl;dr:"I’ve learned that getting some particular data during an initial 1:1 can be really helpful, as I can refer back to the answers as I need to give a person feedback, recognize them, and find creative ways to support them." Lara discusses her template for initial 1-1s with questions around "grumpiness", feedback and recognition, goals and support, and the most important question - what’s your favorite way to treat yourself?
tl;dr:You want to "check that this person has internalized the feedback and will begin to make changes." (1) Ask them if they understand the feedback and urgency. (2) Intentionally create space and pauses to give them time to respond. (3) Ask them to reflect back what they heard. (4) Ask open coaching questions e.g. “okay, given this feedback, what are you planning on changing to be able to meet these expectations?” (5) Identify next steps.
tl;dr:Lara lists recently published resources for managing in a time of crises, including "Managering through terrible times," "Handling the emotional weight of 1:1s" and "When your manager isn’t supporting you, build a Voltron." Additionally listed are resources to build resilience and tactical templates.
tl;dr:"If you have a teammate coming to you questioning their worth and effectiveness, I want to equip you with a framework that will help this teammate recognize their successes and impact." Lara discusses the BICEPS framework that covers: Improvement, Choice, Equality / Fairness, Predictability and Significance. As well as some questions you can ask your teammate e.g. In the last year, where have you created more clarity or predictability for people?