by Esther Derby | Nov 17, 2010 | Leadership & Management
When a boss is a bully, interesting work, perks and competitive salary may not be enough to retain good employees. Abusive treatment from the boss can drive people out the door and damage a companies reputation. Bosses Who Bully Not too long ago, I had lunch with my...
by Esther Derby | Nov 11, 2010 | Collaboration & Teams, Leadership & Management, Systems and Complexity
The answer is (of course): “It depends.” Self-management is a spectrum, not a point. How much self-management is right for a team depends on that team. I see many teams in small companies and start-ups who self-manage. They set product goals, make...
by Esther Derby | Nov 3, 2010 | Leadership & Management
When companies decide they want the benefit of the team effect, or adopt agile methods, they (sometimes) realize that they need to update their management style as well. And too often, they enter an 4-step dance of oscillation. Managers feel overburdened and...
by Esther Derby | Nov 2, 2010 | Leadership & Management, Organizational Change
I’ve seen lots of managers struggle to help teams. Often, they are driven by deadlines and goals set by their managers. They do what they think will help, acting out of their current view of how things work. Sometimes they look for new ideas on how to manage....
by Esther Derby | Oct 28, 2010 | Leadership & Management
In two recent posts, I offered cautionary tales for managers of self-organizing agile teams: Tale of a Yo-Yo Manager Tale of a Too Hands Off Manager. So what is it that managers should do to move from big boss to partnership? It’s actually quite a long list, so...
