by Esther Derby | Aug 27, 2010 | Collaboration & Teams, Leadership & Management
Authors Note: The relationship between an employee and his/her manager determines how long a person stays with a company and to some extent how productive he’ll be while he is there. That relationship also plays a part in stress level,and physical health.... by Esther Derby | Aug 24, 2010 | Collaboration & Teams, Leadership & Management
Authors note: A recent blog post on Bob Sutton’s Work Matters reminded me of this little piece I wrote a while ago. A simple thank you can make a difference; appreciation builds good will, and reminds people that they are valued as human beings, not just as CPUs... by Esther Derby | Aug 13, 2010 | Leadership & Management, Systems and Complexity
Questions matter. The questions we ask open one avenue of inquiry, but close others. If we want to change the way we manage, we need to change our questions. And so, here are my slides from my talk at Agile 2010: 14 Essential Questions aimed at refocusing... by Esther Derby | Aug 12, 2010 | Leadership & Management
Some managers seem to know instinctively how to create trust. But I doubt that managers in low trust groups set out to destroy trust. I suspect that they have learned some bad habits and have some assumptions that subtly (or not so subtly) communicate lack of trust.... by Esther Derby | Aug 2, 2010 | Collaboration & Teams, Leadership & Management, Systems and Complexity
I’m a big believer in one-on-one meetings on manager-led teams. It’s a way to connect with people, stay in touch with progress, learn about problems early, coach, work on career goals, offer feedback, and more. But if you are the manager for a self-organizing team,...