Learning

I am currently reading Chapter7: Organization: What Managers Do, One of the topics in the chapter is about 1:1. What is the purpose of 1:1. What makes a good 1:1 with your manager. There was another article on this by a bog that I follow. Purpose of 1:1 Develop strong trust relationships with your staff and get to know them on personal level. Trust comes from mutual respect and understanding, which comes from knowing each other as human beings and nurturing relationship. You also need integrity, which is necessary for nearly everything of value. Manager and employee to reach a shared understanding of the work environment, project status, technical risks, new opportunities, morale and career development, and a time to share values. Running effective 1:1 One-on one time belongs to the employee. You should always be looking for opportunities to highlight critical decisions strategic and systems thinking change management communication style, a...

Know the code: First and foremost the lead knows the code for the project. The lead will be the one to code review your code. The lead has the experience necessary to insure that the work of the team is of the architecture and quality necessary to get the job done for customers. Help you to know what you need to do: Your lead like your coach. He or She will be the one to walk your proposed architecture and implementation and make sure it fits within the timeframe and that it meets the needs of the project. Determine the tasks to be completed by the team and balance the work across the team: The team works with program management to determine the scope of the work to be done. The dev lead works with the team to come up with a schedule and work list for the group. Assist in skills development: Your lead is there to help you to learn and to get the tools to learn about the project you are ready to embark on. Communication to/from the feature team about the feature team: The lead i...

This is summary of selling the idea from “One Strategy” book.   Define the problem you are solving :Have a crisp definition of the problem you are solving. Sometimes this is an end-user problem, sometimes this is an ongoing “fighting the code” architectural problem. Sometimes its enabling new hardware device. But overall if it takes too long to even explain the problem to people then its going to be a steep uphill climb from the very start. Educate yourself on possible alternatives: As you talk to people you will educate yourself on lots of alternatives. A good thing to do is stay focused on solving the problem, not stuck to implementing the specific solution you initially proposed. Describe your solution : Get good at describing your solution. Connect the problem and solution: Reinforce the connection between the problem and the proposed solution. Think end-to-end: When proposing a feature it is often the case that someone will think of the feature in the context with ...

I am reading “One Strategy” book by Steven Sinofsky and summarizing Chapter 6: Organization: Matching Capabilities to Strategy.   Following pyramid around which the core chapter is organized.     Mission: The mission of the organization defined the reason for being. Timescale of the mission is long. Mission should inspire the organization. Vision: Represents the way that one connects the the organization in a concrete manner. Visions feel achievable, represent a goal that can be written down. Vision defines kinds of roles in the organization and brings the first look at specialization. The leaders “above”  will need to recognize that there is enormous complexity in undertaking a vision. The timeline for the vision can be long as well, but generally shorter than the mission.   Plan: Defines the framework for execution. When you know the plan, those skilled in the art also know he types of tactics tha...

Assertiveness is standing up for yourself. Standing up for your own rights in such a way that you do not violate another persons rights. Assertiveness allows you to get what you want and need by fair and reasonable means. Assertiveness is not aggressiveness.Aggressiveness leads to violating other rights. Opposite of assertiveness is non assertiveness. Situations that require assertiveness:     Reprimanding subordinates.     Reopening discussion.      ,,,, Dos and Don'ts: If someone ignores your assertion, repeat it in the same tone as before but louder. Refuse to be distracted or angered by side issues brought in to the discussion. Show empathy for the other person. Try to avoid domineering and dogmatic. Even tone is the key. A positive self image will encourage one to be assertive. It is more difficult to be assertive when in a stressful situation. If some is being aggressi...

Listening is hearing and understanding the message from speakers perspective . In order to be a good manager you need to know how to listen well. What is listening?. Listening is not hearing. Just sitting across and hearing everything that other person is saying is not hearing. Hearing alone does not lead to understanding the message. One can think a lot faster than anyone can speak therefore you are prone to distraction when someone is speaking. Our mind frequently wanders when someone is speaking to us. One way to say present is to create mental image of what is being told to us. Active Listening is a listening skills to help us to be better listeners. Listen with intensity . Concentrate, focus your energy in understanding the message. Listen with empathy. Try to understand emotions and feelings, depth of what another person is saying. Put yourselves in their shoes. Don't try to color the message. Acceptance of what we are hearing. Don't be evaluative and judgm...

Meredith Whitney is absolutely amazing on how authoritatively she talks about financial matters. She is my inspiration on how a person should talk about their professional area. I believe it requires    Strong fundamentals.    Confidence about the area.    Independent thinking.    Preparedness.