Managing Up

Burnout is a very real problem right now, and is often aggravated in our jobs as managers, ironically in our work to help others avoid burning themselves out. Nick, Travis, and Brandon ask: how do you stop the cycle of overwork that led you to success in the first place? How do you take a break? Once you do, how do you come back to work? They discuss learning to set boundaries and say no, even to things we want. Travis compares burnout to technical debt. Nick explains how systemic thinking can alleviate the "trapped" feeling that can exacerbate burnout.

Show notes:

• 6 Causes of Burnout
  • https://hbr.org/2019/07/6-causes-of-burnout-and-how-to-avoid-them

Nick, Travis, and Brandon talk about how they increase psychological safety on teams to create space for a variety of voices, starting by debating the value of "strong opinions, weakly held". They explore the questions: How do you bootstrap trust and safety when joining a team? How can you make space for less vocal team members? What are things managers do that reduce trust within their teams? How can you encourage and receive important and valuable feedback?

Episode links:

• Strong Opinions Loosely Held Might be the Worst Idea in Tech
  • https://blog.glowforge.com/strong-opinions-loosely-held-might-be-the-worst-idea-in-tech/
• How to Get Your Team to Challenge Your Ideas
  • https://medium.dave-bailey.com/how-to-get-your-team-to-speak-up-4d403bfc10c9

Nick, Travis, and Brandon talk about the chaotic and downright scary state of the world and our own prior adjustments to remote work. They discuss ways to lead authentically in these times, and how remote work has helped them learn how integrate life and work (and also, paradoxically, how to keep them separate).

Show notes:

• Bringing your whole self to work
  • https://mike-robbins.com/work/
• CNN/BBC guy gets interrupted by child
  • https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2017/03/10/interview-interrupted-children-newday.cnn
• Career timeline exercise
  • http://lanipeterson.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Career-Timeline-Exercise-01.2015.pdf
• Basecamp: Shape Up
  • https://basecamp.com/shapeup
• Miro (formerly RealtimeBoard)
  • https://miro.com/

In another episode recorded in the "before times", Travis talks about finding the balance between not enough and too much process. Is Scrum too much process? How do you tell when process is designed to help versus be a remote control for a team? What if the process is being blamed for other problems? They discuss the signals that tell you when a process isn't working for you and when to modify existing processes versus throw them out.

Notes:

• Extreme Programming Explained by Kent Beck
  • https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Programming-Explained-Embrace-Change/dp/0321278658
• Scrum Guide TM TM TM ® ® ®
  • https://www.scrumguides.org/index.html
• Taylorism (Scientific Management)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management

In an episode recorded in "the before times" that we feel is still relevant, Nick suggested we talk about what to do when you can't do it all. Nick, Brandon, and Travis discuss how the game of "Calendar Jenga" is symptomatic. What happens when your calendar is so full of "valuable" things that you have to choose between lunch or more meetings? Nick talks about using WIP limits to keep your calendar clean, and Travis talks about how designing your schedule is like designing teams.

Notes:

• @catehstn tweet:
  • https://twitter.com/catehstn/status/1231685231909974018
• Your calendar is a trash fire
  • https://speakerdeck.com/tehviking/the-new-managers-toolkit?slide=62
• Time blocking
  • https://blog.rescuetime.com/time-blocking-101/
• Time Management Matrix
  • https://facilethings.com/blog/en/time-management-matrix