Management

Management is getting work done through other people. It happens differently at the three management levels - even if the same person manages all three.

Two Types - Internal & External. My client rescheduled our time twice in a row due to emergencies. It got me thinking that there are two types of emergencies. To over simplify (a little) one type is internal. A machine…

3 Reasons Management is hard and ways to make it easier. We define management and discuss why interaction with the people you manage is not like social interaction. There's a different skill set involved. This video is a bit different…

A manager gets work done through other people. This is impossible without delegating. But delegating is a skill that must be learned. There are three things to communicate in order to delegate well. I said communicate, not broadcast. That means…

What? These are one-on-one meetings that you have with each of your direct reports on a regular basis. . Why? These are not status updates - not about the work. They are more important (and less urgent) than that. The…

Mark Suster just posted a great piece on taking time to THINK as an Entrepreneur. Here’s the money quote (paraphrased). 1. I think the best leaders are Thinkers. They often need teams of people to help them Plan how to…

My wife broke her leg recently so I’ve been doing all the driving and grocery shopping. She is able to use a wheeled stool to get around the kitchen and cook again which she is very grateful for – as…

Animal trainers have a saying "It's never the animal's fault" Because animals don't speak, trainers need to find non-English methods to communicate what they want. If the animal doesn't perform, they try to find a better way to communicate, they…

Joel Spolsky recounts his move from a Microsoft to (eventually) Juno Online Services in New York. Eventually, though, I started to discover that the management philosophy at Juno was old fashioned. The assumption there was that managers exist to tell…

Leadership has been getting all the spotlight in recent years, but management is really where the action is if you want results. Management is the hard work of developing (as well as sustaining) an environment that supports people to be…

Everyone knows that to grow a business you have to delegate. But it's hard. Here's why. Most of what you do (and want to delegate) is knowledge work. Peter Drucker coined the term Knowledge Worker to mean someone who works…

I've been asked whether management is one or the other. How we ask a question often blinds us to a useful answer. Management, like most aspects of running a business involves both. My quick distinction is that the science of…

Work is defined as moving objects at or near the surface of the earth, or telling others to do so. The first is uncomfortable and ill paid, the second is more enjoyable and better paid. ~ Old Joke (which isn’t…