Manager Tools

Manager Tools Podcasts for the Palm Pre, iPhone, or iPod Touch. Uses the RSS Podcast feed at Manager Tools

Delegate Your Reporting - Part 2

We conclude our conversation on how and why to delegate almost all of your routine reporting to your directs.

Delegate Your Reporting

This cast describes how and why to delegate almost all of your routine reporting to your directs.

High D Manager Simple Downfall

This cast addresses a behavioral change for an insidious practice of High D Managers: always putting results in front of relationships. People MATTER!

High S Manager Simple Downfall

This cast addresses a behavioral change for an insidious practice of High S Managers: overprotecting your team.

Intra-Company Training Network Building

This cast recommends building relationships internally at your organization when you attend training events.

Managing Cultural Diversity - The Wendii Curve

This cast describes Manager Tools' first principle about managing directs from different cultures, based on the Wendii curve.

How To Manage An Arrogant Producer

This cast addresses how to manage a high performer who is arrogant or dismissive of others.

How To Stop Gossip

This cast addresses how to stop intra-office gossip.

The High I Manager Simple Downfall

This cast addresses a behavioral change for an insidious practice of High I Managers: starting well and ending poorly.

Developing Subordinate Managers - Chapter 1

This cast describes the first principle of how to develop subordinate managers - Measure Basic Behaviors.

Coaching/Feedback Template For Presentations

This cast provides guidance on giving feedback when coaching directs on their presentation skills, AND a detailed template managers can use when doing so.

Favorite Candidate Interview Preparation - Part 2

This cast concludes our conversation on how to increase the chances that you will get to hire your favorite candidate when he or she has to interview elsewhere in the organization.

Favorite Candidate Interview Preparation - Part 1

This cast describes how to increase the chances that you will get to hire your favorite candidate when he or she has to interview elsewhere in the organization.

High C Manager Simple Downfall - Part 2

This cast concludes our conversation on a behavioral change for an insidious practice of High C Managers: finding fault with recommendations and ideas.

High C Manager Simple Downfall - Part 1

This cast addresses a behavioral change for an insidious practice of High C Managers: finding fault with recommendations and ideas.

The One On One Refresh

This cast describes how to refresh your One on Ones with your directs after you've been doing them for 1-2 years.

My Boss Skips Me

This cast describes how to work with a boss who repeatedly skips over a manager and works directly with your directs (his or her "skips").

Owning The Inputs - Part 2

This cast concludes our conversation on handling a direct who blames another direct for their failure to deliver a task on time.

Owning The Inputs - Part 1

This cast recommends how to handle a direct who blames another direct for their failure to deliver a task on time.

Managers and Confidentiality

This cast recommends how managers handle requests for confidentiality from their directs.

The Management Trinity - Part 3

In this cast, we conclude our conversation on the origins of the Management Trinity, focusing on Coaching and Delegation.

The Management Trinity - Part 2

In this cast, we continue our conversation on the origins of the Management Trinity, focusing on One on Ones and Feedback.

The Management Trinity - Part 1

This cast describes the origins of the Management Trinity: why we preach it, and how it came to be.

Timely Meetings – Part 2

This cast concludes our conversation on how to run timely meetings.

Timely Meetings – Part 1

This cast describes how to run timely meetings.

The First Question In Your One on One

This cast describes how to start every One on One.

Admin Trip Folders – Part 2

This cast concludes our discussion on a standard practice of administrative assistants helping managers prepare for business travel.

Admin Trip Folders - Part 1

This cast describes a standard practice of administrative assistants helping managers prepare for business travel.

Direct Relationships Acid Test

This cast prescribes asking your directs what their children's names are.

Quick and Dirty Choosing a Number Two

This cast describes a quick and dirty way to choose an interim replacement or number two for your role as manager.

Project Manager Feedback

This cast describes how give feedback to a project team member if you are a project manager.

Team Formation – How Big?

This cast describes how big to size a team when forming it.

What To Delegate

This cast recommends simple choices for what to delegate to our directs.

The Coaching Model Revised - Part 2

In this cast, we complete our discussion of the Revised Manager Tools Coaching Model.

The Coaching Model Revised - Part 1

This cast describes the Manager Tools Revised Coaching Model.

Fighting The Downturn Silence

This cast describes how to combat the normal tendency of directs to communicate LESS during a downturn.

Simple DiSC, Delegation, And Project Management - Part 2

In this cast, we conclude our conversation on how to delegate and manage projects more effectively based on the DiSC profiles of your team members.

Simple DiSC, Delegation, And Project Management - Part 1

This cast describes how to delegate and manage projects more effectively based on the DiSC profiles of your team members.

Change Leadership, What's My Visual - Part 2

In this cast, we conclude our conversation about beginning change efforts in any organization

Change Leadership, What's My Visual - Part 1

This cast describes how to begin any effort to change an organization.

Project Manager One on Ones - Part 2

The conclusion of our discussion on Project Manager One on Ones.

Project Manager One on Ones - Part 1

ThiscastexplainsthebasicsofhowtohaveOneonOneswithprojectteammembers whodonotreporttoyou.

Phone One on Ones

We've said it a hundred times, but we've never covered the basics of HOW to conduct a One on One on the phone. Clearly it works - Mark has shared that over half of the O3s he's done have been over the phone. Here's how.

Coaching the Meeting Delegation- Part 2

This cast concludes our discussion on how to coach one of our directs on how to run our staff meeting which we have delegated to them.

Coaching the Meeting Delegation- Part 1

This cast describes how to coach one of our directs on how to run our staff meeting which we have delegated to them.

Staff Meeting Delegation and Succession Planning

This cast describes how to delegate running your staff meeting as part of succession planning.

One Less Thing - Free Up Your Calendar

This cast describes an executive priority management technique - One Less Thing - to free up your calendar.

The Feedback Continuum

This cast describes how to give negative feedback in an escalating way, over time, to improve performance.

Systemic Feedback

What do we do when we've tried giving negative feedback but it doesn't seem to be working? We've given repeated instances of feedback, and yet we don't see a change in a direct's behavior? We give systemic feedback. And it's easy to give - it's just the four step standard feedback model with a change in focus. If you already know how to give standard feedback, systemic feedback is simple to implement...yet its simplicity belies its power. Really well delivered systemic feedback is exceptionally hard to ignore, and lays excellent groundwork for further efforts if the direct doesn't change his or her behavior.

Layoff Communications Part 1: Openly Confidential

This cast how to talk about layoffs when they are being considered. Many managers are torn when it comes to layoffs. Most of us know that when they happen, they're probably inevitable. We understand that layoffs are often a painful necessity (even though they're an admission of failure). We also know that the thought, rumor, or knowledge of layoffs is likely to create questions from our team. Just a rumor of a rumor will induce fear. So what are the rules about communicating about layoffs? What do we say when asked? How should we say it? Can we lie?

Bad Boss #1 - When You Have Directs

Most of us, when we have an angry and demeaning boss, tend to worry about ourselves first. We have to deal with most of the yelling, and most of the abuse. But if we have directs, we've got an additional responsibility. And our directs may be somewhat sheltered, but our boss can be REALLY threatening and fear‐inducing. We have a relationship of SOME sorts with this bad boss. But it's likely our directs ONLY see our boss at his or her worst. And, we almost always underestimate how much more fear our directs feel for their "skip‐boss" than we do. We've got to talk to our directs about this kind of boss, in a professional way, and we've got to have a consistent approach for dealing with the problems an angry and demeaning boss creates for our team. Here's how.

Deciding Between Two Good Candidates

This cast describes how to decide between two good candidates in a hiring situation.

The Heart of Feedback

This cast describes behaviors for managers to engage in to ensure that they deliver feedback ethically and professionally.

Effective Meetings - No Laptops

This cast describes why and how to run your meetings without laptops. For our original cast on the Effective Meetings Protocol, check out "Effective Meetings - Get Out of Jail!" (http://www.manager-tools.com/2005/08/effective-meetings-get-out-of-jail)

The Starter Feedback Model - Part 2

In this cast, we complete our 2-part series on the Starter Feedback Model, an EVEN SIMPLER method for delivering feedback.

The Starter Feedback Model - Part 1

This cast describes an EVEN SIMPLER method for delivering feedback to help those managers who are struggling to implement it.

How To Handle Two Viable Job Candidates

This cast describes what to do when a manager has two candidates for a job that meet the standard, but you can only offer one candidate.

Manager Tools ONE DAY Effective Manager Conference Washington DC Area

March 24, 2009 — Embassy Suites Dulles — North/Loudon

We’re pleased to offer you the first ever opportunity to attend a ONE DAY Effective Manager Conference (EMC) on March 24th in the Washington DC area.

For more details on the conference, please visit our Washington DC Effective Manager Conference Page.

Bench Development in a Downturn

This cast discusses a way to build your recruiting "bench" during market downturns.