It's All About The Little Things

Presented at http://2017.groundcontrolconf.com in London and the http://bureauofdigital.com/summits/digital-pm-2017/ in Las Vegas, 2017.

Conference talks are often focused on big and innovative ideas that in many cases kick start brand new approaches to our people and work, which is a great thing that continually helps push our industry forward.

However, when managing projects or leading teams, being consistently good at getting the absolute basics right can be the difference between success and failure.

In this session, Sam will discuss some of these basics, how often they’re forgotten or overlooked, why they’re so important and how to get better at them in such a way that you really see positive changes in both what you’re helping to deliver and your working relationships with the people around you.

Transcript

1. It’s All About The Little Things
2. @thesambarnes thesambarnes.com
4. pathfinderdpm.com pathfinderdpm @
5. Leanne Goddard, UX/UI Designer
7. It’s just things like when we have our 1-2-1s, you say you want to check that we’re okay and enjoying our job. This is such an important thing to say but I’ve only heard it once before in my career. Leanne Goddard, UX/UI Designer It’s the little things that make the difference.
11. MANAGING YOUR OWN WORKLOAD
12. THE POMODORO TECHNIQUE DON’T BREAK THE CHAIN THE ACTION METHOD EATING LIVE FROGS: DO THE WORST THING FIRST PRODUCTIVITY METHODOLOGIES
13. INBOX ZERO NEXT ACTION WAITING FOR GETTING THINGS DONE
18. If you gain the confidence and trust of your people and they feel their best interests are safe in your hands, then you have in your possession a priceless asset, and the greatest achievements become possible. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, British WWII Commander
19. ALWAYS BE PRESENT ON COMMS
21. totes legit science study
22. GET BACK TO PEOPLE ON TIME
23. RESPECT PEOPLE’S TIME ALWAYS KEEP YOUR WORD &
24. CHECK PEOPLE’S AVAILABILITY WHEN BOOKING MEETINGS
25. Me Me Me Me Me Me Me
26. my dogface when you crash my calendar
27. CHECK PEOPLE’S AVAILABILITY WHEN BOOKING MEETINGS …even if no one else does.
28. CHECK PEOPLE’S AVAILABILITY WHEN BOOKING MEETINGS …even if no one else does. CHECK PEOPLE’S PREFERENCE WHEN BOOKING MEETINGS
32. Be nice, be polite and watch the outcome. Sian Salter, Digital Project Manager at OPEN Health
33. REGULAR 1-2-1 WITH YOUR TEAM s
34. ACTUALLY LISTEN TO PEOPLE
35. A manager can seem like they understand at the time, but then later on the employee will find out that’s not true because they find themselves having the same conversations again, having to repeat themselves and having to chase actions or even worse, no actions come out of the talking at all. Kris Rabino, Software Engineer MANAGERS IN 1-2-1s 1
36. 2However, a manager that actually listens will always be proactive with follow ups, whether it’s actually completing actions, or just mere verbal check-ins to say they’ve not forgotten about the chat and actions… Kris Rabino, Software Engineer MANAGERS IN 1-2-1s a
37. Then, even if something couldn't be actioned and the manager couldn’t make the situation better, there's a genuine sense that they tried their hardest against a resistant work environment. Kris Rabino, Software Engineer MANAGERS IN 1-2-1s 2 b
38. “I can't remember the exact context but it's easy to remember feelings and I always felt like you gave a shit.” Kris Rabino, Software Engineer
39. UNLOCK RADICAL CANDOUR
40. Kim Scott, CEO of Candor Inc.
41. “I would argue that criticising your employees when they screw up is not just your job, it’s actually your moral obligation.” Kim Scott, CEO of Candour Inc.
42. CHALLENGE DIRECTLY CARE PERSONALLY RADICAL CANDOR RUINOUS EMPATHY MANIPULATIVE INSECURITY OBNOXIOUS AGGRESSION
43. LET PEOPLE TEXT IN WHEN ILL
47. when weird stock photos look too much like you
48. FLEXITIME REMOTE WORKING &
49. If you don’t trust your employees to work flexibly or remotely, you shouldn’t have hired them in the first place. Yan Lhert, Software Engineer at Checkr
50. GUILT EMPLOYEE SNEER &
51. EMPLOYEE GUILT
52. EMPLOYEE SNEER
53. OUT OF HOURS COMMS
54. STATE NO REPLY NEEDED TODAY SHOWS YOU CARE ABOUT PEOPLE’S LIVES IT MAY JUST STOP YOU PISSING SOMEONE OFF & when you don’t even realise you’re doing it!
56. ASSUME PEOPLE MEAN WELL
57. Karl Scotland, Lean Agile Consultant “A sign of complexity is that the experts don’t agree.”
58. LOVE EVERYTHING DIGITAL ENJOY OUR JOBS WANT TO WIN THE WORK WANT THE PROJECT TO GO WELL GET ON WELL PERSONALLY EXTROVERT CEO & INTROVERT DPM We both… What could go wrong?
59. EXTROVERTS LOVE INTROVERTS HATE RISK
62. TRUST IS OFTEN THE ISSUE
64. Real expertise is making progress in an imperfect environment.
67. Robert Sutton, Prof. at Stanford University
68. THE TOTAL COST OF ASSHOLES OR TCA
69. 15% AVERAGE BULLYING RATE 25% OF BULLYING TARGETS RESIGN, AS DO… 20% WHO WITNESS THE BULLYING CLOSE UP average workplace statistics TCA
70. TCA = $980,000 TCA in a company of 1000 people 25% 38 15% 150 2x 300 20% 60 98x $10k BULLIED PEOPLE BULLIED PEOPLE WILL RESIGN WITNESSES PER PERSON WITNESSES WILL RESIGN REPLACEMENTS, EACH COSTING
71. USE REGRET TO MAKE DECISIONS
72. Opportunities are rare. Fear is temporary. Regret is eternal.
74. PROFESSIONAL DOESN’T MEAN BEING DULL
82. THE LITTLE CLOSING END BIT
85. Kinesin Protein walking
86. It’s All About The Little Things THANK YOU