QAspire

JULY 22, 2013

I recently delivered a talk at a local entrepreneurship forum on the topic “ How to Build a Great Team and Culture ”. It won’t be unfair to say that establishing a great culture and team is highest on priority of a business leader. A great culture enables success, builds team fabric and attracts talent too. And why not?

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Team How To Mentor Bottom-up 191

QAspire

DECEMBER 4, 2012

I recently heard someone saying, “ Project management is just science. ” “Do I agree?” Here is what I think: Project management is both science and art, but it is the art of project management that makes great project managers. I asked myself. scope, time, cost, quality etc.) scope, time, cost, quality etc.)

Project 164

Project Management Explicit Knowledge Bottom-up 164

QAspire

JULY 10, 2016

Last week, during an internal team event, we organized an interesting activity. Team members were asked to form a human chain by holding hands. The team that passed hoop across in least time would win. The team that passed hoop across in least time would win. The hoop signified challenges and issues that a team faces.

Emotional Intelligence 70

Emotional Intelligence Team Agility Diversity 70

QAspire

JULY 1, 2012

Managers often end up in a situation when they are hired to take charge of a team/department that already exists and performs to a certain level. New leaders often find it difficult to generate acceptance because a team/organization is a complex network of emotions, relationships and issues. Keep them positive.

Team 176

Team Resistance McCarthy Energy 176

QAspire

MARCH 9, 2011

We live in times where more and more work is executed by teams that are geographically distributed. Leading a virtual team, fostering collaboration and binding them to common set of objectives is one of the key challenges for business leaders. When team is distributed, leadership responsibilities should also be distributed.

Team 156

Team Project System Engineering 156

QAspire

JUNE 5, 2013

Ability to provide mentoring is a part of almost every manager’s KRA. Managers are the glue that builds engaged teams in organizations. But the reality is that managers get so engrossed with lines – deadlines and bottom lines – that they forget they also need to help others grow. Mentoring is an art. This week, Chip R.

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Mentor Review Management Case Study 162

QAspire

AUGUST 26, 2010

Home Go to QAspire.com Guest Posts Disclaimer Training Middle Managers On People Management Basics Here is a simple idea: Whenever you have a new manager (project manager/departmental leader) joining in your organization, put him/her through a simple training program on how to manage people.

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Middle Management Training Management Project 139

QAspire

OCTOBER 10, 2012

Appreciation is a fuel that helps others move forward in direction of their goals, yet we often see that managers take others/their work for granted thinking, “So what if they’re doing it – they’re paid to do just that.” Simple things like thank you notes/cards can go a long way in keeping the team energized. They seek acceptance.

Team 170

Team Power Self-aware Learning-by-Doing 170

QAspire

AUGUST 15, 2010

Home Go to QAspire.com Guest Posts Disclaimer 10 Pointers to Build Comfort Within The Team It pains to see teams where people work on a common goal but don’t get along well with each other. We work in teams and knowing how to get along well with others is extremely crucial. Here are 10 broad pointers that may help.

Team 167

Team Benchmarking Open-book Directory 167

QAspire

JANUARY 22, 2012

Here are a few things I have learned (from my experiences and seeing other leaders perform) on fostering autonomy in your team: Recruit right: That’s where it starts. It is important to ascertain that a team member is capable of handling things, take independent view of work and drive it accordingly.

Team 178

Team Delegation Agility Constraint 178

QAspire

NOVEMBER 21, 2012

Our prevailing system of management has destroyed our people. On the job people, teams, and divisions are ranked, reward for the top, punishment for the bottom. On the job people, teams, and divisions are ranked, reward for the top, punishment for the bottom. It starts with creativity, passion and inventive thinking.

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Deming System Management Bottom-up 151

QAspire

APRIL 6, 2015

You need to build a system of management methods, rituals, processes, tools and motivation where people are more likely to exercise their choice of doing a good job versus doing a great job. If you are aiming to build teams that are self-organizing, this is even more crucial. You cannot manage what you cannot measure, it is said.

Agility 70

Agility Organization Team Maturity 70

QAspire

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

The Philosophy of Management. This note sums up the underlying philosophy of management and leadership. This means letting employees take developmental and stretch assignments, providing a great deal of project-based work, and rewarding managers not only for execution but also for coaching and development.

Management 70

Management CIO Fashion Teamwork 70

QAspire

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

In an organizational context, how do we manage this? Over to you: How would you manage metrics so that they enable right behaviors? A few things come to mind: ︎ Use holistic/systematic measures: Find and link measures that capture various interconnected aspects of the desired outcome. ︎ Here’s a sketchnote summary on Goodhart’s Law.

Metrics 122

Metrics Banking Learning-by-Doing Tools 122

QAspire

AUGUST 24, 2010

Home Go to QAspire.com Guest Posts Disclaimer Managing Results by Defining “Deliverables” Early On As professionals, we all are responsible for shipping stuff to our customers (internal or external). As a manager, it helps if you can clearly define what deliverable means. Check it out if you haven’t already ! Don’t Kill It!

PPM 149

PPM Management Directory Quality 149

QAspire

JULY 4, 2010

Home Go to QAspire.com Guest Posts Disclaimer Final Part: 7 Things Managers & Leaders Should Never Do I wrote earlier about “ 11 Things Project Managers & Leaders Should Never Do ” and then continued the chain of thoughts with another post titled “ 7 (More) Things Project Managers & Leaders Should Never Do.

Management 156

Management Project Delegation Directory 156

QAspire

NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Here’s my one big lesson about managing conflicts – whenever I tried to “react” in the face of conflict, the situation mostly worsened. In an idea cast at Harvard Business Review, Amy Gallo , author of HBR Guide to Managing Conflict at Work , outlines four types of conflicts and offers very useful guidance on how to handle them.

Management 70

Management Construction Objective Career 70

QAspire

AUGUST 5, 2010

When leaders leverage this affinity, they create aligned teams. As leaders it’s important to “trigger&# the thoughts/actions of our team members by linking vision and goals to their previous life experiences - stories do that! Also, selecting the right story for your team and the situation is also important to consider.

Quality 155

Quality Blog Storytelling Management 155

QAspire

DECEMBER 11, 2023

According to Bill, this bucket needs the most filling in teams and organizations. In the book, Bill offers strategies to build a culture of Courage in teams and organizations. Bill’s work is fascinating and I took some visual notes while going through it all.

Godin 233

Godin Consultative Career Travel 233

QAspire

SEPTEMBER 28, 2010

Home Go to QAspire.com Guest Posts Disclaimer 15 Key Lessons On Managing Change Change, they say, is the only constant. We may not be ‘change management experts’, but having a set of thumb rules always helps when dealing with change (because at some point, we have to face/manage/lead a change). Hope that clarifies.

Management 131

Management Blog Directory Open-book 131

QAspire

DECEMBER 21, 2010

This is very important for a leader but equally difficult, because a team lead is like a caption who has to server the needs to it’s team players and in terms have to convince it’s coach / management in getting the team’s requirement fulfilled in order to achive best results. Don’t Kill It!

Quality 120

Quality Blog Management Self-aware 120

QAspire

OCTOBER 22, 2009

Home Go to QAspire.com Guest Posts Disclaimer Managers, Nurture Creativity. Bob, the project manager, was busy communicating with client via MSN Messenger, his eyes focused on the computer screen and fingers fiercely hitting the keyboard in a fine synchrony with his brain. Managers kill creativity instead of nurturing it.

Creativity 84

Creativity Management Constraint Project 84

QAspire

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

Home Go to QAspire.com Guest Posts Disclaimer Quick Thought on Leadership and Subordination to a Cause If you are a manager or leader, you are very likely to have followers whom we commonly refer to as ‘subordinates.’ The cause of building a great team. A leader is placed at a higher rank and subordinates are at a lower rank.

Quality 84

Quality Blog Management Reference 84

QAspire

DECEMBER 21, 2009

Home Go to QAspire.com Guest Posts Disclaimer Top 10 Project Management Mistakes You Should Avoid I was recently studying the anatomy of failed/troubled projects and following came out as a learning. Not managing expectations of all stakeholders of the project (including your organization and in client’s organization).

Project 107

Project Management Directory Blog 107

QAspire

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Improvement & Development Leadership Leading People Managing Communication Self Growth HR Management Team Building team management' They massage the message and try to cover as many statistics and nice looking pictures as they can. They feel comfortable because they focus on communication – transfer of [.].

Team Building 138

Team Building Team Management Development 138

QAspire

FEBRUARY 9, 2010

Home Go to QAspire.com Guest Posts Disclaimer Seven Key Thoughts About Managing Human Resources Here are SEVEN most prominent thoughts that stuck me this week about managing “human” resources. A Round Up of My Writing in February 2010 Other Links to this Post QAspire Blog - Quality, Management, Leadership & Life!

Human Resources 94

Human Resources Resources Management Maslow 94

QAspire

FEBRUARY 19, 2017

As an organization grows, managing the flow demands work items to move from one team/department to another. In quest to make these teams accountable, very specific KPI’s are established and that breeds non-systemic thinking. Every team meets the KPI numbers and yet, customers remain disgruntled.

Senge 195

Senge Organization KPI Learning Organization 195

QAspire

JANUARY 10, 2022

The words that people use when dealing with conflicts, failures and during developmental conversations really define the culture of the team or organization. Micro-Habits of High Impact Managers. Conversations that leaders have with their people are the drivers of psychological safety. Signs of a High-Trust Environment.

Edmondson 133

Edmondson Learning-by-Doing Environment Reference 133

QAspire

JANUARY 10, 2022

The words that people use when dealing with conflicts, failures and during developmental conversations really define the culture of the team or organization. Conversations that leaders have with their people are the drivers of psychological safety.

Edmondson 110

Edmondson Learning-by-Doing Environment Reference 110

QAspire

OCTOBER 13, 2014

Management has a lot to do with answers. I have seen companies falling into the trap of managing people through quarterly or half yearly goals without clarifying the vision. This becomes even more challenging when an organization has distributed teams across the geographies. Leadership is a function of questions.

Short-term 128

Short-term Bottom-up Team Building Goal 128

QAspire

AUGUST 2, 2012

Others become managers after getting a management degree from a b-school that never taught them the fundamentals of dealing with people. Leadership is a privilege , a huge responsibility and a glorious opportunity to add value – to business, to team members and customers. Use this as a part of “new manager induction”.

Leadership 195

Leadership Download Middle Management Leadership Styles 195

QAspire

MAY 7, 2013

I once observed a senior leader who was approached by his team member for some help on an issue. For a struggling team member who needed direction, words like “ somehow ” and “ASAP” added ambiguity and needless urgency leading to frustration. I have seen managers who request “ quick calls ” that go on for hours together.

Bottom-up 169

Bottom-up Delegation Report Project 169

QAspire

JUNE 10, 2012

These team members are enthusiastic, engaged and willing to see the project succeed. To manage growth, processes are introduced. But often, project managers focus too much on the planning, scheduling, managing risks and watching the metrics that they forget to focus on people. Emotion is the basis of how they operate.

Project 172

Project Compliance Maturity Process 172

QAspire

JULY 31, 2013

Tweet-Insights from the special guest Mr. Gurprriet Singh ( @JoyandLife ), Managing Consultant and Head of YSC India helped in understanding the nuances of coaching based on his experiences. Adaptable teams help in organizational adaptability. - – - – -. Coaching helps people navigate change and be adaptable.

Mentor 148

Mentor Succession Short-term ROI 148

QAspire

MARCH 11, 2014

Most successful projects and teams I have seen have one thing in common – effective collaboration. Mary Parker Follett defined management as “ the art of getting things done through people ” and collaborative leadership embodies and extends this belief. Photograph by: Tanmay Vora , A Family of Darters, Khijadia Bird Sanctuary.

Leadership 176

Leadership Self-aware Bottom-up Project 176

QAspire

APRIL 13, 2014

One of the key challenges for a collaborative leader is to align the team, cross functional groups and customers to a common purpose and the best ways to address this challenge is to meaningfully connect with others. This is especially vital for teams that are distributed. They don’t hoard information but share openly.

Bottom-up 169

Bottom-up Brainstorming Tools Document 169

QAspire

AUGUST 19, 2012

Consider this story: Jay is a newly hired project manager whose primary accountability is to manage a large client account and ensure that all projects within that account adhere to scope, time, cost and quality parameters. Resentment in the team. Don’t confuse micro-management with accountability.

Compliance 150

Compliance Project Leadership Styles Creativity 150