Skippers — Number Five

Skippers are a curated set of articles I found interesting. I originally shared a similar set of articles with some commentary among the leaders in our R&D team (aka “The Skippers”). To goal was to help us become better leaders and managers, or at a minimum be thought provoking.

1–1 tip

Recently I started the practice to have a shared Google Document for every regular 1–1 meeting. It is shared with the employee. Rather than large template, the document is simple:

Stewie/Jan One-on-one agenda and notes

The 1–1 meeting is your meeting. Please feel free to add any topics to the agenda in advance. I also will add a few of my topics, if time allows and after we covered your topics. Some of my topics can also be covered during in the weekly status update.

Date

- item 1 …

If time allows, Jan’s topics:
- item a …

I have found that some of the 1–1 templates are overly structured. This document is very flexible. By having the employee set the agenda ahead of the meeting, you make it clear that the 1–1 is the employee’s meeting.

I have also found that, with an agenda, the meeting is more focused.

New managers

I recently stumbled on this Quora Question and Answer: What are the biggest lessons first time managers learn on the job? It is worth a read. It reminded me of two tips:

• Write things down — “it takes time crafting your people skills, figuring out how to prioritize between your company’s needs and your teammates’ needs, finding your own ways to keep your technical skills and deliveries. My advice to you is write things down — end your day with writing 1–2 decisions you’ve made during that day that involved your new skills.”
• Cynicism is a dangerous killer in disguise for your team’s culture. Call out Bullshit.

When somebody resign

You are a manager and this is the first time somebody decided to resign from your team or from the company. What do I do? Here are a few guidelines:

The initial call or conversation

Understand both parties are not a pro at this. The initial conversation is likely going to be an uncomfortable and awkward one. Take your time. Set the stage for a calm, non-rushed and open conversation. (Watch out for Do you have Second?)

Acknowledge that this is probably a conversation the employee dreaded. There are exceptions to this, e.g., when an employee was given the recommendation to find a new position elsewhere.

Don’t blame. This is not the time to discuss “you should have …” or “why didn’t you …”

Listen. Ask and seek to understand. Even if you are not planning to fight and keep this person. There is a lot you can learn from this conversation. However, especially when you want to keep this person, this first conversation is important to get a lot of information. This is a conversation, not a run-through of a number of questions in order.

Why? What are the motivations? Is there something we can do to change their mind? I would ask explicitly. Sometimes resigning is a call for help.

Where is the person going? To do what job specifically? What is the title? To work on what product? Where is the job? Do you know anyone at the company?

Money What is the compensation package? Details matter: how much is the salary exactly. How much is guaranteed and how much is variable (e.g., bonus)? How much is the sign-on bonus? What are the details about stock options? Or these RSUs or options? How many? What is the vesting period? What’s the strike price? When does the job start? Did you already sign the offer?

Hush for now. Ask the person to keep it confidential. Tell the employee that you will inform your manager and HR and that you will get back with more details and next steps soon. You want to be the driver of the information and the next steps. Not the employee.

Right after the call

Inform you manager with the details.

How badly do you want to keep this person? If so, think about and propose a strategy on how to change the employees mind. E.g., your manager can help, or the CEO. You probably know the person better than anybody else.

Later

If you do not want to keep this person, or if counter offers were not successful, create the following plans:

• a communication plan for your team, your bigger team (e.g., RD team), and the rest of the company. Is there anybody specifically you need to talk to before you communicate this to larger groups? For each, determine, if, when and how you will communicate. Also, draft a message to be shared and have it reviewed by HR. Be prepared for the question: who will take over?, will we hire a replacement?
• a transition plan: who takes over which tasks? what information needs to be documented or communicated to others?

Keep HR in the loop. Have them review each step along the way. There may be other items to be considered. They will drive this. This is especially the case for Europe where employment laws are different.