Top 10 Must Read Quora Questions for Project Managers
Advice from the trenches that gets results
BY JESSICA ZARTLER
From former Steve Jobs’ employees, to top execs themselves such as Mark Zuckerberg and Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales, to former NASA astronauts like Garrett Resiman, and even former President Barack Obama have Quora profiles — and they’re giving away free advice.
If you haven’t heard of it, Quora is a free questions and answers site that has reached over 100 million monthly unique visitors. Founded in 2009 by Adam D’Angelo, the former CTO of Facebook, and Charlie Cheever, an erstwhile Facebook engineer, the site allows thought leaders to answer crowdsourced queries.
There are many things you can do with Quora, from asking those lingering random questions that plague your mind to generating business leads, however the most important aspect of the crowdsourcing site may just be its searchable treasure trove of advice.
If you are a manager struggling with team building, conflict resolution or any other challenge, chances are Quora’s got the answer. And not just one answer, but a host of actionable advice that is not only practical, but incredibly creative from multiple backgrounds and perspectives. They say “two heads are better than one,” but in today’s world, why settle for just two when you can have a whole army of advisers — for free!
These are our ten favorite picks for managers who want to reach outside of the box and into the minds and experiences of others who have found success:
1. What is the best advice you would give to someone starting out in a project management position?
Short but sweet, the advice here will get any project started off on the right foot. This a great read if you are beginning a new project.
2. What are the best ways to be an effective leader?
This is a long but worthwhile read that covers every aspect of leadership, resources, inspirational quotes and stories from experience. If you are looking for inspiration on a coffee break, this is a fantastic read.
3. How do I conduct meetings effectively?
This is one of the biggest challenges for managers and teams. Meetings can eat up precious resources and leave people feeling even more confused about a project than they were before the meeting. This thread provides great tips on running effective meetings with real examples . Recommended to read before your next meeting when you are ready to make an action plan and changes to your meeting style.
4. How can I delegate efficiently?
Gallup studied top CEOs and found that those who delegate more, create more jobs and revenue than those who don’t; not just by a little — up to 33 percent more. This is one of the biggest challenges for managers — to let go and trust employees with important tasks to free up more time for coaching and managing. This thread provides oodles of actionable advice and questions you should ask yourself in the process. If you are ready to let go of some tasks and make some room on your plate, this is an excellent set of posts.
5. How do managers generally deal with conflict between two employees?
Conflict resolution. There may be no such thing to completely master these two words, but reading this list of tips and tactics will give you some different ideas to use in your office. From hard line stances to more surgical and gentle approaches, this small library provides a wealth of knowledge and experience. If you have a continental rift growing amongst your team members, this is well worth perusing over a cup of tea.
6. How can I motivate employees?
The age old question gets fresh answers. In addition to advice from a former Steve Jobs subordinate, this thread includes theories, matrices, psychological influences and even funny cartoons. This is a perfect read for the new year and a boon if your team is struggling to find their fire.
7. What are the best practices for employee performance reviews?
The end of the first quarter will be here faster than we know it, but many of the advisers in this post will tell you not to wait until then. A Wharton Professor and New York Times writer weighs in on this question, and other business owners, managers and consultants add what they have found in years of experience. Read this if you are preparing for impending reviews or are not sure how to coach your team through daily goals.
8. What are good questions to ask employees in 1:1 meetings?
Doing anything one on one in the office can feel a bit awkward and sometimes confrontational. Knowing what questions to ask, knowing how to ease tension and getting real answers that will help guide you and your employee is an art as well as a science. From goal setting to actionable ideas, this post reminds us that we shouldn’t wait for a one on one to figure out what is going on with team members. Being a good manager means being involved. If you need some ideas for questions to asks or what answers you should be looking for in a one and one and beyond, read this thread of gems.
9. What are some creative ways to recognize employee performance?
Sometimes a certificate feels like third grade and other attempts, however well-intentioned, can feel a bit cheesy. Making employees feel valued in a way that is sincere, memorable and light can go a long way in motivating teams to go above and beyond. This string of advice includes tips from top Human Resources execs with dozens of years of experience in employee motivation and retention, and offer fun ways to make outstanding performers feel special. Read this if your employee recognition tactics could use a refresher.
10. What things can one do to make ones office more fun?
Last but certainly not least, we all ultimately just want to enjoy work because well, we spend quite a few hours together there! This brief thread provides some ideas to get the brainstorming flowing like potluck lunches, decorated desks and even remote controlled car races. If you are all work and no play, check out this Quora query to get the fun juices flowing.
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About the author
Jessica Zartler is a Multimedia Marketing Consultant & Content Strategist for Taskworld. Before working in Public Relations and Marketing, she was an award-winning television reporter and multimedia journalist for eight years. When she is not hunting for the best content on the web to share with TW users, blogging or producing videos, she is teaching yoga, cooking, playing drums and traveling.