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Tag Archives: Feedback
Framing Your Thoughts for Management
©2009 Steven M. Smith, www.stevenMsmith.com You have what you believe is an important thought to share with management. You’re concerned though that management may dislike what they hear. How do you assess how safe it is to share your thought … Continue reading
Temperature Reading
©2009 Steven M. Smith, www.stevenMsmith.com Virginia Satir developed this method for discovering a group’s temperature — what we in technology often call the system’s state. A facilitator leads the discovery. He or she keeps the group focused on each agenda … Continue reading
Drawing Out the Facts: The Art of the Discovery Interview
(c)2007 Steven M. Smith “What?” raced through Janet’s head as she read the email. “Now that’s a surprise.” The message was from Jack Johnson, vice president of development. It said she would receive a meeting request from Rajan Alak, an … Continue reading
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Tagged Communication, Feedback, management, Organization, Problem Solving, team
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Catch Them Doing It Right
(c)2008 Steven M. Smith A smile formed on Eleanor’s face as she saw me approach her doorway. She and I were meeting to discuss her views on recognizing and rewarding employees. She had been my manager for three years when … Continue reading
Beyond Blaming
© 1996 Jean McLendon and Gerald M. Weinberg, www.satir.org and www.geraldmweinberg.com “England, though at present enjoying a very high state of prosperity, still shows some symptoms of a decaying nation. Propose to an Englishman any principle, or any instrument, however … Continue reading
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Tagged Communication, Dealing effectively with conflict, Feedback, Organization
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Lullaby Language
©2004, Gerald M. Weinberg, www.geraldmweinberg.com Late one summer, I was called in to help an IT client learn to work better with their customers. I don’t ordinarily travel in the summer, but this sounded like a real emergency, one where … Continue reading
Reasons
©2001 Gerald M. Weinberg, www.geraldmweinberg.com [Note: In September, 2000, at the SEI’s Software Engineering Symposium in Washington D. C., Jerry was the recipient of the 2000 Stevens Award. The award recipient is recognized for outstanding contributions to the literature or … Continue reading
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Tagged Communication, Dealing effectively with conflict, Feedback
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Seeing the Other Person’s Big Picture
©2000 Gerald M. Weinberg, www.geraldmweinberg.com You’re entering a new situation, and you’re ready to gather the Big Picture of the other people involved. Whatever you do, don’t try the following process without first getting a Big Picture of yourself, as … Continue reading
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Tagged Communication, consulting, Dealing effectively with conflict, Feedback, Systems Thinking
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Delivering Effective Feedback
©2003, Esther Derby, www.estherderby.com Josh was dumbfounded when his boss, Brad, fired him. As far as he knew, his work was just fine. But Brad believed he’d given Josh ample warning that his work and work habits weren’t up to … Continue reading
Seeing Your Own Big Picture
©2000 Gerald M. Weinberg, www.geraldmweinberg.com The editor of Contract Professional chose the name for my column there, “The Big Picture.” He told me he chose the name “because you (Jerry) look at the business of contracting and consulting and the … Continue reading
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Tagged Communication, consulting, Feedback, Individual, Systems Thinking
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The Big Picture: Four Different Ways of Participating
©1999 Gerald M. Weinberg External consultants are seldom sent to classes by their customers, but often pay for their ownprofessional development. As such,they’re eager to get full value for their time and tuition. Moreover, external consultants often find themselves as … Continue reading
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Tagged Communication, consulting, Feedback, Individual, participation, training
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Real-Time Feedback
©2003 Esther Derby, www.estherderby.com Twice a week, I go to the gym and weight train with Brooke Darst, a Certified Personal Trainer. As I perform my exercises, Brooke provides a constant stream of feedback: Minor corrections, “Chin in! Lower your … Continue reading
Safety Check
©2005 Steven M Smith He is wearing his traditional garb — dark suit, white button down shirt, red tie, and black tasseled shoes. The glare off his wire rimmed glasses makes it difficult to see those steely blue eyes. Harry … Continue reading
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Tagged Communication, Facilitation, Feedback, leadership, Problem Solving
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Should a ScrumMaster Give Performance Appraisals?
©2006 Esther Derby A ScrumMaster recently asked me if he should take over responsibility for year-end performance evaluations since he was closer to the work than the functional manager for the team. It’s not the first time I’ve heard this … Continue reading
Decide As a Team
©2007 Steven M Smith Do some members of your team make agreements during meetings but fail to support them afterwards?If this behavior is happening, I suspect your team is using an obscure process to make decisions. Identifying Obscure Process An … Continue reading
Multiuse Model
©2007 Donald E. Gray Models are like kitchen utensils. You need a variety of them, and you should know when and how to use them. They should be useful for more than a single task. I recently started exploring the … Continue reading
Using Appreciations, Personalized Thank-You’s
©2003 Johanna Rothman, www.jrothman.com The project retrospective was proceeding nicely. We’d had lunch, and we entered the mid-afternoon low-energy lull. I decided it was time to change gears for a few minutes, to move the energy back up a couple … Continue reading
Getting Some Good Out Of Bad Interviewing
©2007 Jerry Weinberg Contract professionals, on the average, change jobs more often than employees, so they are involved in lots of interviews.† One of our SHAPE forum threads was started by Pat Ferdinandi, an independent consultant, who complained: “I am … Continue reading
The Liar’s Contest
In this game, the only way to win is to stop playing. (c)2004, 2005 Don Gray and Gerald M. Weinberg It may look like a crisis, but it’s only the end of an illusion. - Rhonda’s First Revelation The Setup … Continue reading