This one is for you HR managers and folks who don’t normally read my Managing Product Development blog.Esther and I are leading our management workshop: Behind Closed Doors: Managing One-on-One, July 10-12, 2006, in Minneapolis. Interested? Here’s the flyer (PDF). I’ll be adding a workshop page to my site later today. I’ll update this post when it’s done.This is a workshop for managers, project managers, and technical leads. Here’s what we’ll be exploring and practicing in the workshop:
How people really take in information and where things can go wrong, how to recognize when an interaction is off track, and what to do about it.
How to actively listen to what someone else is saying.
How to give–and receive–effective feedback.
How and when to coach and mentor.
What issues to address in career development and how to address them.
How to build trust with each person in your group.
How to have effective one-on-one meetings.
If you ever work with people in a managerial capacity (whether you’re called a manager or not :-), this workshop is for you. HR folks: if you’re looking for management workshops that actually teach people how to manage, this is it. Email me if you have questions.
The article, Blogs ‘essential’ to a good career says a well-executed blog can help you find a job by establishing you as an expert. The key here is “well-executed.”Blogging is great fun, and can help potential hiring managers discover another side of you. And, if your blog isn’t well-written, doesn’t link to others, and talks enough about off-topic issues, your blog may not help.But I’m an optimistic person. So if you’re a candidate looking for a job, start blogging!
I was speaking with a project manager the other day, who’s looking for a job but does not have a PMP certification. He was worried, so I asked him how he presented himself to potential hiring managers and HR people. He said, “I don’t have a PMP, but I’ve been really successful managing projects for the last 20 years.”I suggested he turn around the sentence: “I’ve successfully managed projects for 20 years,” and stop right there. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know how I feel about certifications and their relevance to the position. (Too often, certifications are the lazy manager’s way to avoid analyzing the job.)Candidates, when you’re looking for a job, focus on the skills you have. Consider your answer (or multiple answers to) Your Most Significant Accomplishment. Those are your strengths. BTW, I agree with the comment on that post that deciding what that accomplishment is and writing or speaking about it is a difficult thing to do.