Goals
Year-end reviews think back on the year, while this is important it’s also a good opportunity to be forward thinking for next year. Whether it’s for us or others, preparing for next year while reflecting on this one can prove valuable. The goal-setting period usually creeps up on us and, before we know it, we’re throwing in goals without much thought to finally prevent the annoying reminders appearing!
Jotting down a few thoughts now should be a quick exercise. While the year-end discussions are fresh in your mind, note down anything that could help for the future. Ask questions about yourself and your team to help stimulate this time…
- For each person in the team, what’s top of the list for their growth? Is it an improvement or a new skill?
- What will your job look like in 1 year? What do you need to plan for? Same for your… Continue reading
Leading Lean Software Development is a great read and would recommend for any tech leader. There is a lot to draw from and learn but for this blog it was a quote on the last page that caught my attention:
to lead the organization as if I had no power
What an excellent mindset to have! Following the reference to the quote leads to an article Role of Management in a Lean Manufacturing Environment by Gary Convis, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, that includes this paragraph:
We get to the end of the summer and think that went fast, or see a past memory on Facebook and remember it as yesterday although it was many years ago. Life has a habit of doing this! When we take a break and reflect, get the online photo albums out, we escape from the now as the memories come flooding back. Work can be like this…how often do you give yourself time to reflect?
Work life is busy, the frenetic pace rarely gives us time to stop. Different things on the go at once means that habits die hard, in order to get stuff done we do it how we know. And this works! The todo list gets smaller…for a brief time…and everyone is happy – we hope!
Many people like the fast pace, it keeps them engaged, but there needs to be time to look back and see… Continue reading
Settings goals for the year always seems like a painful experience! “How do I know what I’ll be doing in 6 months time!!” “What’s the point…I have work I need to get on with…writing this pointless list is distracting me!” And that’s usually myself! Only kidding…but I did think like that and I know many people still do. It is time consuming and sometimes a painful process, but there is much to be gained from setting goals which make it a rewarding progress. If we are personally trying to better ourselves then evaluating what we want to achieve in a year can help to set the focus.
As a leader, you have to sets goals for yourself while also guiding the team with theirs. It can be daunting…there is no easy road to do this properly, it takes time and thought. Each company has their own performance process, but… Continue reading
