The best way to manage people is to not manage them at all

 “Compassionate people ask for what they need. They say no when they need to, and when they say yes, they mean it. They’re compassionate because their boundaries keep them out of resentment.”
  ~ Brené Brown


By @Sofiaqt in Techstars via Mattermark Daily

One of the wonderful things about building a remote company is that you have to learn to reject the urge to control people. Instead, you have to build real trust — trust that can be tested everyday and not break. 

…a team members called Juan types in your internal chat:
“guys I’m going to take a nap and come back later, I didn’t sleep well and have a headache.”
In a typical business setting there would be some sort of freak out, some peers would get offended by Juan somehow being lazy and not pushing through the day, others will keep tabs for the next 1:1 session with Juan, and in other companies Juan would get fired immediately.
Why do we want Juan to be tired at work? Make a bunch of mistakes and have a bad day? Wouldn’t it be easier for Juan to go, take that nap and come back when he is ready?
Most importantly, the team needs to feel confident that Juan will come back at some point, do a superb job and continue doing his thing. 

Productivity for me is to be part of a team I don’t have to control, a team that does more in less time because they are not exhausted, a team that gets involved beyond their job description because they feel good about helping others. 

If your team is driven by learning, by freedom and by achieving a common goal, all you need to do is to provide the best environment for those things to happen. The rest is noise. 

If trust didn’t scale, we all would be dead by now. We need to trust each other to function as a society. In business, you build trust by doing small things well… 

Accountability is an agreement not an imposition. 

Good organizations know how to set boundaries without making people feel caged. Trust is built everyday, with small but frequent reactions and interaction.
It took me many burnouts and failures as a leader to finally understand that the best way to manage people is to not manage them at all.

9 Employee Engagement Ideas Your Team Will Love

 by @officevibe

1. Help With Personal Growth
Offer coaching
Offer courses
Encourage development

2. Implement Continuous Feedback
Give feedback
Collect feedback
Act on feedback

3. Make Work Fun
Have fun
Organize team building activities
Plan an event

4. Give Employees A Voice
Have monthly one-on-ones
Give frequent praise
Do frequent surveys

5. Promote Wellness
Give gym passes
Offer healthy food
Encourage mindfulness

6. Live Your Core Values
Hire for culture fit
Preach core values
Optimize onboarding

7. Respect Your Employees
Be flexible
Encourage work-life balance
Give employees autonomy

8. Encourage Experimentation
Set clear goals
Celebrate failure
Practice transparency

9. Build Relationships At Work
Involve everyone
Encourage collaboration
Tell people not to be shy

9 Employee Engagement Ideas Your Team Will Love

Intel Disrupted (by Steve Blank)

Intel Disrupted: Why large companies find it difficult to innovate and what they can do about it

First, companies bought into the false premise that they exist to maximize shareholder value — which said “keep the stock price high.” 

Second, the leaders of these companies tended to be those who excelled at finance, supply chain or production. 

Third, the reason why companies find it hard to innovate is the explosive shifts in technology, platforms and markets that have occurred in the last 15 years–personal computers moving to mobile devices. 

Fourth, it’s harder for large corporations to offer disruptive breakthroughs… 

Startups have realized that large companies are vulnerable because of the very things that have made them large and profitable: by focusing on maximizing shareholder return, they’ve jettisoned their ability to do disruptive innovation at speed and scale. 

In contrast, startups operate with speed and urgency, making decisions with incomplete information. They’re better than large companies at identifying customer needs/problems and finding product/market fit by pivoting rapidly. 

Their size lets them adopt flatter and more agile organizational structures while providing incentives that reward risk-taking and collaboration.

Innovation can come from inside the corporation, by adopting Lean Startup language and methods, developing intrapreneurship, and fostering innovation-driving behaviors… 

So to succeed, corporations must re-think and then re-invent their corporate innovation model, replacing a static execution model with three horizons of continuous innovation: This requires a corporate culture, organizational structure, and employee incentives that reward innovation. 

It requires establishing acceptable risk level and innovation KPIs for each horizon.
And it also requires understanding the differences between executing the existing business model, extending the business model and searching for and disrupting the business model. 

Lessons Learned
• Even the most innovative companies eventually become yesterdays news
• To survive companies need to run three-horizons of innovation
— Horizon 1 — execute their existing business model(s)
— Horizon 2 — extend their existing business model(s)
— And for long-term survival — Horizon 3 — search for and create new/disruptive business model(s)

Necesitamos alternativas a Facebook, la gran 'caja tonta' de internet

Sí, se impone volver a los blogs (y a los sistemas independientes de valoración de contenidos).

Lo ideal sería que las personas construyeran grandes comunidades en línea y participaran en la esfera pública sin permitir que ninguna empresa construya un detallado informe sobre ellas.

¿Por qué hemos conseguido alcanzar lo que a menudo se denomina como la época dorada de la televisión, con sofisticados programas culturalmente influyentes que no suponen un insulto para nuestra inteligencia? No se debe a que las cadenas hayan dejado de emitir porquería. Se debe a que la audiencia está más fragmentada que antes, gracias al auge de la transmisión pública y de la televisión por subscripción y de los servicios de streaming y muchos otros desafíos a las grandes cadenas televisivas.  

MIT Technology Review | Necesitamos alternativas a Facebook, la gran 'caja tonta' de internet

La red social está tan presente en los hogares como antaño lo estuvo la televisión, es un increíble éxito financiero y transmite un montón de porquería. Lo importante ahora es analizar los motivos por los que Minow consideraba que el enorme erial de la televisión suponía un problema. 

Minow ya lo tenía claro en 1961: "Creo que la mayoría de los problemas de la televisión nacen de la falta de competencia". Afirmó que estaba ansioso por que se produjera un aumento de los canales disponibles mediante nuevas tecnologías, como frecuencias ultra altas (UHF, por sus siglas en inglés), la televisión de pago y las transmisiones internacionales. Y dijo que intentaría reforzar las cadenas locales que mejor sirvieran a sus respectivas comunidades. El responsable sentenció: "Me preocupa mucho que el poder se concentre en manos de las cadenas". 

Facebook no es una red de ideas. Es una red de personas. Y aunque tiene 2.000 millones de usuarios activos cada mes, uno no puede plantearse empezar a intercambiar opiniones con todos ellos. Como aconseja Facebook, los amigos de Facebook generalmente son personas a las que ya conocemos en la vida real. Este efecto aumenta las probabilidades de que la red social estimule el pensamiento único. 

Uno de los aspectos más interesantes del discurso del "enorme erial" de Minow es que su deseo de aumentar la competencia de la televisión ayudó a inspirar la expansión de las transmisiones públicas en Estados Unidos. Y tal vez sea hora de realizar un esfuerzo similar para apoyar una mayor variedad de redes sociales. 

Puesto que las alternativas no comerciales no necesitan captar tantas datos privados, tendrían más probabilidades de probar nuevas estrategias para estimular las interacciones entre la gente. Tal vez desecharían el modelo del muro que premia el carácter viral más que la importancia. Tal vez algunas dependerían más de algoritmos para servir historias e ideas, mientras que otras dependerían de moderadores humanos para elevar el debate y eliminar los abusos al echar a los troles y eliminar las mentiras.

El panorama europeo del Venture Capital

El Fondo Europeo de Inversión (European Investment Fund) parte del EIB Group cuyos accionistas son el Banco Europeo de Inversiones, la Unión Europea a través de la Comisión Europea, y entidades financieras y bancarias públicas y privadas de toda Europa entre las que podemos encontrar por parte de España, al Banco Santander, La Caixa a través de Microbank, el ICO y la Agencia andaluza IDEA, lleva años trabajando el estudio "The European venture capital landscape: an EIF perspective".

Ha editado recientemente el tercer volumen que estoy leyendo todavía, pero antes de que se me anticúe para –en su caso– comentarlo, quería compartirlo. Y de paso centrar todo el estudio en una sola entrada en vez de otros contenidos.

Volumen 3 (2017):
Liquidity events and returns of EIF-backed VC investments

Volumen 2 (2016):
Growth patterns of EIF-backed startups

Volumen 1 (2016):
The impact of EIF on the VC ecosystem

The 6 Different Leadership Styles

Via @offficevibe The 6 Different Leadership Styles You Need To Know About

Vía @Sintetia ¿para el título de emprendedor?

 por @resbla Repartiendo carnets de emprendedores

Llama mucho la atención cómo en cualquier evento de emprendimiento, y de la boca de estos mismos emprendedores que claman ante el intrusismo del sector, son ellos los primeros en utilizar de forma compulsiva las citas de los grandes pensadores del management. Y es curioso, porque muchos de estos pensadores no tendrían uno de esos carnets de emprendedor. Por supuesto, Peter Drucker, uno de los más citados, nunca fue conocido por su faceta emprendedora. Otra figura del pensamiento clásico sobre el emprendimiento, Shumpeter, pasó la mayor parte de su vida en la universidad. …Por un lado nos dicen que los buenos mentores son sólo aquellos que tienen experiencia emprendedora, y por otro, unos que de verdad tienen muy buena experiencia emprendedora, nos dicen que mejor que no.  

Sinceramente creo que a veces lo mejor es no tener mentor a tener uno, o varios, que no te aporten nada, o que incluso peor, te líen más. Pero también creo que si eliges bien, y tienes suerte, un mentor puede ser algo diferencial para tu proyecto empresarial.  

Y lo que muchos emprendedores no se dan cuenta es que igual que hay ruedas que hay que reinventar, que en definitiva es su trabajo, hay algunas que no. Y esas ruedas que no hay que reinventar van a ser siempre en las áreas funcionales de la empresa que no vayan a ser core de la startup.…De hecho, hay en la historia de las grandes empresas de hoy en día, de esas que se ponen siempre de ejemplo como startups que lo consiguieron, muchos momentos en los que los socios fundadores (y jóvenes), se rodearon de ejecutivos (normalmente de banca) con mucha mayor experiencia (y edad). Estos últimos sin duda no tenían carnet de emprendedores, pero fueron fundamentales en el éxito de estas empresas.  

No es mi intención volver a empezar una pelea entre empiristas y racionalistas, pero bien haríamos en darnos cuenta todos los que andamos por este mundillo de que la ortodoxia y los emprendedores no encaja muy bien. Uno que no se atreve a dar muchos consejos, sí que se atreve con uno, mucho mejor el eclecticismo a la hora de buscar inspiración. 

Mira que me gusta sintetia :))

Tips for Personal and Professional Efficiency

6 tips Glassdoor blog - A CEO's 7 Proven Tips for Personal and Professional Efficiency

Here are a few things that have significantly helped me as a person: 

1. I started sleeping at least seven hours every night. By far, one of the most effective things I do for personal efficiency is to sleep well.
2. I started waking up by 4 a.m. Research shows that the morning is the most productive time for most people, especially if they are able to utilize the first two hours of waking up.
3. I began to stay off of social media during work hours. I’ve enjoyed significant boosts in efficiency and productivity whenever I stay away from social media during work hours, to the extent that I installed an app (StayFocusd) on my computer to block social media sites during work hours.

Here are some of the things I’ve found to be particularly helpful for me as a CEO:

1. I started working on my delegation skills. As soon as I realized that my task wasn’t to do things, but simply to make sure things were done, everything changed; I simply started focusing more on connecting with my team, knowing the true state of their welfare and getting them to work. 
2. I started working on my fitness and posture. …our posture and confidence levels influence how we are perceived as a person, but that we can also improve our confidence simply by working on our posture. …because your team’s perception of you can influence their performance. If they see you as a strong, capable and confident leader, they’ll surely perform much better than if they see you as a weak, not-so-confident leader.
3. I began to prepare an “Activity List” in advance. My “activity list” includes three sections for each day:

• goal for a particular day.
• how the team will be broken down to achieve this goal.
• who the supervisor (remember, delegating?) that will work with my team to ensure this goal is achieved will be.

How to motivate the modern tech worker

 compensation packages, flexible work arrangements and perks are great, but it’s having an IT leader and set of colleagues who have your back that really keeps people around. 

How to motivate the modern tech worker | Computerworld

-monetary bonuses are still effective motivation and retention tools
-training and career development benefits, including a mentoring program, opportunities to attend conferences and take part in leadership training programs
- perks like free fitness club memberships, wellness classes, weekly healthy food, flexible scheduling options and commitment to hosting creative social events

8 Questions You Need to Ask in Your Employee Engagement Surveys

8 Questions You Need to Ask in Your Employee Engagement Surveys — Impraise Blog - Employee performance management, reviews and 360 feedback

1.     On a scale of one to ten, how happy are you in your work?
2.     Do you have a good work/life balance?
3.     What three words would you use to describe our company work culture?
4.     Do you think you’ll be able to reach your full potential here? Why?
5.     Does your team support you to work to your full potential?
6.     Do you understand the link between your work and the company’s overall strategy?
7.     How often do you receive recognition for your work from a supervisor?
8.     Do you think we provide a good service to our customers/clients? Why?

Micromanagement: The Employee Engagement Killer — Impraise Blog - Employee performance management, reviews and 360 feedback

So how do you avoid micromanagement?
1. Set clear expectations
2. Clearly communicate what accountability is
3. Clearly define a plan

Coaching Your Team: Tips For Managers — Impraise Blog - Employee performance management, reviews and 360 feedback

Listen: get to know the individual
Ask questions
Focus on people, not tasks
Emotional Intelligence
Feedback is key

Use Your Work and Learning Styles to Work Better on Any Team

 Zapier - Use Your Work and Learning Styles to Work Better on Any Team

 Identify Learning Styles

A quick quiz can help you find your strongest learning style 

If you’re working extremely closely with someone (like a direct team member or manager), consider identifying their learning style as well. The way people absorb information is closely tied to the way they work; plus, you can use this to avoid misinterpretation and miscommunication. 

According to Howard Gardner, a Professor of Education at Harvard University, there are seven (or more) basic types of intelligence. His Multiple Intelligences Theory states, “the mind is better described as consisting of eight or nine relatively separate faculties.”
While every person has every type of intelligence, they’re usually stronger in one or two and weaker in the others. Unsurprisingly, it’s easiest for them to learn in a way that reflects their primary intelligence. 

Here are the seven types of learning styles:

• Visual-spatial: Can understand the relationship between images and meanings and objects and space.

• Interpersonal: Can recognize, understand, and influence other people’s emotions, wants, and desires.

• Linguistic: Can use words (both written and verbal) to express their ideas and learn new concepts.

• Intrapersonal: Can understand one’s own emotions, wants, and desires and control them as needed.

• Kinesthetic: Can use their body to convey information and ideas.

• Logical-mathematical: Can solve abstract problems, analyze complex information, recognize patterns, and develop calculations.

• Musical: Can appreciate, create, and reproduce music.

It’s usually easiest to identify your coworker’s primary intelligence by asking them. Shoot them an email with a link to this test and pay attention to the words he or she uses.
For instance, if you say, “Could I please get your feedback on my lead gen ideas?”:

• a kinesthetic person might say, “Hit me”

• a visual person might say, “Let’s see what you’ve got”

• a logical-mathematical person might say, “I’d be happy to review them”

Of course, a single answer can’t tell you what their primary intelligence is—but if you keep track over time, you should notice a trend. 

It’s also helpful to observe how they naturally communicate.
•Do they default to drawing on a whiteboard or sending you screenshots and screencasts? They’re probably a visual thinker.
•Do they use their hands and physical objects to explain their ideas? They’re probably a kinesthetic thinker.
•Do they send you detailed emails, write reports, and give presentations? They’re probably a linguistic thinker.
•Do they spontaneously come up with jingles or raps during conversations? They’re probably a musical thinker.
•Are they reflective, calm, and the go-to person in a crisis? They’re probably an intrapersonal thinker.
•Are they charismatic, universally well-liked, and a natural leader? They’re probably an interpersonal thinker.
•Are they one of the first to spot a pattern or discrepancy in the data? They’re probably a logical-mathematical thinker. 

Once you’ve figured out which category your colleague fits into, tailor your communication method appropriately. Let’s say your boss is a linguistic thinker. Instead of sending her your monthly report in a Powerpoint deck, like you usually do, consider sending a straightforward text document.