Manager Tools

There are rules for how to conduct oneself professionally. It's part of a manager's job to teach them to our employees.

Transcribed - Published: Invalid Date

It takes hard work to get ahead in your professional life. As you progress into more demanding roles, more is expected of you. To climb to the top, if that is what you aspire to do, takes an incredible amount of work. But it is a MYTH that “working hard” simply means working more hours. In fact, working more hours, in the long run, is NOT the way to think about “working hard.” In this series of guidance, we will lay out how to get the most out of yourself without constantly sacrificing your personal and family life.

Transcribed - Published: 21 April 2025

It takes hard work to get ahead in your professional life. As you progress into more demanding roles, more is expected of you. To climb to the top, if that is what you aspire to do, takes an incredible amount of work. But it is a MYTH that “working hard” simply means working more hours. In fact, working more hours, in the long run, is NOT the way to think about “working hard.” In this series of guidance, we will lay out how to get the most out of yourself without constantly sacrificing your personal and family life.

Transcribed - Published: 14 April 2025

Learn about our Effective Senior Manager Conference: its purpose, its agenda, its topics. If you’re a manager and are thinking about your career as a Senior Manager and even Executive, you need to learn why the job is different, and how to succeed.

Transcribed - Published: 7 April 2025

Interviewing internal candidates is different than interviewing external candidates. Internal interviews are not just efforts to fill positions, but also part of professional development for your organization.

Transcribed - Published: 31 March 2025

Part 2 of our guidance on Swimming Upstream introduces executive-level insights into our Manager Tools content to help managers become more effective by understanding organizational dynamics beyond their role, ultimately preparing them for greater leadership opportunities.

Transcribed - Published: 24 March 2025

Our guidance on Swimming Upstream introduces executive-level insights into our Manager Tools content to help managers become more effective by understanding organizational dynamics beyond their role, ultimately preparing them for greater leadership opportunities.

Transcribed - Published: 17 March 2025

Scheduling your One On Ones is surprisingly the most important component of One On Ones. Too many managers mistakenly believe that they are “too busy” to do One On Ones becuase of their full calendars. But scheduling them is actually more important than having weekly One On Ones. Why is that? Our data show why. And directs tell us why when we ask them. And for those who are just getting started, what rules should I use in scheduling my One On Ones.

Transcribed - Published: 10 March 2025

Scheduling your One On Ones is surprisingly the most important component of One On Ones. Too many managers mistakenly believe that they are “too busy” to do One On Ones becuase of their full calendars. But scheduling them is actually more important than having weekly One On Ones. Why is that? Our data show why. And directs tell us why when we ask them. And for those who are just getting started, what rules should I use in scheduling my One On Ones.

Transcribed - Published: 3 March 2025

Lots of managers - hundreds of thousand, and perhaps millions by now - start doing Manager Tools One On Ones, and they love them. They love them because they work, and they’re not as hard as the manager thought they would be. And very few managers who do Manager Tools One On Ones never stop.

Transcribed - Published: 24 February 2025

Lots of managers - hundreds of thousand, and perhaps millions by now - start doing Manager Tools One On Ones, and they love them. They love them because they work, and they’re not as hard as the manager thought they would be. And very few managers who do Manager Tools One On Ones never stop. But feedback is a different story. We would guess that around half of Manager Tools managers don’t ever fully implement feedback so that it’s second nature in a way that their directs know this is how their boss will talk to them about their performance. Why is it so hard?

Transcribed - Published: 17 February 2025

Most managers think that performance reviews are their most significant contribution to performance management and improvement. But that’s wrong. Frequent feedback is the greatest tool we managers have to improve performance. In fact, performance reviews aren’t even really part of the performance improvement efforts managers engage in. Performance reviews are an organizational system that is primarily designed to help the organization manage succession planning.

Transcribed - Published: 10 February 2025

Almost every Non-Manager Tools manager thinks feedback is hard. And yet every year thousands of managers start giving feedback successfully. These managers have discovered that not only is it NOT that hard, but it’s well received, it works, and frankly, it’s easy to get addicted to giving it.

Transcribed - Published: 3 February 2025

Almost every Non-Manager Tools manager thinks feedback is hard. And yet every year thousands of managers start giving feedback successfully. These managers have discovered that not only is it NOT that hard, but it’s well received, it works, and frankly, it’s easy to get addicted to giving it.

Transcribed - Published: 27 January 2025

Almost every Non-Manager Tools manager thinks feedback is hard. And yet every year thousands of managers start giving feedback successfully. These managers have discovered that not only is it NOT that hard, but it's well received, it works, and frankly, it's easy to get addicted to giving it.

Transcribed - Published: 20 January 2025

In this guidance, we share what we think the base culture ought to be for all managers. You may wish to add more - that can be fine. Just be careful you don't have too many culture touch points - at some point they'll start conflicting with each other.

Transcribed - Published: 13 January 2025

In this guidance, we share what we think the base culture ought to be for all managers. You may wish to add more - that can be fine. Just be careful you don't have too many culture touch points - at some point they'll start conflicting with each other.

Transcribed - Published: 6 January 2025

Our Hall Of Fame guidance on how to start setting annual goals, and why we do not like "SMART" goals.

Transcribed - Published: 23 December 2024

The Tetris Workload Battle - Part 2

Transcribed - Published: 16 December 2024

The Tetris Workload Battle - Part 1

Transcribed - Published: 9 December 2024

How To Get Subordinate Managers To Do One On Ones

Transcribed - Published: 2 December 2024

Our Hall of Fame guidance on delivering a performance review.

Transcribed - Published: 25 November 2024

This week, we're re-releasing one of our Hall of Fame casts on how to prepare performance reviews.

Transcribed - Published: 18 November 2024

This week, we're re-releasing one of our Hall of Fame casts on how to prepare performance reviews.

Transcribed - Published: 18 November 2024

How To Get Subordinate Managers To Do One On Ones

Transcribed - Published: 11 November 2024

How To Get Subordinate Managers To Do One On Ones

Transcribed - Published: 11 November 2024

Our guidance on the reason for interviewing

Transcribed - Published: 4 November 2024

Our guidance on the Feedback Sandwich.

Transcribed - Published: 28 October 2024

Our guidance on using "Is that what you want?" in the Manager Tools Feedback Model.

Transcribed - Published: 21 October 2024

Part 2 of our guidance on how to change the ways you interact with your team when it comes to keeping work on time.

Transcribed - Published: 14 October 2024

Part 1 of our guidance on how to change the ways you interact with your team when it comes to keeping work on time.

Transcribed - Published: 7 October 2024

What happens when you ask a direct to change for the better and they say no? Are they resisting all changes now? Is there something going on you don’t know about? Are they going to be a problem going forward? Are they developing an attitude? Uh-oh.

Transcribed - Published: 30 September 2024

What happens when one of your directs, or even not a direct, files a grievance against you? How should you respond? What are the rules? What can you do, and what should you do, and how should you do it? It's a rare event for a Manager Tools manager, so the Christmas Rule applies. But we'll tell you here exactly what to do and how to respond.

Transcribed - Published: 23 September 2024

What happens when one of your directs, or even not a direct, files a grievance against you? How should you respond? What are the rules? What can you do, and what should you do, and how should you do it? It's a rare event for a Manager Tools manager, so the Christmas Rule applies. But we'll tell you here exactly what to do and how to respond.

Transcribed - Published: 16 September 2024

What happens when one of your directs, or even not a direct, files a grievance against you? How should you respond? What are the rules? What can you do, and what should you do, and how should you do it? It's a rare event for a Manager Tools manager, so the Christmas Rule applies. But we'll tell you here exactly what to do and how to respond.

Transcribed - Published: 9 September 2024

What happens when one of your directs, or even not a direct, files a grievance against you? How should you respond? What are the rules? What can you do, and what should you do, and how should you do it? It's a rare event for a Manager Tools manager, so the Christmas Rule applies. But we'll tell you here exactly what to do and how to respond.

Transcribed - Published: 2 September 2024

To find the time to get your own work done, you've got to name a successor: a Number Two. You can be forgiven for thinking that Number Two's aren't really a thing, because so few managers use them. But the best do. And here's how they delegate to them, for both the Number Two's benefit, and for YOU.

Transcribed - Published: 26 August 2024

To find the time to get your own work done, you've got to name a successor: a Number Two. You can be forgiven for thinking that Number Two's aren't really a thing, because so few managers use them. But the best do. And here's how they delegate to them, for both the Number Two's benefit, and for YOU.

Transcribed - Published: 19 August 2024

Hiring is a critical skill for managers, and especially so for executives. And managers and executives have been making the same hiring mistakes for the past 30 years. Here's your rogue's gallery of hiring (which is separate from interviewing.)

Transcribed - Published: 12 August 2024

It's actually usually a good thing when directs ask for a promotion. Yes, some folks aren't ready, and some folks just want more money, or to make their resume look better for their career planning. But for the most part, people asking for promotions is good. Most managers don't think that, because when a direct asks for a promotion and isn't ready - and most are not - that means we managers have to have a "difficult conversation." We have to, "tell them they're not ready." But that's seeing the glass as half empty. The half full way to think of the conversation is simple: no direct who wants a promotion is assuming they won't get more responsibilities.. The right way to handle this conversation is to tell them that they're asking for the wrong thing - the promotion - rather than the right thing - more responsibilities.

Transcribed - Published: 5 August 2024

The common wisdom these days says that "interviewing is a two-way street." In other words, the candidate is evaluating you and your company and your opportunity at the same time. Unfortunately, like most common wisdom - wisdom not being common - this is very bad advice! Candidates should not be trying to interview you while you are interviewing them. Here's what to do when they start asking questions. They'll get their chance to ask questions, but not just yet.

Transcribed - Published: 29 July 2024

Our updated guidance on the Manager Tools Delegation Model.

Transcribed - Published: 22 July 2024

Part 3 of our updated guidance on the Manager Tools Coaching Model.

Transcribed - Published: 15 July 2024

Part 2 of our updated guidance on the Manager Tools Coaching Model.

Transcribed - Published: 8 July 2024

Part 1 of our updated guidance on the Manager Tools Coaching Model.

Transcribed - Published: 1 July 2024

Our founders, Mark Horstman and Michael Auzenne, introduce the Manager Tools chatbot and share features, development details, and benefits for professional individual contributors, managers, and executives.

Transcribed - Published: 24 June 2024

Part 3 of our updated guidance on how to gradually implement The Manager Tools Management Trinity (One on Ones, Feedback, Coaching, and Delegation). When managers try to implement all the tools all at once it can end in disaster. Most of us can only learn one new significant skill at a time. And that goes for our directs, too: they're learning along with us. This process for implementation will ensure success in your roll out.

Transcribed - Published: 17 June 2024

Part 2 of our updated guidance on how to gradually implement The Manager Tools Management Trinity (One on Ones, Feedback, Coaching, and Delegation). When managers try to implement all the tools all at once it can end in disaster. Most of us can only learn one new significant skill at a time. And that goes for our directs, too: they're learning along with us. This process for implementation will ensure success in your roll out.

Transcribed - Published: 10 June 2024

Part 1 of our updated guidance on how to gradually implement The Manager Tools Management Trinity (One on Ones, Feedback, Coaching, and Delegation). When managers try to implement all the tools all at once it can end in disaster. Most of us can only learn one new significant skill at a time. And that goes for our directs, too: they're learning along with us. This process for implementation will ensure success in your roll out.

Transcribed - Published: 3 June 2024

Part 3 of our guidance describing the most effective method of letting your directs know how they are performing: Feedback. Feedback shows someone the impact of their behavior, allowing them to change ineffective actions or continue doing things that help the team achieve its goals.

Transcribed - Published: 27 May 2024