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5 Skills That Make a Great Manager When it comes to being a great people manager, the tried-and-true methods continue to be the most effective. Listening to employees, leading by example, and focusing on results will set you apart. Read on to learn why these skills—and a couple more—can make all the difference between a good manager and a great manager. |
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How to Give Tough Feedback It's not easy to give tough feedback. But delaying, withholding, or sugarcoating critical feedback is ultimately a disservice—to the individual, the team, and the work involved. Giving timely, constructive feedback is one of the most important roles of any manager. Here’s how to handle these delicate situations. |
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Why We Need to Stop Calling Them Soft Skills People often focus on hard skills for career development, but soft skills are just as important—if not more. Soft skills require practice and they are crucial for professional success, so we should stop referring to interpersonal skills as soft. They’re hard, human skills, and they can set you apart in your job. |
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The Black Swan Myth Actually Devalues Expertise People love to hear how someone with no formal training solved a problem that stumped experts because they weren't tainted by years of experience. These "black swan" stories are the exception, though, not the rule, and they can be dangerous because they trivialize hard work and study. Most times, you want an expert. |
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6 Ways to Build Strong Relationships on Your Project Team When you form a new team to tackle a major project, the project's success hinges not just on the technical savvy of the team members, but also—and especially—on how well the team members get along. How everyone communicates and collaborates can make or break your project. Here's how to build strong team relationships. |
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To Be a Good Leader, Become a Better Servant Wanting to serve others—not wanting them to serve you—is one of the best signs of an effective leader. Being a leader is also not about doing more of the work or being the most technical person on your team. Rather, it's actually about giving up some of your work to help others grow. Here's what else good leaders do. |
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Testers as Disciplinarians As testers, are we disciplinarians? We shouldn't fall into the trap of controlling quality or becoming quality police. Instead, we should be true facilitators of quality, enabling the product team to own it in their own right at every stage. Isn’t this what teachers do, too, in the learning process? What is our role? |
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Beware Confidence Masquerading as Competence Self-confidence is essential to tackling difficult problems. Where we need to be careful is not being falsely overconfident. What’s behind that overconfidence can either help or hinder your solving issues and achieving a good result. Here's how to make sure that confidence is backed up by competence in your team. |