Gretchen Leslie is the Director of Operations for GrowthLab and I Will Teach You To Be Rich. I recently attended a live event that Gretchen and the GrowthLab team put on in New York, and I wanted to talk with Gretchen about her management philosophy and how she manages an entirely remote team. Gretchen has an extensive background in Six Sigma and large organizations, so - between that and her work with GrowthLab - she has deep insights from a wide variety of organizational scenarios. Anyone who works with people will get some excellent takeaways from this episode, particularly if you have to hold people accountable, coordinate the work of multiple folks into a cohesive vision, and create a culture where employees are bought in and actively trying to make things better.

Check out more from Gretchen, GrowthLab and I Will Teach You To Be Rich:

• Website: GrowthLab | I Will Teach You To Be Rich

If you're enjoying the show, the best way to support it is by sharing with your friends. If you don't have any friends, why not a leave a review? It makes a difference in terms of other people finding the show.

You can also subscribe to receive my e-mail newsletter at www.toddnief.com. Most of my writing never makes it to the blog, so get on that list.

Show Notes:

• [01:07] “The Venice of the South” – where you can take your boat to the casino and pick up a daquiri on the way
• [06:46] Tips and tricks for running operations on a distributed team – and what to look for in order to hire people who are a good fit for remote work
• [14:09] Gretchen’s key management framework: “What does done look like?” And why just having a hyper-detailed spec sheet doesn’t mean that everyone is aligned on a project.
• [21:15] A real life example of successful project management coordination across teams: The “Founding Class” event that GrowthLab recently put on in New York.
• [27:29] How to find the balance between bottoms-up idea generation and top-down decision-making in an organization. And, how to effectively challenge employees so that they are able to vet their own ideas.
• [35:20] The two types of mistakes that organizations make when tracking data. And, how Gretchen uses psychology to create compliance to process.
• [45:50] How to make meetings not suck – and why GrowthLab has a “No Meeting Wednesday” policy.
• [53:45] Music, subcultures, and the trajectory of “excitement” to “jadedness” within a subculture.

Links and Resources Mentioned

• Kanban board
• “The Beginners’ Guide to Agile Project Management Methodology” from Workfront
• PMP Certification
• Six Sigma
• Jira
• Asana
• Jimmy Buffett
• Stephanie Lee
• Coachella
• Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
• Rhythm & Roots Festival
• Old Crow Medicine Show
• Gene Simmons
• Kiss
• Debbie Harry
• “Face It” by Debbie Harry
• New York Dolls
• The Stooges
• Beat Generation
• CrossFit
• Dungeons & Dragons
• Magic: The Gathering
• Stranger Things
• Furby
• “Inside the Bizarre World of ‘Bronies,’ Adult Male Fans of ‘My Little Pony’” from The Daily Beast
• Ramit Sethi
• Straight edge