Management 101

Startups naturally hire more people as they grow because there's more work to do. But as they hire more people, they become less efficient. When leaders see less output, they try to hire even more people to solve the problem. But what if the problem isn't with the number of people? What if it's actually with how they work? In today's episode I talk about why companies get less efficient over time, and what you as a leader can do to stop that (without hiring more people).

Managing remote employees is a different breed of management than in-person. But doing so effectively can yield tremendous benefits to a company, including access to a much larger talent pool. In today's episode, I talk about the pros and cons of having remote employees, and how to manage them to maximize their impact.

When you’re a company of 6 people, it is really easy to make sure everyone knows what’s going on. I work with a client that’s about this size, and they’re able to have a daily standup to discuss what everyone is doing. It just takes 15 minutes for everyone to get caught up. But as your team or company grows, that detail is lost. When a company is 60 people instead of 6, now everyone has a little bit less context of what is going on around them. People will start bumping into each other in their work. Not everyone will be rowing in exactly the same direction anymore. All of these problems are solved by good communication, particularly from you as a leader.

Hiring is a crucial part of every leader's job. What makes it go so poorly sometimes? How can you make it go well? In this episode we answer those questions and provide some basic guidance on how to be a good hiring manager if you've never done it before

Low performers sap energy from you, your team, and oftentimes your entire company. Managing them towards improvement or out of the organization is really hard and can be time-consuming. In today's episode, I talk through some best practices and some mistakes to avoid when it comes to dealing with low performers as a leader.

Spencer Fertig is the CEO and co-founder of Bar None Games (https://barnonegames.com). He is also a former manager of mine, and one of the best I've ever reported to. Today on Management 101, Spencer and I discuss his approach to delivering honest while empathetic feedback, and building an amazing team culture.

Mateo Jaramillo is the CEO and co-founder of Heru, and one of the best managers I've ever worked with. In this episode Mateo and I discuss our approaches to people development, build trust, and team culture.

Managing imposter syndrome and managing people older than you are two fraught tasks for managers and leaders. In today's podcast, we talk about what problems these two situations can cause, and how to handle them most effectively.

Delivering feedback is one of the hardest things to do as a manager, and doing it wrong can have disastrous consequences for your team's productivity and cohesiveness. In this episode we talk through the basics of delivering feedback effectively and some pitfalls it's important to avoid in doing so.

Some leaders are great managers and executors but struggle to run meetings effectively. In today's episode I talk through some best practices for making your team meetings more impactful and enjoyable.