Manager Tools

Part 1 of our guidance on how to lead a group from a blank slate to a choice on where to focus on future.

You can and often should deliver a different message verbally than your written comments on a performance review. The key is to moderate your written comments with "Less Absolute Value."

Part 2 of our Hall of Fame guidance on running your staff meeting.

Part 1 of our Hall of Fame guidance on running your staff meeting.

Part 2 of our guidance on what kind of jokes you can and can't tell as a manager and professional. And why.

Part 1 of our guidance on what kind of jokes you can and can't tell as a manager and professional. And why.

Is This Normal? Episode 2

In this bonus podcast, Mark comments on the recent Wall Street Journal article that featured Manager Tools.

How to provide some guidance or corrective input when feedback might be more than enough, or to ease a less experienced direct into a performance culture.

Part 2 of our Hall of Fame guidance on delivering a performance review.

Part 1 of our Hall of Fame guidance on delivering a performance review.

Part 2 of one of our Hall of Fame casts on how to prepare performance reviews.

This week, we're re-releasing one of our Hall of Fame casts on how to prepare performance reviews (part 1).

Part 2 of our guidance on effective ways to get input for decisions in meetings.

Part 1 of our guidance on effective ways to get input for decisions in meetings.

It's unprofessional to deliver new information to a direct in a performance review.

Don't rank candidates as you are interviewing, individually or collectively. It biases the hiring process.

In today's fast and flat world, ideas are becoming critical competitive advantages. Managers - and many others - need to be good at getting the most and best ideas from themselves and their teams. This cast tells you how.

There are two general reasons to consider firing someone. Only one of them is "job performance." The other is tearing down the team.

Perhaps the most frequently asked question at conferences about rolling out the tools in the Management Trinity is why we recommend waiting three weeks. Here's why.