Management Archives

The Advice Trap by Michael Stanier: Book Overview

What is The Advice Trap about? Why does Michael Bungay Stanier say giving advice isn’t the best form of leadership? In The Advice Trap, coaching expert Michael Bungay Stanier explains that advice-giving can lead to more problems than solutions. He encourages you, instead, to adopt a coaching style of leadership and learn to approach difficult conversations with questions instead of suggestions. Read on for a brief overview of The Advice Trap by Michael Bungay Stanier.

Team Topologies: Book Overview & Key Takeaways

What are team topologies? How do you know how much work to assign to a team? How can you set teams up for success? Team Topologies, by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais, is a manual for restructuring your organization’s approach to software design. The authors recommend four types of teams and discuss various modes of interaction among teams that help them function effectively. Keep reading for our Team Topologies book overview, including an exercise to help you put the principles into action.

Inverse Conway Maneuver: A Focus on Tech Team Design

What’s Conway’s Law? What’s an inverse Conway maneuver, and how can it help your teams succeed? Conway’s Law states that a piece of software’s architecture mimics the structure of the team that produced it. Based on this, software engineers Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais advocate an approach to software development that they call an inverse Conway maneuver. Continue reading to learn about designing tech teams according to Conway’s Law.

Team Workload Management: 2 Strategies for Tech Teams

How can you keep teams from getting overwhelmed? What’s the “right” amount of work? In Team Topologies, Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais show you how to set up software development teams to work as efficiently as possible. Basing their approach on Conway’s Law, they recommend that you assign teams the right amount of work. Continue reading to learn two strategies for team workload management.

Leadership in the Workplace: The 3 Soft Skills You Need

What makes a good leader? What kind of leaders do modern organizations need? A good leader isn’t defined by the title. Ultimately, leadership in the workplace is all about dealing with people. And dealing with people, first and foremost, requires soft skills—attributes like empathy, compassion, and emotional intelligence. With this in mind, here are three leadership qualities modern workplaces need.

Why Asking Questions Is Important (+Useful Techniques)

Why is asking questions important in communication? How can you ask better questions? According to leadership expert Michael Bungay Stanier, asking questions is important in all forms of communication because it helps you to avoid the advice-giving trap. In his book The Advice Trap, he explains the benefits of asking questions versus the drawbacks of offering suggestions. Read on to learn why asking questions is important, including Stanier’s tips for asking better questions.

Stream-Aligned Teams: The Primary Team Topology

How much authority should a stream-aligned team have? What makes these teams so efficient? When you think of “stream,” think of “flow.” That’s a key aspect of stream-aligned teams. It’s the primary of four team topologies discussed by software engineers and authors Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais. Continue reading for an overview of what stream-aligned teams are designed to do.

Team Topologies: Enabling Teams Are Here to Help

Does your organization have enabling teams? What difference do they—or could they—make? In Team Topologies, enabling teams function as helpers that come alongside other teams to keep them running with efficiency and relevance. They stay up to date on the latest technologies and skills, and then they share this knowledge with the teams that need it. Read on to understand the purpose and function of enabling teams.

Team Topologies: Platform Teams Support the Organization

Does your organization have a team that’s dedicated to infrastructure services? Could your organizational resources be handled more efficiently? In Team Topologies, platform teams are one of the four team types recommended by software engineers Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais. These teams handle underlying organizational functions such as cloud storage and internal security. Keep reading to learn about the purpose and design of platform teams and how they intersect with all aspects of the organization.