creating space for everyone to be awesome - agile people sweden

Creating Space for EVERYONE to be Awesome

CREATING SPACE TO BE AWESOMEAgile People SwedenOctober 2015

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager

1

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kodomut/3667608102/


2

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerThen I became a people manager and got worried that I would revisit the sins that I had suffered3

WE ALL HATE BAD BOSSES

WE DESCRIBE THEM ASCluelessEmpty suitsPointlessSeagulls


4


https://twitter.com/Caterina/status/6715084157


Traditional management beliefs are a pile of craphttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elephant_Dung.JPG


7

PUT DOWN YOUR SWORD. YOU ARE NOT A ROMAN GENERAL.

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerWhat Does Work?Sooo.


Across industries, across countries, the best performing teams answer certain questions positively

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerPredictors of High PerformanceDo I know what is expected of me at work?Do I have the materials & equipment I need to do my work right?At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?In the last 7 days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?Is there someone at work who cares about my development?At work, do my opinions seem to count?Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important? Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?Do I have a best friend at work?In the last 6 months, have I talked with someone about my development?At work, have I had opportunities to learn and grow?


Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerGreat, now Im drowning in questions to ask myself all the time! Thanks Meri!!12

UNDERSTAND MOTIVATIONPurposeAutonomyMastery

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerMOTIVATION =+ PURPOSE (Do I believe in WHY?) + AUTONOMY (Do I get a say in WHAT?) + MASTERY(Am I proud of HOW?)

- ANY NEGATIVE FACTORS THAT DETRACT

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerPredictors of High Performance (remix)PURPOSEDoes the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important?

AUTONOMYDo I know what is expected of me at work?At work, do my opinions seem to count?

MASTERYDo I have the materials & equipment I need to do my work right?At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?Is there someone at work who cares about my development?Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?In the last 6 months, have I talked with someone about my development?At work, have I had opportunities to learn and grow?

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerAnd What Else?OTHER FACTORS:In the last 7 days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?Do I have a best friend at work?

ESSENTIALLY, AM I RESPECTED & REWARDED HERE? CAN I BE MYSELF AND SUCCEED HERE?

I CALL THIS INCLUSION.

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerSPACE TO BE AWESOME = + PURPOSE (Do I believe in WHY?) + AUTONOMY (Do I get a say in WHAT?) + MASTERY(Am I proud of HOW?)+ INCLUSION(Do I BELONG HERE?)


Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerCREATE SPACE FOR EVERYONE TO BE THE BEST THEY CAN BEOur mission

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerAsk YourselfDo my people know WHY we are doing this? Do my people get a say in the WHAT? In doing the right thing?Do my people get opportunities to do the thing right? And to get better at the HOW?Do we do a good job of making all our different people feel included & like they BELONG HERE?

(PURPOSE)

(AUTONOMY)

(MASTERY)

(INCLUSION)

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerPredictors of High Performance (remix)PURPOSEDoes the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important?

AUTONOMYDo I know what is expected of me at work?At work, do my opinions seem to count?

INCLUSION:In the last 7 days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?Do I have a best friend at work?

MASTERYDo I have the materials & equipment I need to do my work right?At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?Is there someone at work who cares about my development?Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?In the last 6 months, have I talked with someone about my development?At work, have I had opportunities to learn and grow?

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerWhat does this mean day-to-day, week-to-week?


Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerProtect Purpose

Be a translator make purpose, strategy & direction make sense

Connect what people are doing (AND CAN DO!) to overall important purpose

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerAnd connect the desires & skills of your people to the overall purpose of the company

Be a matchmaker between purpose and people

If the strategy & direction dont make sense, or dont map to the purpose push back until they do23

ENABLE AUTONOMY & MASTERY


CLUE / SKILLS MATRIX

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerWhats Needed

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerWere good at what we practice, providing we can learn from it

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerDELIBERATE PRACTICEYou must be motivated to attend to the task and exert effort to improve your performance.

The design of the task should take into account your pre-existing knowledge so that the task can be correctly understood after a brief period of instruction.

You should receive immediate informative feedback and knowledge of results of your performance.

You should repeatedly perform the same or similar tasks.


IS The WORK DESIGNED IN A WAY THAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE DELIBERATE PRACTICE?

Challenging? Feedback? Learning?

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerCULTIVATE INCLUSIONHelp people to succeed as themselves.

Best predictor of recruitment AND retention?

Someones ability to agree with:

Someone like me can be successful here



Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerIm A Bit of a Diversity StatisticWoman (working in tech)GayForeignEmployed (this is a bad thing if youre foreign)DisabledAtheist

BUT grew up hugely aware of (unasked & undeserved) privilege I had growing up white in Apartheid South Africa.


My childhood was FULL of signs like theseHorrible & horrificbut impossibleto escape

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerI cannot deny that PrivilegeIn fact, the most useful thing I can do is assess, understanding & acknowledge that privilege


Check out the original article from Peggy McIntosh: http://www.amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html

In Apartheid South Africa, ALL systems were set up to actively & blatantly give advantage to white folks and disadvantage non-whites.

We are less good at spotting this when it isnt so blatant.

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerWe have to aggressively, and uncompromisingly, attack the pernicious lie that the technology industry is a meritocracy. Perpetuating this myth only serves to bolster the egos of those who have succeeded already, at the expense of saying that people who are underrepresented in tech today arent present because they arent good Anil Dash


Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerNot discriminating is importantLegally, if nothing else

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerBut TOLERANCE is a Terrible WordWould YOU want to be tolerated?

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerWouldnt A Fully Inclusive ENVIRONMENT BE BETTER?PROTIP: Helps Everyone!

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerDiversity is a SpectrumActive hatred & discrimination (*isms)Micro aggressionsIndifferenceActive inclusionTolerance


A micro-aggression is telling young boys that they are very smart, and telling young girls that they are very pretty.

- Faruk Ates @kurafire

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerSo How Do We Move Right Way?STOP allowing underprivileged groups to be pushed away

(actively/deliberately OR passively/unintentionally)

START building actively inclusive environments

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerSome Things That Work(some of these surprised me)

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerReduce FearIncreasing opportunities is worthy & important.

But reducing fear is equally so.

(tips: reduce impact of failure, risk of humiliation, acknowledge risk IS DIFFERENT for those in underprivileged groups)

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerEducate yourself & Others About Privilege & IMPLICIT biasIf you keep doing what you always did, youll keep getting what you always got


Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerPrivilege = Difficulty Setting of Game of Life

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/15/straight-white-male-the-lowest-difficulty-setting-there-is/


Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerImplicit BiasVery interesting Harvard research into implicit bias we dont realise it, are not ACTIVELY but rather PASSIVELY discriminating

There is a site with tests you can do that reveal your bias: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/


http://xkcd.com/385/

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerCheck the Signals You SendLogistics matter do all your events exclude people in particular groups? (e.g. those with caring responsibilities)People cant judge your intent only your actions (you can harm without meaning to)Language matters (what default are you assuming?)

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerRachel in Friends53

Check If Systems are LoadedCompanies that assess effectiveness / performance and then AUTOMATE pay rises based on this tend to reduce the gender pay gap.

One interpretation:Pitching for a pay rise inherently favours men, who tend to be more confident in their abilities and more comfortable talking up their results.

Shy/humble guys suffer too.

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerJohnny CleggThey taught us to forget our pastAnd live the future in their image They said Learn to speak a little bit of English,Dont be scared of a suit and tie.Learn to walk in the dreams of the foreigner. I am a third world child.

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerMost advice reads as Be more like a straight cis AMERICAN white guyFinding a way to be successful and still be yourself is important



Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerFrame Guidance AltruisticallyAdvice which focuses on how to do better for yourself has a very limited appeal. (a la steal more pie)

Altruistic advice (a la bake more pie) appeals to a much broader audience (including non-individualistic cultures)

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerWhen We Reframed Networking


60

The Most Important QuestionBest predictor of recruitment AND retention? Someones ability to agree with:

Someone like me can be successful here

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerVALUE THE WHAT OVER THE HOW

Know when people need telling what to do (Hint: its not often)

Help them get what they need the rest of the time (Hint: not just someone else telling them what to do)

Learn, practise, use coaching skills

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerAs much as 40% better

Much energy is spent if you have to hide your private life, or pretend to be something youre not

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerRole Modeling MattersWhen a woman presents/represents at recruitment events, more women apply

When you present a monoculture, people make assumptions you wont like

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerDid You Always Know You Wanted to Be So Senior?

Men leaders tend to say:Yes, I always knew I could do more.

Women leaders tend to say:No, but my mentors believed in me, and I trusted they were right.

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerPractical DiversityAssume fear. Understand risk. Then focus on reducing. Advise people to bake more pie, not steal more pie.Understand & educate about privilege & implicit bias.Connect people with role models. Grow more role models. Encourage them to be visible.Someone like me can be successful here? Tell people you believe in that they can. Tell people you believe in that they are there because of their skills. (no one likes being a diversity stat)Find ways for ALL to be true to self AND successful. Look at whether your processes/systems discriminate. Fix.


SWEAT THE SMALL STUFFAutonomy, mastery & purpose cant overrule or compensate for poor tools / environment / lack of inclusion / lack of caring forever

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerMake sure the tools, environments etc are thereThere is nothing more important than serving your people67

SPACE TO BE AWESOME = + PURPOSE (Do I believe in WHY?) + AUTONOMY (Do I get a say in WHAT?) + MASTERY(Am I proud of HOW?)+ INCLUSION(Do I BELONG HERE?)



Every role is capable of virtuosity

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_ManagerGO! SHAPE/MAKE SPACE BE AWESOMEBE INCLUSIVE And thank you for participating

Need help? [email protected]



creating space for everyone to be awesome - agile people sweden

Recruiting & HR