Do you have employees, or are you planning to become a (good) manager? Is your company focusing on people more on paper than in reality? Well, there are always solutions to leverage your people processes, and some are great and free of charge.
Around a year ago I discovered that Google gathered some of its corporate people-management learnings on a blog/wiki site. Besides its great blog updates (also available on Linkedin page) there are a lot of tools and processes to check and if not adopt one, at least check them along with your current ones. Also, you will find some very useful Case Studies which I assume you are very interested in.
Here’s the complete list:
1. Hire by committee
Using committees can introduce diverse perspectives, helping you to reach a more objective decision for the long-term (4 STEPS, but no TOOLS).
2. Use structured interviewing
Using consistent questions and grading rubrics can improve the candidate experience and be predictive of future performance (9 STEPS, 1 TOOL).
3. Create a job description
Defining responsibilities and qualifications can help you set organizational and role expectations to attract the right talent (4 STEPS, 1 TOOL).
4. Care professionally and personally for your team
Supporting the careers and well-being of team members requires flexible and empathetic management (5 STEPS 2 TOOLS).
5. Raise awareness about unconscious bias
Learning the science and hosting a workshop can help you understand the impact of unconscious bias and begin unbiasing (7 STEPS, 1 TOOL).
6. Gather data and measure decisions
Measuring programs and decisions can demonstrate impact and reveal where unconscious bias may negatively influence outcomes (5 STEPS, 0 TOOLS).
7. Understand team effectiveness
Fostering psychological safety can help teams perform and innovate, Google found while trying to understand what makes a team great (7 STEPS, 2 TOOLS).
8. Structure and check for pay equity
Designing and auditing fair pay practices are steps organizations everywhere can take to create more equitable workplaces (8 STEPS, 1 TOOL).
9. Set goals with OKRs
Goal setting has been shown to boost performance. Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) are a way to set goals and measure progress (10 STEPS 1 TOOL).
10. Identify what makes a great manager
Knowing what makes a manager great at your organization is key to communicating clear expectations and tailoring development practices (3 STEPS 0 TOOLS).
11. Develop and support managers
Growing and training managers, with the help of Google’s training workshop, can help build a culture of great management (5 STEPS 1 TOOL).
12. Recognize and learn from great managers
Celebrating your great managers publicly can help model good management behavior for the rest of your organization. (3 STEPS, 0 TOOLS).
13. Adopt an analytics mindset
The analytics mindset uses data and science to inform dialogue, asks better questions, and diagnoses causes to find solutions (8 STEPS, 0 TOOLS).
14. Identify and define your metrics
Collecting the right data and defining your metrics is foundational for data-driven decision making (11 STEPS, 0 TOOLS).
15. Review resumes
Screening for qualifications, consistency, and impact can help you match candidates to the right roles and make better decisions (5 STEPS, 0 TOOLS).
16. Train your interviewers
Providing guidance on interviewing and writing feedback can ensure that you have the data to make informed, thorough hiring decisions (7 STEPS, 2 TOOLS).
17. Shape the candidate experience
Creating a positive candidate experience can boost interview satisfaction and influence a candidate’s final decision (7 STEPS 1 TOOL).
18. Give feedback to managers
Setting clear expectations and giving actionable feedback can help managers develop their skills and build trust with their teams (3 STEPS 1 TOOL).
19. Coach managers to coach
Coaching adaptively, by having flexible conversations in one-on-one meetings, can help managers meet the needs of individual employees (3 STEPS 1 TOOL).
20. Empower your team
Knowing how to motivate and delegate can help a manager build trust with their team and improve impact (4 STEPS, 0 TOOLS).
21. Stay technical and results-focused
Having the skills to work alongside the team can help managers build credibility and demonstrates a focus on getting things done (3 STEPS, 0 TOOLS).
22. Use structure and criteria
Using consistent structure and clear criteria can lead to more objective decisions (5 STEPS, 1 TOOL).
23. Set and communicate a team vision
Having a clear vision can make communicating expectations and giving feedback easier and more productive (4 STEPS, 0 TOOLS).
24. Evaluate subtle messages
Giving your first thoughts a second look and recognizing subtleties can help you create a more inclusive environment (4 STEPS, 0 TOOLS).
25. Hold everyone accountable
Training employees to identify unconscious bias and respectfully intervene can help increase accountability and drive action (3 STEPS, 2 TOOLS).
26. Run an employee survey
Running a good employee survey allows you to collect employee feedback to glean insights and gauge effectiveness (10 STEPS, 0 TOOLS).
