Paul Glen: How to deal with a toxic team
Five warning signs can warn you that your project team has turned toxic.
Stories by Paul Glen
Paul Glen: The hazards of literal listening
Geeks are often told that they are annoyingly literal, which they find confusing and unfair. But their colleagues have another way of listening.
Paul Glen: Even if you can't measure it, you still must manage it
There are no metrics for measuring the quality of your relationships. For metrics-loving geeks, that's a problem.
Build relationships, and career opportunities will follow
Your future success in the IT industry depends on embracing one simple, but hard-to-accept idea: There are no more jobs. I don't mean that there's no more work to do. Of course there is. Nor do I mean that you won't get hired to do things. Of course you will.
Paul Glen: Being right vs. not being wrong
To a lot of people, it seems as if we geeks are always battling for supremacy in the Always-Need-to-Be-Right Club.
Paul Glen: Rogue IT, and power as an obstacle to influence
We in IT have a decision to make: Do we want to be powerful, or do we want to be influential?
Paul Glen: How CIOs can become more influential
The first step is to expand what, for those in IT, is a limited understanding of what influence is.
Paul Glen: Check your work, or else
We geeks must transform our eagerness to please users into eagerness to help. There's a big difference.
Paul Glen: Assess your surroundings from 2,000 feet above
You can tell a lot about what matters in a community from the vantage point of a small plane. That's figuratively true of all organizations.
Paul Glen: Truth and project time estimates
Geeks are devoted to Truth, with a capital T. The question 'When will it be done?' feels like a request to lie. Insider; registration required)
Edgy Communication
We techies need to take the edge off once in a while.
Fixing the Technology Isn't Always Enough
Every IT person has had one of these situations. A user comes to you with a problem. You fix it and announce, "Problem solved" or "Case closed." But you're met with a long, uncomfortable silence or a blank stare. It's an awkward moment that you can end only by
Words Are First Hurdle for New Tech Managers
New managers struggle. They also don't get much help -- or sympathy. My last column elicited a lot of heartfelt reader emails about the difficulty of, and lack of support for, the transition from technical work to management. My conversations with those
Paul Glen: In Tech, Management Is Not a Promotion
Whenever I hear a technical person say, "I just got promoted into management," I know he's in for a rough ride. Because chances are he doesn't understand what he's gotten himself into, and whoever gave him the job hasn't prepared him well. Very rarely do they realize that in technical work, this new role isn't a promotion -- it's a career change.
Paul Glen: The 'Low Affect' Effect
In my exploration of the differences between technical and business people, nothing surprised me more than this: Business people tend to think that we don't care about anything. One of their biggest complaints is that we don't share their passion for the business. When-ever I hear this, I have an immediate, visceral reaction of outrage: "How could you possibly think I don't care about anything? I work like a dog to try to turn your visions into reality!"