Management Assignment: Manager

There are three aspects to technology management at Lessonly. The core philosophy that all Lessonly managers adhere to. Systematizing clarity with appreciative inquiry and feedback loops. Mission control, meaning a focus on outcomes in nearly all we do.

We will end this description with some examples of measures that technology managers will be held accountable for.

The core philosophy

The Lessonly Management philosophy is the underlying engine behind everything else within this role. This lesson is the source of truth for this philosophy.

Positions that require this role will be required to have achieved an early milestone of the required abilities for the craft of your domain, to help us make good decisions for our teams.

Positions that require this role will be required to have achieved a milestone 3+ for business knowledge to help ensure we can give good context to our team goals.

Positions that require this role will be required to be milestone 3+ for {mentorship} and {community}, given how vital it is for us to care for the person more than the employee.

These are the most important aspects of management at Lessonly, however, there are three other keys to success for management on the technology team.

Systematize Clarity

Another critical aspect of Lessonly management is seeking clarity (finding out what is working) and giving clarity (ensuring folks know what matters most and why it matters).

Within the tech team, we do that in various ways. One of those ways is seen by the fact that positions which require this role will also be required to be an enablement lead for the appropriate domain, to ensure we are continuously working through this clarity feedback loop.

Systems with feedback loops are a great way to ensure accountability. Accountability to those we serve… being able to hold those we serve accountable, as well as accountability to our teammates. Knowing we can rely on each other.

Balancing autonomy and alignment to make room for innovation...

Building systems with feedback loops so that it is clear what winning is…

Leading with the principles of appreciative inquiry…

These are all vital for the thought work which we are responsible for. Our work product isn’t physical, and can’t be measured purely quantitatively. This means it is on us to foster an environment that embraces uncertainty… encourage a team that embraces constantly changing definitions of clarity… a culture that embraces continuous improvement.

Mission-Control… means focus on Outcomes

We are laser-focused on iteratively, continuously, relentlessly adding value to the vision of making continuous training possible for all customer-facing teams.

The best way to do that is to be continuously learning and improving.

Outcomes, as opposed to outputs or activities, ensure we are all aiming at the same target/rowing in the same direction.

It also gives freedom to have trial and error, which is one of the most tried and true ways to have lasting growth.

Types of managers

The Lessonly technology team greatly values flexibility and adjusting strategy (how we organize to solve problems) based on the strengths of the individuals on the team(s) in question. Therefore, the positions which require “people management” (or the term I prefer, accountable servant leadership), will also not all look the same. Here is a non-exhaustive list of some potential types. \

Key Result(s) / Outcomes

• Onboarding effectiveness
  • Time from hire date to a non-apprentice (achieved all of the appropriate milestones) on all of the required roles for the position. Ideally, 3 months from hire.
• Career journey guidance effectiveness
  • When those you serve are asked the following question, 80%+ of them (strongly) agree: “When I look back from a year ago to where I am now... what I have achieved… how I’ve grown, I am excited about the progress I’ve made”.
• OfficeVibe 10 key drivers
  • We do not hold anyone accountable for these measures directly, because it incentivizes behaviors we don’t want to incentivize… however, managers will have access to and should be aware of the opportunities of things we could do as well as the impacts of the things we have done on these measures. So the measure here is awareness of and a plan of action around this employee engagement data.