Just in case you didn’t read the post comments:

We are having our Atlanta Meet Up tonight, January 30th, Tuesday, at Buca Di Beppo, at the intersection of Mansell and North Point Pkwy. We’ll start at 7 pm, and end at 9 pm.

Here’s their site.

Here’s the Google Maps Link

Hope you can join us!

Today, we conclude our conversation on Open Door Polices.

Between this week and last, we cover seven and a half key points:

• Clear definition of Open Door
• My door Is always open to anyone
• Always means always, with 3 caveats and a trump card
• No conversation is off the record. NEVER.
• Your first job is to listen
• Some suggestions on the meeting itself
• Your second job is to engage the chain of command
• Follow up

Warning, folks … this is NOT your typical Manager Tools podcast.

As you know, we announced our April Effective Manager Conference a couple of days ago. In addition to the great feedback on the conference, we’ve received a number of requests for more info, preferably in the podcast itself.

Well … we know people tune-in to Manager Tools to learn how to manage and appreciate when we get right to the heart of the matter, so to be respectful of our listeners time, we didn’t want to load-up our normal podcast with this info.

So, here it is - a special (short) podcast on the conference itself. Although I would love it if you’d listen in and hear about the conference, if you’re NOT interested in hearing about the conference, this is a podcast you can skip. I promise you won’t miss out on any of our normal management advice.

Mike and I are pleased to announce that we are inviting just 100 members to our first ever Effective Manager Conference, April 18 -19, at the Washington Dulles Airport Marriott.

Space is limited to 100, so please sign up quickly. We limited it to 100 attendees to allow us to give each attendee the individual attention that you’ve come to expect from us. No matter what your question or concern, we’ll answer it.

Over 2 JAMMED days, we’ll deliver what you’ve come to expect from us: specific, actionable guidance about how to become more effective as a manager.

If you have questions, please go to the Effective Manager Conference page.

If you’re ready now, go to our conference registration page to register now.

I’ll be blogging about it further in the coming weeks, but here are a couple of points I want to highlight now:

Low Cost: Registration is $1,400 normally, or $1,100 for early registration, ending on February 18th. We’ve priced and attended competitive sessions - we’re not only less expensive than the vast majority, we’re also going to deliver more content. To say nothing of the fact that we include meals in your registration - we don’t think too many others do that. Frankly, we want you to focus on learning, not on eating or filling out expense reports.

New Products: We’ll be launching my new Effective Coaching Model. Only FOUR steps. And we’ll practice it together, and give you feedback. And, we’ll release, for the first time ever, our Performance Management Model, connecting the day to day and week to week to you and your organization’s annual goals.

We’re thrilled to offer this opportunity, and commit to you that it will be all that you expect from us, and more.

See you soon!

I was sent a copy of the International Society for Performance Improvement’s (ISPI) magazine recently - somehow I got a promotional copy, perhaps from a speech I gave, or a website I visited. My first thought was “hey, I’ll give that a look. Performance improvement is a good thing.”

Wow, was I mistaken.

I generally pause at any article I read that has lots of footnotes - it implies an academic bent that usually means, “not actionable”, or more bluntly, “not real world.” The one article that really caught me had 4 footnotes for a one page article.

I tore it out, and I shared it with Mike (since I am in DC with him today). Part of it was that it used an acronym …uhhh… awkwardly.

It suggested an “Unlearn Bucket”. On the bucket, clockwise, were the letters of Unlearn, as in: Upload, Nurture, Launch, Experience, Assess, Release, Neutralize.

Unreal.

Seriously - I just don’t know what else to say.

You’ve probably heard of open door policies. It’s possible your company has one, and you don’t even know it. And even if you do know that it does, do you know what it means? That is to say, do you know what your responsibilities are relative to the policy? Do you know what to do when someone requests an open door meeting?

We often hear from front line managers, “well, I don’t need to worry about that… it only applies to my bosses for when my people go around me to them.” We’re not sure what is more dumb about this point of view: suggesting your employees are “going around” you, or indicating that you’re somehow not involved or don’t have responsibility.

If you don’t have an Open Door Policy, you need one.

If you have one, you need to know how to use it well - and maybe HR is not the place to learn how.

Listen in, and we’ll walk you through it.

Mike and I will be in Atlanta on the evening of January 30th, and would like to host the first ever Atlanta Area Manager Tools Meet Up. Our third ever, and second of the month!

We’re planning again to host everyone for pizza (or something) and sodas, and are working on location details. [Josh Gunkel has already graciously agreed to help us with details - thanks Josh.]

But we need some help. We will be out in Alpharetta, at 400 and Windward Parkway area. Can we do it out there, or would we get notably better attendance if we came into town? [Beware, if you want us too close, I’ll want to do it at the Varsity and get a chili dog and a Frosted Orange ]

What’s best? We’d like input to make the decision.

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article about how to make your resume stand out… and they agree with us. One page, reverse chronological, accomplishment bullets under responsibility paragraphs.

And for those who doubt that responsibilities alone are not enough, consider the first paragraph:

Listing your job responsibilities on a resume may get you on an employer’s job-candidate roster, but if you note some solid accomplishments as well, you may be able to make the jump onto a recruiter’s short list. Terry Gallagher, president of Battalia Winston International, a New York-based executive search firm, says he places “three times as much value on results versus responsibilities on a resume.”

Just in case you haven’t heard me say it, consider this when you look at your “responsibilities only” resume: The people who are most likely to do their resume that way are those that were fired.

You think about that, you’ll figure it out. As long as you’re okay with being lumped in with them, leave accomplishments off. MUCH easier to get it to one page, too.

I’ve gotten several questions - on the blog, in the forums, by email - about what a “koan” is, as in the “juggling koan” podcast. (By the way, it’s pronounced “cone”, like ice cream cone.)

A “koan” is usually a story, or a dialogue, usually leading to a question to be pondered. It is from Zen Buddhism, and they are designed to help those who would seek knowledge to understand things that cannot be achieved from rational or logical thought.

Perhaps the most important thing to know about them is that they have “right” answers. They are not just some mystical question.. they are, in a sense, a test. Most people don’t get that there is a right answer for them.

One of the more well known of these is, “if a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” Usually, people are puzzled by the question - which a Buddhist Monk would consider good, as that lack of “understanding” would lead to enlightenment.

However, in the case of the “tree falling koan”, most people are puzzled because they think the question is ‘dumb’…because ‘of course a tree makes noise when it falls.’ And often people can be quite technical in their explanations, including sound waves and the like.

But, the answer is in fact, in the Zen way, NO, it doesn’t make a sound…because sound is actually perception, and if there is no one there to perceive it, there can be no perception… and thus no sound.

So, our juggling question was designed to show the value of delegation, to which we know many people are not attuned naturally. Thus, I made it a koan, to encourage, perhaps, creative and/or non-linear thinking.

We’ll do it again - Mike and I enjoyed feeling Zen-like.

Mike and I never really planned this, but we are thrilled to be getting a chance to meet so many of you in the Meet Ups we are planning. [ To say nothing of our upcoming Effective Manager Training Conference, for which Mike signed a hotel contract today…;-) ]

Because of the response, we’re planning TWO this month, and the first to be announced is the Northern Virginia Manager Tools Meet Up.

Northern Virginia and Washington DC area members are invited to attend our Meet Up on January 23rd, at the San Vito Restaurant in Springfield, VA. Their website is here. You can go to a Google Map here.

We will be starting at 7 pm, and plan to end at 9 pm. Mike and I will host everyone for pizza and sodas, and an evening of getting to know one another.

Please do let us know if you plan on coming by commenting to this post - this is one of Mike’s former restaurants, and he would like to give them good guidance on our group.

We’re looking forward to it!