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I just finished my first coaching call with a remote employee, 15 minute phone call.

He has been irritable lately (of course during the period that O3s were put on hold, i know, i know, it was out of my control and they are back on now) and i wanted to find out how to get him happy again.

While speaking today I uncovered that in the midst of the complaining he was really just upset that he felt that he wasnt progressing in his technical skill set.  We spoke through what could make that better and I came up with something that he loved and i wrote the following as his actual written document to agree to:

Per our conversation here is the summary:

 

Goal: By October 1st, configure, erase and reconfigure a lab ASA 5505 Firewall as many times as possible for items including but not limited to:

·         Basic IP Connectivity

·         IOS/ASDM Software Upgrade

·         NAT/Port Forwarding

·         Access Control Lists

·         IPSec VPN and SSL VPN (local authentication/RADIUS)

·         Remote Administrative Access

(NOTE: Both the CLI and GUI should be utilized to learn the in’s and out’s of the device)

 

Resources: The following resources will be available to you to use, please add to this list if you identify any others that are missing:

·         Jason, Tom, Sebastian (for general questions and configuration review)

·         Device Documentation (included in ASA shipping box and available on Cisco.com)

·         Netpro forums à http://www.cisco.com/go/netpro

·         Cisco TAC (Directions to open a case will be provided if needed)

 

Plan: To install and configure an ASA5505 (as listed in the goal above) on your own personal network at your home using your personal cable internet connection.  The schedule is to be set for ONE hour per day (at least) 3 days per week.  This will allow you to discover what you don’t know and give you plenty of time to ask questions and consult resources to become more comfortable.

 

I am confident that once you are more at home with the Cisco ASA and understand the basics, you will be able to step in both on Greenfield (new) installs of ASAs as well as updates/upgrades that can be done remotely for our clients that currently have ASAs in production.  This will allow you to increase your skill set, your contribution to our comapny and the ability to continue learning more advanced technology.

 

If you agree with above plan and to follow it as documented, please reply with the words: I AGREE and we can get started.

 

This will be placed in your employee record and will be reviewed for progress updates during your O3s.

 

Thanks!

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I understand that the specifics are probably pretty technical for those of you who are not in this business, but as far structure, clarity and expectations, how did I do?

I wrote this and as it says i just had him agree but part of me thought he should have written it and then i should have coached him to make it better.  Am i babying him by doing this part myself (or just helping myself b/c i know i will write it the way i want it to be carried out).

Thanks all, any insight or feedback would be great!

Kind regards,

JG

Jirrin's picture
Submitted by Jirrin on Tuesday August 24th, 2010 9:36 am

I am no expert in this area, so take this for just opinion.

 
I would have the goal set for something to actually do at work. Have the goal be to successfully be on firewall reset rotation. (Ignore my technical ignorance) Part of the mini steps of the goal is maybe to practice this at home, research, etc. But the end result is becoming successful at producing with this new skill.
 
I have never written a contract for my folks, it is more casual in nature, brainstorming on the back of the O3 form, then writing down the goal, and a few steps toward it (2-3 weeks out). I have the direct also write them down and we follow up on the mini steps each week.  It's easy to follow up, as the next steps are written on the last week's form that I bring in with me.  We write the new ones on this weeks, rinse and repeat.
 
If they miss a mini step goal, we just readjust it, not a big deal. Remember this is coaching, so any forward momentum is more than they were previously doing. If it is mandatory, then I believe it would fall into another category than coaching in this context.
 
Good job at starting this adventure!

jg407's picture
Submitted by jg407 on Wednesday August 25th, 2010 5:09 pm

Thanks Jirrin for your feedback.  The goal is actually something to do "at work".  This is a unique telecommuting employee in an under utilized branch of the company and i need him to become adept at what we do in the home office" so he can pitch in remotely and thus be productive with his new skill regardless of his location at this under producing facility.

I like the informal nature of what you discussed but in order to hold my guys accountable, i believe i need to have it structured so its clear, easy to measure and there are no surprises when they do/do not complete their task.  If i just wrote it down on the back of the O3 form, with the amount of other work they (and I) are required to keep up with, it would fall through the cracks immediately.

I'll keep working on it though, thanks again for the reply!

 

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Jason G.