1. Communication Skills - not just “how to do a presentation,” or “actively listen,” but how to suss out the communication style of others, and relate to them in a way that they’ll engage with. Some people are listeners. Some are readers. Some like data. Some want a summary. Some want to know what’s in it for them. Some want to know what’s in it for the team.
2. Defusing conflicts - a decent portion of conflicts come from (in my experience) lack of communication (see #1).
3. Building effective relationships - honestly - I have to work on this one constantly but it helps with #2.
4. Energy management - I also have to work on this one constantly - I used to be able to swing an overnighter and wrap up a project. That worked for a long time, until it didn’t, and I failed, and I questioned my effectiveness as an engineer. Now, having a bunch of projects (some big, some small, some urgent, some important, some necessary but unimportant, etc) being able to recognize signs that I’m in a feedback loop of going too hard, or focusing on the wrong things.
5. Organizational Theory - I’m actively studying this area now. In the last few years I’ve shifted from designing hardware and software systems to setting up or changing teams.
6. Being ruthless about focus and saying no - I could use some tips here. A while ago I wrote that I wanted to be the “go-to” person for a subject. Now that I am, sometimes I question how to balance sharing expertise while still getting what’s most important (to me) done. :-)
2. Defusing conflicts - a decent portion of conflicts come from (in my experience) lack of communication (see #1).
3. Building effective relationships - honestly - I have to work on this one constantly but it helps with #2.
4. Energy management - I also have to work on this one constantly - I used to be able to swing an overnighter and wrap up a project. That worked for a long time, until it didn’t, and I failed, and I questioned my effectiveness as an engineer. Now, having a bunch of projects (some big, some small, some urgent, some important, some necessary but unimportant, etc) being able to recognize signs that I’m in a feedback loop of going too hard, or focusing on the wrong things.
5. Organizational Theory - I’m actively studying this area now. In the last few years I’ve shifted from designing hardware and software systems to setting up or changing teams.
6. Being ruthless about focus and saying no - I could use some tips here. A while ago I wrote that I wanted to be the “go-to” person for a subject. Now that I am, sometimes I question how to balance sharing expertise while still getting what’s most important (to me) done. :-)