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28.1.1. pg 606

There are limits to how much a team manager can do for morale; if the company is downsizing or merging or doing anything else that may impact on an individuals employment then the best the manager can do is be open and honest... and watch the staff resign slowly. Seen that!

Coaching pg 617

Encourage SAs to document as they learn. Get another SA to review the document. You're now on the way to building a knowledge bank. Even if this is just text files and using 'grep' to find stuff. Encourage verbosity in descriptions and why they do stuff; eg the title may be "Solstice Disk Suite" but make it also say "how to mirror the root and boot disks with solstice", so people grepping can find what they want easily and will understand the process rather than being automatons.

Recognition pg 624

This can be a double-edged sword. An individual who thinks they've worked hard might feel under appreciated if another gets the recognition award. Dilbert is full of stories on how recognition awards go awry.

In my second job we had a monthly recognition award. We were refurbishing the whole building and so lots of people worked hard. Oddly it was the most junior people who got the awards. Eventually I realised this was how the manager was bending the rules to give these lower paid people a little bit more. I don't think she realised how demoralising it was to the other more senior members. The scheme didn't last long!

-- StephenHarris - 30 Aug 2006