Blog Alexis Monville (en)

Category: I am in Charge

  • Discovery One-on-one

    Discovery One-on-one

    What is it?

    A Discovery one-on-one is an approach to prepare and drive effective meetings with people you are not familiar with.

    Why use it?

    Creating a relationship with people is key to being able to work with them effectively.

    Steps

    Prepare a board that will make the agenda for the meeting visible:

    Take a piece of paper (Letter or A4 will work)

    Draw two lines to create three columns on the same width

    Write on three mini sticky notes the three headings to give the meeting structure:

    • To Do
    • In Progress
    • Done

    Write the topics that will be covered during the meeting, one topic per mini sticky notes:

    • Ice Breaker
    • Professional Background
    • Experience of …
    • 3 Wishes
    • ???

    The meeting starts with all the sticky notes in the “To Do” column (see the figure below).

    Ice Breaker. The Ice Breaker is a game in which you take turns asking each other questions.

    • Move the sticky note to “In Progress”.
    • You only have three questions each, and each person has the right to pass. Here are three examples:
    • If you could do anything in the entire world other than your current job, what would it be?
    • What do you spend most of your spare time doing?
    • What’s your favorite holiday destination?
    • Once the Ice Breaker is Done, move the card to the “Done” column.

    Professional background. You will now share your work history that led to your current role.

    • Pick the next note in the “To Do” column and move it to “In Progress”.
    • You will start first, so make sure to be prepared to cover all your professional background in the minimum time.
    • The other person will go next, once she is done, encourage her to move the card to done.

    Experience of …

    • Depending on Alexis’ role, he has used notes on different topics. He used “Agile Experience” for a mission to drive a change toward agile approaches, “Management Experience” with a new manager, “Web Experience” while onboarding a new developer for a Web agency. Pick something that will be relevant to you in your context.

    3 Wishes.

    • Time for the 3 Wishes. You end with another game, asking a question: “If you could have three wishes for transforming your daily work and/or workplace, what would they be?” Once again, what the people say here will teach you a lot about the organization and their current mindset.

    ???

    • The last note, with the three question marks, is a wild card to allow the other person to propose any additional topics to discuss. People will sometimes have nothing more to say, and sometimes they will suggest a topic that could be useful to cover in another meeting, not necessarily this one.

    Further Information

    What do people say about it?

    “I used it once again today, for the onboarding of a new collaborator who had just joined the team… I tell you only that after 40 minutes we were already like two best friends! Really powerful this workshop!”

    Mario Esposito
  • New Experiment Alert: The Matrix of Principles

    New Experiment Alert: The Matrix of Principles

    Hello, Thought Leaders and Team Builders!

    Are you looking to deepen your team’s understanding of effective management and identify areas for improvement? I’m excited to share our next experiment from the book, “I am a Software Engineer and I am in Charge.”

    🎯 Introducing: The Matrix of Principles

    🤔 What Is It? This is a reflective tool designed to explore Deming’s 14 Management Principles and how they resonate within your team and organization.

    🌟 Why Use It? It’s a powerful way to align on management beliefs, assess the current state of their application in your organization, and spark conversations on how to evolve.

    👣 How It Works

    1️⃣ Draw a 2×2 matrix on paper or a whiteboard.

    2️⃣ The horizontal axis gauges agreement with a principle; the vertical, its application in your organization.

    3️⃣ Place the principles on the matrix, using different colors for each team member.

    4️⃣ Discuss outliers and collective insights to inspire actionable improvements.

    📝 Note: This tool isn’t limited to Deming’s principles. Try it with the Agile Manifesto principles or any others that are relevant to your team!

    🔄 Why It Matters Understanding and applying sound management principles is crucial for any team’s success. The Matrix of Principles helps make abstract concepts tangible and actionable.

    📚 Keen to explore more? This is just one of the many practices we delve into. Stay tuned for more insights and check out our book I am in Charge.

    👇 How do you ensure your team’s principles are not just understood but lived? Share your strategies in the comments!

  • The Matrix of Principles

    The Matrix of Principles

    What is it?

    The Matrix of Principles is a reflection tool to capture how team members understand Deming’s 14 Management Principles.

    Why use it?

    Reflecting on the management principles enables the team to share their beliefs on management, to share their views on where the organization is, and to identify areas for improvement.

    Steps

    • Take a blank sheet of paper, or use a whiteboard,
    • Draw a 2×2 matrix,
    • The horizontal axis represents your agreement with the principle. On the right, you agree; on the left, you disagree,
    • The vertical axis represents how the principle is applied to your organization. “Applied” at the top, “not applied” at the bottom,
    • You will now position Deming’s 14 Management Principles by placing their numbers on the matrix. Each team member uses a different color.
    • After placing each principle, the facilitator asks the outliers to explain their position.
    • The facilitator asks the group what ideas it inspires for the team.

    You can use the tool for self-reflection. As a facilitator, it is useful to try the exercise first by yourself to be able to pick the principles that will most resonate with your team.

    You can also use the Matrix of Principles with other principles. The ones from the Agile Manifesto are other principles that are great conversation starters.

    Further Information

    This practice was first published in Changing Your Team From The Inside.

  • 🎯 Introducing: The Wheel of Life

    🎯 Introducing: The Wheel of Life

    👋 Hello Software Engineers, Team Leaders, and Life Balancers!

    Ever feel like you’re excelling in one area of life but neglecting others? Today, I want to introduce you to a practice from my book, “I am a Software Engineer and I am in Charge,” co-authored with Michael Doyle, that can help you find balance.

    🎯 Introducing: The Wheel of Life

    🤔 What Is It? The Wheel of Life is a visual tool that helps you assess how balanced and satisfactory your life is right now. It’s like a pie chart for your well-being!

    🌟 Why Use It? We often focus on specific areas of our lives, like career or relationships, and neglect others. This tool helps you see the big picture and inspires you to improve in areas that matter to you.

    👣 How to Get Started

    1️⃣ Pick Categories: Choose 8 categories that represent important facets of your life. It could be Health, Career, Relationships, etc.

    2️⃣ Rank Each Area: On a scale of 0 to 10, rank how you’re doing in each category.

    3️⃣ Reflect: Imagine if this wheel were real. Would it roll smoothly or bumpily?

    4️⃣ Take Action: Identify one action that could improve an important area for you.

    5️⃣ Revisit: Come back to your wheel when you’re ready for the next action.

    📝 Note: You can also focus your wheel exclusively on professional aspects if that’s where you want to improve.

    🔄 Why It Matters Life is a balancing act. The Wheel of Life helps you not just excel in one area but thrive in all.

    📚 Want to dive deeper? This is just one of the 18 practices we cover in our book. Check it out at I am in Charge.

    👇 Have you ever used a tool like this? What were your insights? Share your thoughts!

  • Introducing: Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)

    Introducing: Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)

    👋 Hello Software Engineers, Team Leaders, and Visionaries!

    Do you have ambitious goals but struggle to make measurable progress toward them? Today, I’m excited to share another impactful practice from my book, “I am a Software Engineer and I am in Charge,” co-authored with Michael Doyle.

    🎯 Introducing: Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)

    🤔 What Is It? OKRs are a goal-setting approach that focuses on the impact you want to make. It’s all about defining objectives and measurable key results that guide your actions.

    🌟 Why Use It? Big goals can be daunting. OKRs break them down into smaller, achievable steps, making progress visible and motivating. It’s based on the “Progress Principle,” which fuels your momentum toward realizing your vision.

    👣 How to Get Started

    1️⃣ Vision: Define your ambitious, long-term vision.

    Example: “We are a happy family.”

    2️⃣ Objectives: Set up to three objectives that are ambitious and qualitative.

    Example: “We host a wonderful barbecue party.”

    3️⃣ Stakeholders: Identify who could make or break your success.

    Example: Guests, family, mosquitoes.

    4️⃣ Behavioral Changes: Determine the behavior you want from each stakeholder.

    Example: “Mosquitoes don’t bite anyone.”

    5️⃣ Key Results: Define measurable outcomes.

    Example: “Nobody has been bitten by a mosquito during the party.”

    📝 Note: OKRs are a living document. Don’t expect to get them perfect on your first try. Keep refining them as you go.

    🔄 Why It Matters OKRs provide a structured way to turn your vision into reality. They keep you focused and aligned, making your journey toward your goals more effective and fulfilling.

    📚 Curious to learn more? This is just one of the 18 practices we cover in our book. Check it out at I am in Charge.

    👇 Have you used OKRs before? What was your experience? Share your thoughts!

  • The Wheel of Life

    The Wheel of Life

    What is it?

    The Wheel of Life is a tool that helps you visualize how balanced and satisfactory your life is today.

    Why use it?

    You might tend to focus on specific areas of your life and forget or neglect other areas. The tool helps to visualize the current situation and creates the desire to improve in the areas that really matters to you.

    Steps

    First, pick 8 categories which to represent the important facets of your life. Ideas of categories are below:

    • Health
    • Relationships
    • Social
    • Cultural
    • Career
    • Business
    • Financial
    • Spiritual
    • Personal growth
    • Fun and Leisure
    • Significant other
    • Contribution
    • You could also decide to focus exclusively your wheel on the professional aspect of your life and identify only categories in that area.

    Use the area to label each piece of the pie chart below,

    Rank how you are currently doing in each area from 0 to 10 like in the example below.

    Reflect on how smooth or bumpy the wheel would roll if it were real.

    Identify one action that would make improvements in one important area for you.

    Come back to your wheel when you are ready for the next action.

    Example
    Template

    Further Information

    • Paul J. Meyer is the original creator of The Wheel of Life in the 1960s.
  • Write Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)

    Write Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)

    What is it?

    Objectives and Key Results is a goal-setting approach that focuses attention on the impact you want to have. The impact is characterized by a behavioral change that the people involved will adopt so that you can reach your objectives and fulfill your aspirational vision.

    Why use it?

    Reaching aspirational goals takes time. It requires measured, smaller steps along the way to help reach them. The “Progress Principle” is a positive force motivating an individual, a team, or an entire organization to do their best. Achieving measurable steps makes feedback relevant, and further fuels your momentum to realize the vision.

    Steps

    What is your vision?

    • The vision is the dream. The vision is very ambitious and audacious, focused on what success looks like in the near future (3, 5 years, or longer).
    • Example: We are a happy family.

    Define your first objective.

    • Some people say you only want to have one objective so you are really focused, let’s agree to not have more than three.
    • Objectives are the destination. They answer the question: “Where do you want to go?“. They are ambitious, qualitative, aspirational and inspirational. They are expressed in the present tense as if it was already done.
    • Example: We host a wonderful barbecue party.

    Identify who are the people involved that could make or break success.

    • Example: Guests, family, we can even distinguish some of the guests and family saying that we will have children or teenagers. One actor or stakeholder that could break success: Mosquitoes.

    Identify the behavior you want the people involved to adopt so that you can achieve your objective.

    • For each of the stakeholders, identify the most impactful behavioral changes that need to happen so you can achieve your objective.
    • Example: You want the mosquitoes not to show up at the party, or if they show up you don’t want them to bite anybody.

    Define Key Results that will quantify how you will reach your objective.

    • Key Results are a way to measure that the behavioral change you want to get is really happening.
    • Example: A Key Result that measures that mosquitoes don’t bite is: Nobody has been bitten by a mosquito during the party.
    • Key Results guide the action on a day to day basis. They need to be a stretch showing your ambition, difficult, not impossible, 70% should be a good reach.
    • They are measurable and time-bound formulated like “increase or decrease an indicator from x to y by the end of a date.”

    Note that when you define Objectives and Key Results, you have to understand the why (the objective you want to achieve), the who (the people involved), the how (how their behavior should change so you can achieve your objective), but you can leave the what (what you will do to affect the behavioral change) for a later time.

    • In our example, the ‘what’ could be to provide mosquito repellent to all the guests. The ‘what’ are the deliverables, or the activities.

    One last thing. Remember that it took time for Sandrine and Joel to get to Objectives and Key Results that made sense for their team (like the one below). So don’t expect to write them perfectly on your first attempt.

    • Objective: Improve the maintainability of the product by reducing the complexity of its core components.
    • As measured by:
    • Key Result #1: No team members have less than half the reviews of another by the end of the quarter (so that we increase knowledge transfer in the team to continuously learn and develop from each other).
    • Key Result #2: Less than 50 reviews provided by the team are considered meaningless or misleading by the end of the quarter.

    Further Information

  • Introducing The Best Possible Self

    Introducing The Best Possible Self

    👋 Hey Software Engineers, Team Leaders, and Dreamers!

    Do you ever find yourself stuck in the present, unsure of how to make your future brighter? Today, I want to share another transformative practice from my book, “I am a Software Engineer and I am in Charge,” co-authored with Michael Doyle.

    🎯 Introducing: The Best Possible Self

    🤔 What Is It? This is an exercise designed to clarify your goals and build optimism about your future. It’s a simple yet powerful way to visualize the life you want to lead.

    🌟 Why Use It? Research shows that being optimistic about your future can actually motivate you to make that future a reality. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy in the best way possible.

    👣 How to Get Started

    1️⃣ Prepare a calendar with checkboxes for the next five days.

    2️⃣ Each day, spend at least five minutes writing about your best possible future. Use the hot pen technique—write without editing.

    3️⃣ Be specific. What needs to change? What will you learn? What habits will you adopt?

    4️⃣ After five days, review your writings. Do you see recurring themes? Write them down.

    📝 Note: If you miss a day, don’t be too hard on yourself. The key to success is simply restarting.

    🔄 Why It Matters Visualizing your best possible self not only boosts your mood but also provides a roadmap for your future. It’s a win-win!

    📚 Want to explore more practices like this? Check out our book at I am in Charge.

    👇 Have you ever tried a similar exercise? What were your key takeaways? Share your thoughts!

  • The Best Possible Self

    The Best Possible Self

    What is it?

    The Best Possible Self is an exercise to clarify your goals.

    Why use it?

    Research shows that building optimism about the future motivates you to work toward that desired future.

    Steps

    First prepare a visible calendar with five checkboxes representing the next five days. For each day that you accomplish the assignment, tick a box.

    Each day, take a moment to imagine your life in the future.

    • What is the best possible life you can envision?
    • In all the different areas of your life, professional or personal, what will happen in your best possible future?

    Write for at least five minutes, use the hot pen technique. Write what comes to your mind without editing (you can write longer if there is a lot of information coming to mind).

    Be very specific in your write-up

    • Describe a better future in which you are your best possible self, and what needs to change in your current situation, what you will learn, what habits you will change.

    You will start the next day with a blank page.

    After five days, you may be tempted to continue the exercise because you feel that you can learn more from it. Please do and drop us a note to tell us what was the right duration for you.

    Some people find it useful to let a few days pass before reviewing their writings, when you are ready, review your writing:

    • Are they different from day to day?
    • Do you see key themes coming back over the days?
    • Can you write down the themes in the present tense?

    One last word, if you miss a day, don’t be harsh on yourself. Guilt has a negative effect on our willpower. Success is simply restarting.

    Further Information

  • Ask Better Questions

    Ask Better Questions

    👋 Hello Software Engineers, Team Leaders, and Problem Solvers!
    Ever found yourself jumping to solutions before fully understanding a problem? We all have. That’s why today, I want to share another gem from my book, “I am a Software Engineer and I am in Charge,” co-authored with Michael Doyle.

    🎯 Introducing: Ask Better Questions

    🤔 What Is It?
    This practice encourages you to ask questions rather than stating your opinions. It’s based on the GROW model by Graham Alexander and focuses on Goal setting, Reality, Options, and Way forward.

    🌟 Why Use It?
    We often rush to solve problems, but the real magic happens when we help others find their own solutions. Asking better questions can lead to deeper understanding and more effective problem-solving.

    👣 How It Works
    1️⃣ Goal Setting: Ask questions like “What does success look like?” or “How will you measure it?”
    2️⃣ Reality: Use descriptor questions to assess the situation: “Tell me more about…” or “How do you know this is happening?”
    3️⃣ Options and Obstacles: Explore possible actions and challenges: “What could you do to change the situation?” or “What are the external factors preventing you?”
    4️⃣ Way Forward: Convert options into actions: “What will you do and when?” or “What support do you need?”

    📝 Note: Stick to open questions—what, where, when, who, and how. Avoid “why” questions as they can make people defensive.

    🔄 Why It Matters
    Asking better questions not only helps in personal development but also fosters a culture of curiosity and collaboration within teams.

    📚 Curious to learn more? This is just one of the 18 practices we cover in our book. Check it out at I am in Charge.

    👇 What’s the best question you’ve ever asked or been asked? Share your thoughts!

  • Ask Better Questions

    Ask Better Questions

    What is it?

    Ask Better Questions is a practice to push you to ask questions instead of stating your opinion. The practice helps you focus your questions on a specific area that your interlocutor cares about.

    Why use it?

    We tend to want to solve problems, even when we know that it is much better to help people to find their own solutions. Alexis has received several questions about the need to listen, and the need to ask better questions. Looking for a simple way to explain how it works, he used the GROW model developed by Graham Alexander.

    Steps

    GROW stands for Goal setting, Reality, Options, Way forward. Let’s examine a few examples of questions you could ask for each step in a future conversation.

    Be careful not to make the questions sound like a judgment call. The goal is to explore what are the real goals of a person for the current conversation, or for a more long term time frame, and then ask question to help them find their own solution to get there. The questions could also be used in a group setting situation. In both cases, you need to first get permission from the person or the group to provide your help.

    Goal setting, what the person wants to achieve:

    • What does success look like?
    • What would need to happen for you to walk away feeling that this time was well spent?
    • What would be a milestone on the way?
    • If you had a magic wand, what would you change?
    • How much personal control or influence do you have over your goal?
    • How will you measure it? (the goal is not the measure, just to foster the conversation and to check that you have the same understanding of the goal.)

    Reality, assess the reality (and the awareness of the person that reality is a very subjective thing):

    • What is happening now?
    • You will need to use descriptor questions to help the person to think more precisely about the situation: Tell me more about, help me understand, I am curious about, could you describe further…
    • How do you know that this is really happening?
    • What other factors are relevant?
    • How do the other stakeholders perceived the situation?
    • What are the results of your previous actions?

    Options and Obstacles, explore the different options possible to get the desired results, and examine the obstacles that prevent to get the results:

    • What could you do to change the situation?
    • What have you done or see others do in similar situations?
    • What are the options for action?
    • What are the benefits and costs of your different options?
    • What are the external and internal factors that could prevent you in taking actions?
    • What will you do to eliminate these external and internal factors?

    Way forward, is when we convert options into actions:

    • What option will you choose?
    • What will you do and when?
    • What support do you need and from whom?
    • How will you get that support?

    After each conversation, take some time to reflect on what happened during the experiment:

    • How did you feel during the experiment?
    • What challenges did you face?
    • What did you have to do or believe to be successful?
    • What positives can you take away from the experiment?
    • How can you apply what you learned in your life or the workplace?

    Note that the questions above are all open questions; what, where, when, who, and how. This gives the person you are questioning freedom to respond. You might also notice that there are no “why” questions; “why” questions can cause the person you are questioning to defend their actions. Stick to open questions for maximum impact.

    Further Information

  • Moving Motivators

    Moving Motivators

    What is it?

    Moving Motivators is a practice to uncover what motivates your colleagues and yourself.

    Moving motivators is a deck of 10 cards. Each card represents an intrinsic motivation: Curiosity, Acceptance, Power, Relatedness, Goal, Honor, Mastery, Freedom, Order, Status.

    Why use it?

    The practice helps you to understand different perspectives. Something very important for one person could be futile for another. Accepting that there is no good or bad is part of the game.

    Steps

    First, download and print the cards from the Management 3.0 website. You can also buy sets of cards if you prefer.

    Once you have the cards, play the game alone. This is your training.

    Sort the cards from left to right. The most important motivation factor is on the left; the less important is on the right.

    Consider a change in your life and how this change affects your motivation factors. Move the card up if it is a positive effect and down if it is a negative effect.

    You can try with different changes like:

    • Change job,
    • Change company,
    • Buy a car,
    • Learn to play a musical instrument,
    • Move to another city or country,
    • Meet old friends, make new ones, and so on.

    Consider the transformation you would like your team to commit to and look at how it affects your motivators.

    Bonus: Use the power of the game and play it with your team. Discuss what motivators are least or most important to each team member, and how they are affected by changes.

    Further Information