Wundamail Blog

In our “What Type of Manager Are You?” series, we’re looking at the struggles that different kinds of managers face, whether you’re a nurturer, a cheerleader, or a monitor, and how you can best overcome those problems in line with your management style.

In our “What Type of Manager Are You?” series, we’re looking at the struggles that different kinds of managers face, whether you’re a nurturer, a cheerleader, or a monitor, and how you can best overcome those problems in line with your management style.

In our “What Type of Manager Are You?” series, we’re looking at the struggles that different kinds of managers face, whether you’re a nurturer, a cheerleader, or a monitor, and how you can best overcome those problems in line with your management style.

I was sat drinking coffee in the co-working space the other day, staring out of the window, idly watching the reflection of the sunlight on the river outside. Miles away. At least, I wish I was. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of someone coming in carrying a bag from a record store. He’d been on a vinyl shopping trip on his way in. The sight of this distracted my from my distraction, stirring and spiking my interest. I can’t help myself. I had to ask what he’d bought.

How do we react when our people aren’t performing as well as they should, or as well as they could? Other than stamping our feet, screaming and shouting - which, let’s be honest, is never a good look - what can we do? Or more specifically, what should we do?

When Slack launched in 2009, co-founder and CEO, Stewart Butterfield proudly announced that “The mission is to make people’s lives simpler, more pleasant, more productive”. Well Stewart old friend, we’re not quite sure you managed that. We need to talk.

No matter what role we have in our work lives, we’re usually - but not always - better at it because we’re part of a team. Collaboration, connection and co-operation mean that we can work together towards common goals, supporting and encouraging each other to get over the line. Getting there. Getting the job done.

Teamwork. Some think its a thing. An end point. They’d define it as a position, a place, where everything is as it should be. A target. In reality, teamwork is none of these things. It is, or at least it should be, a process, ongoing and developing.

Hiring people for business has always been a demanding task. Finding the right people, the best people, and at the right time is crucial. In the ever-changing modern world of work, the landscape is being reshaped with new themes, new ideas and new technology. And new opportunities.

So, you made the move. You took the chance to bring change to your life, to improve your work-life balance and to work more flexibly. You’ve walked away from the tedious office politics, the unhappy faces of the daily commute, the constant battle for a parking space, and that really annoying person in Accounts, whose name you can never remember. Let’s call him Dan. Every large company has a ‘Dan from Accounts’.