Welcome to our resource library! Below you’ll find numerous tools that we hope will help in your work – samples, worksheets, and other tools and tips. For more information on how to use any of these resources, please check out our book, Managing to Change the World.
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In this article, we offer a new definition for effective management—one rooted in equity, sustainability, and results.
We believe that relationship-building is a core competency for effective management (equitable, sustainable, and results-driven). This guide is for managers looking to build (more) supportive and functional relationships with their staff.
While we—The Management Center—can’t undo the harms of nearly half a millennium of the degradation and dehumanization of Black people in the United States, we can help envision a path forward for managers and leaders. In this article, we share our best thinking on supporting your staff at a time when things are not okay (and haven't been for a long time).
Making a statement is not enough. Our public displays of anti-racism are only as authentic as our private actions, mindset shifts, and interventions. In this article, we share five things for leaders to consider doing to live by their Black Lives Matter solidarity statements.
As managers, we can’t end the pandemic or undo racial and intergenerational trauma, but we can influence how our staff experience this moment. This article offers three ways to build a greater sense of purpose, agency, and connection during times of crisis or uncertainty.
Check out these examples of how key decision-making opportunities, known as "choice points," can be used to advance racial equity and inclusion.
By using choice points to focus on equity and inclusion, this template provides you the opportunity to reflect on interactions with team members (direct reports and colleagues). Doing this with an eye towards your whole team—rather than on a case-by-case basis—can help you spot disparities and check for bias.
Here is a list of some of the most common choice points, or key decision-making opportunities, managers face that may have equity and inclusion impacts.
The purpose of fair process is to create space for authentic, equitable, and inclusive engagement and build clarity about decisions, resulting in stronger relationships, engagement, outcomes, and implementation.
Check out these examples of fair process, a decision-making approach that gives those most impacted by a decision the opportunity to help shape it.
Being transparent about how decisions will get made often gets better outcomes with more engaged participants. Here's one potential decision-making framework to share within teams.
When you’re moving from equity-neutral goals to goals with equity and inclusion considerations baked in, practice these tips to stay on track.
Goals are a concrete way to drive results, but without an explicit equity and inclusion component, goals won’t produce better outcomes for marginalized communities, address disparities, or create belonging. Introducing SMARTIE goals!
Need inspiration for goal-setting? Check out our goals bank of sample SMARTIE goals for common areas in the progressive and education equity sectors.
Receiving feedback about power, difference, and inequity can be challenging.
A case study that illustrates the steps outlined in Part 2 of our series on receiving feedback: Listen, Engage, Learn.
Check out some examples of PTR in action, and how to manage towards your requirements with your preferences and traditions in mind.
Create a more inclusive workplace for your transgender, agender, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, and gender non-binary team members with a regularly updated, comprehensive Transgender Inclusion Policy. Use this sample as a reference for your own policy.
Use this starter kit to help you create and use your own hiring rubrics—template and samples included. By using a rubric to mitigate bias, you can lay the groundwork for equitable hiring.
In June of 2020, CEO Jerry Hauser reflected on standing in solidarity with Black folks, The Management Center's journey in becoming an anti-racist organization, and how management can be a force for social justice.
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Middle managers play a critical role. It’s also not an easy job. If you've ever felt caught in the middle between your manager and your team, here are three strategies to get unstuck.
As managers, we can’t end the pandemic or undo racial and intergenerational trauma, but we can influence how our staff experience this moment. This article offers three ways to build a greater sense of purpose, agency, and connection during times of crisis or uncertainty.
As we enter a new phase of the pandemic, with vaccines more readily available and more states “reopening,” we are standing squarely at the gateway between one world and the next. As managers, it’s our job to lead our teams forward from crisis to reinvention, while balancing or even harnessing tensions. And it all starts with questions.
This sample survey is intended for leaders to adapt as needed to assess the needs, concerns, and circumstances of their staff as they consider reopening the office, in-person meetings, and travel.
Things were not okay in 2020 and the jury’s still out on 2021. Many of you are weighing myriad complexities and will need to use your best judgment as you consider performance on a case-by-case basis. While we can’t offer a comprehensive guide, here are some tips for your 2020 evaluations.
Struggling with the exact language to use when giving feedback for your 2020 performance evaluations? Check out our samples.
When there is a lot going on in the world, your organization, or your personal life (or all three!), goal-setting can feel like an insurmountable task. The good news is that goal-setting doesn’t have to add to the chaos; it can help you move through it.
In a crisis, a big part of every leader’s job is to provide a container for staff—that is, to make sense of what’s happening. Effective communication can promote the stability, continuity, and sense of purpose that helps people cope during tough times.
Scenario planning now helps you prepare for the future so you can seize possibilities or develop contingency plans. Learn the basics of scenario planning, then get started with our easy-to-use tool.
Whether you’re a staff member, project leader, or director, one of the most important skills you may need in the current terrain is the art of saying “no” (to some things) so you can make room for others. In other words: how to reprioritize.
Your one-on-one check-ins are essential. Here are a few tips for checking in during the pandemic (and any other extended crisis).
When it comes to uncertainty, one step every staff member can take is to create a plan for who will take over key responsibilities if one or more of our team members is out. Use our tips and Backup Planning Tool to figure out the most important responsibilities that need to be covered, who could do them if the current owner is out, and what that person needs to do now to prepare. You can make huge progress in as little as 60 minutes.
During moments of uncertainty, check-ins are an opportunity to meet your staff where they’re at so that they can feel seen and supported. Whatever the case may be for your staff, acknowledge what’s happening, hear how your people are doing, and inject purpose and agency by using this add-on in your next check-in agenda.
Whether you are managing through uncertainty and change, or anticipating strategic forks in the road, our 5-Box Scenario Planning Tool can help you gather the information you need, think through scenarios, and outline possible action plans.
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Try our "MOCHA" model (Manager, Owner, Consulted, Helper, Approver) to establish clear roles on projects.
Here are some of the most common questions we hear about MOCHA roles and implementation.
Check out these videos that answer some frequently asked questions about MOCHA.
Here's an email you can use to introduce our MOCHA model for clarifying project roles and get everyone using the same vocabulary.
When looking for work you can delegate, ask yourself: what are the areas where you can make the greatest impact and leverage your strengths? Use comparative advantage to decide what work you should own and what you should delegate.
Project leaders and managers: use this worksheet when delegating a new project or responsibility to get aligned on expectations, resources, constraints, and how you'll check in about progress.
By debriefing at the end of a project, you can capture lessons learned to ensure even better results next time. This template will help you ask the right questions.
To help you monitor progress and understand how work is really going, here are some probing questions that will help you get beneath the surface.
For complex projects, it's helpful to have a written plan that lays out "who will do what by when," including interim deadlines for smaller components.
Check out some examples of PTR in action, and how to manage towards your requirements with your preferences and traditions in mind.
Here is a list of some of the most common choice points, or key decision-making opportunities, managers face that may have equity and inclusion impacts.
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It's often helpful to create a one-page description of a staff member's role that considers not only what the staff member should do, but also how they should approach their work. This resource contains a template and two sample role expectation sheets.
Goals are the driving force behind results, but goal-setting can feel laborious and unwieldy. Whether you’re working on goals at the organizational, team, or individual level, follow these tips to get past the pain points and ease the process.
When there is a lot going on in the world, your organization, or your personal life (or all three!), goal-setting can feel like an insurmountable task. The good news is that goal-setting doesn’t have to add to the chaos; it can help you move through it.
When you’re moving from equity-neutral goals to goals with equity and inclusion considerations baked in, practice these tips to stay on track.
Goals are a concrete way to drive results, but without an explicit equity and inclusion component, goals won’t produce better outcomes for marginalized communities, address disparities, or create belonging. Introducing SMARTIE goals!
Use the Goal-Setting Worksheet to draft team or individual goals. This tool contains questions for self-reflection or discussion with your manager as you work on goal-setting.
Once you’ve set goals, make sure to regularly check in on progress. Use the Goals Stepback Worksheet to track progress and share updates about your team or individual goals on a regular basis.
The Red Light/Green Light Goal Tracking Tool is for tracking progress toward goals. This resource contains samples of goals at the organizational, team, and individual levels.
Need inspiration for goal-setting? Check out our goals bank of sample SMARTIE goals for common areas in the progressive and education equity sectors.
These sample goal development steps can serve as a guide to help you develop your organization’s own goal-setting process.
What will your organization achieve this year, and how will you judge success? Here’s a sample of how to structure clear, measurable organizational goals.
Here’s a sample email that you can use to explain what you’ll be doing and why, and how you’ll use the goals once they’re created.
Use this resource to set short-term goals and identify essential activities for the first three months.
These sample talent-related goals can help you identify and set your own for the Chief Talent Officer (CTO) role.
Here is a list of some of the most common choice points, or key decision-making opportunities, managers face that may have equity and inclusion impacts.
A division of labor helps two or more people clarify which responsibilities each person holds. Here we share two samples.
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When check-ins are done right, they can revolutionize the way you manage. In this article, we share our best tips for getting the most out of your check-ins.
This agenda provides a template that you can ask staff members to fill out and send you ahead of your check-in. It’s structured to help staff members and managers check in on progress toward goals, stay aligned on current projects, talk about what’s going well, and what could be going better, and get aligned on next steps.
Your one-on-one check-ins are essential. Here are a few tips for checking in during the pandemic (and any other extended crisis).
This template will help you lead a productive discussion with your new hire about their first 90 days on the job.
Skip-level meetings are one-on-one meetings that managers hold with staff other than the people they manage directly. They’re helpful for building relationships, gaining insight into your team and organization, and getting feedback about the managers that you manage.
Send your managers and staff members these sample emails to get started with skip-level meetings today.
Here is a list of some of the most common choice points, or key decision-making opportunities, managers face that may have equity and inclusion impacts.
During moments of uncertainty, check-ins are an opportunity to meet your staff where they’re at so that they can feel seen and supported. Whatever the case may be for your staff, acknowledge what’s happening, hear how your people are doing, and inject purpose and agency by using this add-on in your next check-in agenda.
Planning to gather your team post-election day? Here’s how you might structure your agenda to help your staff feel cared for and connected.
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Here are common must-haves we see across organizational roles. Refer to these as you get crystal clear on job duties and competencies in the hiring process. You should not only customize these must-haves, but also revisit and revise from one hire to the next.
Use this template to plan how you’ll test and evaluate the must-haves at each stage of the hiring process: job announcement, interviews, simulations/exercises, and reference checks.
Being crystal clear on the role is key to recruiting top talent. Use this worksheet to develop the competencies a top candidate must have. This list can then be translated into a job description. We've also included a sample of what a completed worksheet might look like.
A great job description goes beyond simply listing responsibilities and qualifications. Use this sample as a guide for your hiring process!
To ensure that strong candidates readily come to mind when you need to hire, keep a running list of prospects. Here’s a simple template to get you started.
Most hiring mistakes occur not simply because managers select the wrong person, but because they don’t have the right candidate pool to select from to begin with. Use this worksheet to build a strong talent pool.
Use this email template and sample to reach out to “connectors” who can help you scout for great talent.
This sample email is sent to a job applicant prior to an interview, sharing further information about the organization and explaining what you’d like them to come prepared to discuss.
These interview questions can help you identify your strongest candidates. As you plan your candidate evaluation process, use this list to find questions or activities focused on the key traits that you are most interested in.
Use this starter kit to help you create and use your own hiring rubrics—template and samples included. By using a rubric to mitigate bias, you can lay the groundwork for equitable hiring.
Having candidates complete exercises similar to what they’d be doing on the job may give you the best sense of how they would perform if hired.
This is a sample email to a candidate who made it to the exercise stage of the hiring process (in this case, right after an initial screening call).
This reference check outline worksheet, sample, and list of questions can help save you from the wrong hire.
The fastest way to inform candidates that they are no longer under consideration is by having a standard email template that you can easily adapt.
This resource is intended to help managers plan out your onboarding process by thinking through the key topics you should cover in the first month with your new hire.
This resource contains a (non-comprehensive) list of common and recommended tasks for managers to consider as part of your new hire onboarding process. Use it to get started on your own.
Use this resource to set short-term goals and identify essential activities for the first three months.
This template will help you lead a productive discussion with your new hire about their first 90 days on the job.
Make it someone’s job to focus on the full talent lifecycle from pool-building to hiring to development and retention. This article will help you understand the role of a Chief Talent Officer (CTO), decide the scope of responsibility, and get ready to find your person.
Ready to hire a Chief Talent Officer (CTO)? Use this sample CTO job description to help you get started with the hiring process.
Looking to hire a Chief Talent Officer (CTO)? Check out our sample CTO hiring rubric, and tailor it to create your own.
Looking to hire a Chief Talent Officer (CTO)? Check out our sample interview questions and simulations!
These sample talent-related goals can help you identify and set your own for the Chief Talent Officer (CTO) role.
Here is a list of some of the most common choice points, or key decision-making opportunities, managers face that may have equity and inclusion impacts.
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Nervous about giving feedback? This worksheet will help you think about what you want to say and how to say it with CSAW (Connect, Share, Ask, Wrap up).
The 2x2 system helps managers and staff members regularly reflect, share feedback, and discuss how the work is going.
When we respond well to feedback, we strengthen relationships and trust, increase the likelihood that we’ll keep getting it, and contribute to a culture of growth, candor, and rigor within our teams. Here’s our best advice for receiving feedback, focused on the parts that you have control over.
Receiving feedback about power, difference, and inequity can be challenging.
A case study that illustrates the steps outlined in Part 2 of our series on receiving feedback: Listen, Engage, Learn.
At least once a year, managers and staff members should meet one-on-one to reflect on the manager/staff relationship, realign on expectations, and discuss overall performance. This template is intended for use by both managers to assess staff, and for staff members to self-evaluate and share feedback with their manager.
This is a sample email that the head of HR, Chief of Staff, or ED/CEO can send to all staff to announce (or even re-introduce) a performance evaluation process.
This toolkit includes a step-by-step guide for building a “competency model” with equity in mind, and two examples to help get you started.
Have you ever needed to push a staff member or a team for more but didn’t know how? When we say push, we don’t mean shoving someone into the deep end without a life raft; we mean setting a high bar and being honest when something needs improvement. Here’s some language you can use.
As with other employee evaluations, ED evaluations should focus on both what the ED has accomplished (results) as well as how the director, CEO, principal, or co-director operates (values and approach). Use our Executive Director Performance Evaluation Form Template to conduct a balanced, rigorous evaluation of your director’s performance on both fronts.
We know it can help to see samples of this sort of thing, so here’s a sample evaluation of a struggling employee.
Things were not okay in 2020 and the jury’s still out on 2021. Many of you are weighing myriad complexities and will need to use your best judgment as you consider performance on a case-by-case basis. While we can’t offer a comprehensive guide, here are some tips for your 2020 evaluations.
Here’s a sample of what a completed performance evaluation might look like for a high performer, which includes developmental feedback to make a great employee even better.
Struggling with the exact language to use when giving feedback for your 2020 performance evaluations? Check out our samples.
Here is a list of some of the most common choice points, or key decision-making opportunities, managers face that may have equity and inclusion impacts.
The more self-awareness and authentic consideration of others we cultivate, the better equipped we are to build and get better results, especially during moments of conflict, tension, and frustration. One key way to do this is through perspective-taking.
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What do you do when someone isn’t performing well—they’re not meeting expectations, hitting goals, or demonstrating the must-haves of their role? How much should you invest in performance improvement? When is it time to let someone go? And, how the #@$% do you decide? These four steps will help you navigate the tricky processes of addressing performance problems.
Check out this case study that illustrates the four steps outlined in our article on addressing performance problems: reflect, check in, assess, consider and decide.
A Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) is a written plan with clear steps to help your staff member get to the expected level of performance for their role. This toolkit includes two resources: 1) a preparation worksheet for managers, which can be helpful whether or not you’re ready for a formal PIP; and 2) a template for a written Performance Improvement Plan you can fill in and share with your staff member.
How long should you give someone to improve after warning them? What should I do when someone isn’t meeting expectations, but I can’t pinpoint concrete things they messed up either? Here are some questions that we often hear regarding performance problems.
Here are some tricky performance scenarios our clients have encountered, and suggestions for designing a responsive performance improvement plan.
Progressive discipline consists of a brief series of increasingly serious warnings, culminating in dismissal if an employee fails to improve sufficiently – and lets your staff know that they won’t be fired without first knowing about your concerns.
Here’s an example of what an initial, informal warning conversation might sound like with an employee who’s struggling.
When corrective feedback and support hasn’t led to improved employee performance, a more formal warning that clearly informs the employee that their job is in jeopardy is usually the next step. Here is an example of a formal performance warning in writing.
A coaching-out conversation is aimed at convincing an employee that continued tenure in the role doesn’t make sense and agreeing on a smooth transition plan.
Managers often struggle to find the right words to use when letting an employee go, so here’s a sample script.
We know it can help to see samples of this sort of thing, so here’s a sample evaluation of a struggling employee.
Here is a list of some of the most common choice points, or key decision-making opportunities, managers face that may have equity and inclusion impacts.
The more self-awareness and authentic consideration of others we cultivate, the better equipped we are to build and get better results, especially during moments of conflict, tension, and frustration. One key way to do this is through perspective-taking.
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Management is both a technical and a relational skill. As the manager of a manager, you’re paying attention to the outcomes they lead their team to achieve and how they relate to their staff in the process. Here are six tips for managing managers.
This toolkit contains an overview of the tools in your management toolbelt and a checklist of the skills, behaviors, and practices to spot for when managing managers.
Whether you’re a senior leader or a middle manager, you can use this tool to get aligned with your team about management expectations and responsibilities.
Skip-level meetings are one-on-one meetings that managers hold with staff other than the people they manage directly. They’re helpful for building relationships, gaining insight into your team and organization, and getting feedback about the managers that you manage.
Interacting with your direct reports’ direct reports—with care, attention, and consistency—has significant benefits. Here are three specific tips for navigating skip-level relationships successfully.
Send your managers and staff members these sample emails to get started with skip-level meetings today.
Becoming a manager does require a shift in how you spend your time alongside more attention to delegation. As a manager you still execute plenty of tasks—just not the same ones you used to.
If you practice effective management well, differences in tenure, age, or expertise won’t matter as much as you think. Here are some things to keep in mind.
How do I manage my former peers? How do I manage when things are uncertain? Here are some of the most common questions we hear from newly promoted managers.
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While much of the burnout and overwork we see in our sectors is beyond any individual person’s control, we do have control over how we manage our time and systems so that we can achieve great results, avoid unnecessary chaos, and minimize fatigue. This article covers personal practices that can help you and your team get your most important work done sustainably.
The Daily List is a tool you can use to keep yourself organized on a day-to-day basis. It helps you separate “big rocks” (essential things that you need to complete to consider your day successful) from other action items.
The Weekly-Plus list is a complement to our Daily List to keep yourself organized beyond the day-to-day. It helps you keep track of backburner projects while prioritizing those that will make your month a success.
Sphere of control is a concept that helps people focus their precious time and energy on the things they can control so that they can make a greater impact where it matters most.
The more self-awareness and authentic consideration of others we cultivate, the better equipped we are to build and get better results, especially during moments of conflict, tension, and frustration. One key way to do this is through perspective-taking.
Middle managers play a critical role. It’s also not an easy job. If you've ever felt caught in the middle between your manager and your team, here are three strategies to get unstuck.
Set yourself (or your team) up for success by getting aligned with your project lead or manager on priorities, expectations, resources, and check-in points along the way.
Nervous about giving feedback? This worksheet will help you think about what you want to say and how to say it with CSAW (Connect, Share, Ask, Wrap up).
A division of labor helps two or more people clarify which responsibilities each person holds. Here we share two samples.
Newsletter Articles
In this article, we offer a new definition for effective management—one rooted in equity, sustainability, and results.
We believe that relationship-building is a core competency for effective management (equitable, sustainable, and results-driven). This guide is for managers looking to build (more) supportive and functional relationships with their staff.
Being transparent about how decisions will get made often gets better outcomes with more engaged participants. Here's one potential decision-making framework to share within teams.
Engage your team in tough decision-making using this simple table.
The purpose of fair process is to create space for authentic, equitable, and inclusive engagement and build clarity about decisions, resulting in stronger relationships, engagement, outcomes, and implementation.
Check out these examples of fair process, a decision-making approach that gives those most impacted by a decision the opportunity to help shape it.
Exit interviews with a departing employee can be a valuable source of information about what’s working well and what could be improved. Use our tips and template to get started.
In a crisis, a big part of every leader’s job is to provide a container for staff—that is, to make sense of what’s happening. Effective communication can promote the stability, continuity, and sense of purpose that helps people cope during tough times.
Whether you’re a staff member, project leader, or director, one of the most important skills you may need in the current terrain is the art of saying “no” (to some things) so you can make room for others. In other words: how to reprioritize.
When it comes to uncertainty, one step every staff member can take is to create a plan for who will take over key responsibilities if one or more of our team members is out. Use our tips and Backup Planning Tool to figure out the most important responsibilities that need to be covered, who could do them if the current owner is out, and what that person needs to do now to prepare. You can make huge progress in as little as 60 minutes.
Scenario planning now helps you prepare for the future so you can seize possibilities or develop contingency plans. Learn the basics of scenario planning, then get started with our easy-to-use tool.
Whether you are managing through uncertainty and change, or anticipating strategic forks in the road, our 5-Box Scenario Planning Tool can help you gather the information you need, think through scenarios, and outline possible action plans.
Looking for more space to slow down and prioritize care amidst moments of crisis? Check out this sample auto response email that one of our clients kindly shared with us.
Becoming a manager does require a shift in how you spend your time alongside more attention to delegation. As a manager you still execute plenty of tasks—just not the same ones you used to.
If you practice effective management well, differences in tenure, age, or expertise won’t matter as much as you think. Here are some things to keep in mind.
How do I manage my former peers? How do I manage when things are uncertain? Here are some of the most common questions we hear from newly promoted managers.
Newsletter Articles