It's nice to be in constant communication with people you care about. It's nice to know what's going on. It's nice to stay on top of email. It's nice that modern technology puts all of this in your pocket.

It's not nice if it detracts from your human-to-human communication. For example, if you're a manager talking to one of your testers, turn off your phone. Don't pick it up if it rings, don't check it if you get a text message. Let the person you're talking with know that they are more important than the phone.

It's also not nice if it detracts from your down time. Sometimes you need to be available - especially if your in a leadership position or on-call. But when you don't need to be plugged in, un-plug. Constant connection can sap your energy over time. You don't always have to un-plug, but don't be afraid to do it when it makes sense.

When you're a member of a team, sometimes you need to be willing to do work that no one else wants to do in order for the team to be successful. You might not like this work. You might hate this work. But if it means the success of the team (and it doesn't compromise your moral or ethical principles), sometimes you need to suck it up and do it.

I try to model this when I can, doing work no one else wants to do. But it's not always easy to model. Sometimes I don't have the training needed, or the time, or some other reason. But if I can, I'll do it.

Need someone to pound out hours of uninteresting code? Need someone to do a large code review? Need someone to draw a bunch of diagrams for a client presentation tomorrow AM? Need your trash taken out? Need a computer (or a rack of computers) moved? Need notes taken? Need someone to get you coffee? Need someone to sweep the floor? I've done all of those (many of them multiple times) as a manager. It's part of being a manager.

As a team player, sometimes you need to step up and do the work you don't want to do. That doesn't mean all the time. It doesn't mean every day. But it does mean some days you won't go home as happy as you might have otherwise.

Sometimes we need to reframe our problems to devise better solutions, for instance when we're overloaded with work and need to take on new interests or responsibilities. I've found one useful technique is to use a 'power of 10' to help reassess my current approach. Here are some examples of how it works for me:

I imagine I'm now responsible for ten times the amount of work, with my current work limited to one tenth of my commitments, which allows me a maximum of 1/2 day per week for it. What are the most useful and important things I can do with my time to help and support my current project? Then I try to make sure that, from now on I do that work first each week. Of the remaining work, inherently it's less important so I try to pick the next most important tasks and do them next, etc. Eventually, say after 2 days per week I decide the rest of my old work is no longer useful so I don't do it. Now I have 3 days to take on new work, learn new skills, fix problems, etc.

Another use of powers of 10 is to imagine I have 10x the number of testers, machines, etc. - how would I use them to improve my testing? Generally I find I have a list of possible ideas with some idea of how much they'd help. Now I pick a few of these and implement them (possibly in the time I've freed up from the first example :)

Note: try using powers of 5 (to match one per day of the working week), 100 (e.g. test machines), etc. to help breakthrough your current mindset and challenges.

Some people need regular distractions (music, conversation, etc...) to work effectively. Others need silence and long periods of uninterrupted time. Recognize that people are different, and they need different things to allow them to be creative.

If you manage someone who has different work patterns than you (for example, you're always heads down and they always appear to be talking to someone), don't assume that means they aren't getting anything done. Instead, look at their work product. Do they produce as much as their peers? Is it of the same quality? That's a better measure of their work.

That said, if they happen to be an unwelcome distraction to their peers (because their the one always talking while everyone else is trying to be heads down), you may need to address that.

We work above a small local coffee shop and cafe. I recently purchased a small stack of "free cup of coffee" gift cards that I can handout as a small real-time thank you for someone going the extra mile. It's not much, but it's something. The fact that it's real-time is the most important part I think. People appreciate quick feedback.

And, there's a nice side effect that the cards are burning a hole in my pocket. Because I have them, I want to give them away. That means I'm looking for positive things so I can reinforce them. That sure beats the alternative.