If you find that you carry most of the "emotional weight" of ensuring that work you oversee is successful - including spotting what needs to be done and assigning work - you might need to give your staff members or volunteers more meaningful roles.

In the progressive world, we build a lot of coalitions and project partners for us to complete our work and change people's lives. I work with coalition campaigns, and I know that building coalitions and working with project partners is sometimes easier said than done. There are a lot of things that make coalitions work, but here are two things that I've found really help keep the relationships strong:

Sometimes a candidate may charm you in an interview and demonstrate real brilliance in a test. But there might be problems that only emerge in the day-to-day grind of a job, and you'd only know about them by asking those who were with them in the trenches. Here are a few things to think about when checking references:

When people aren't 100% clear on their roles, projects can stall because of the lack of a clear driver or decision-maker. So when you're assigning work, try to explicitly articulate what role people should be playing. One option is to adopt this "MOCHA" model as an easy vocabulary to use when assigning responsibilities:

I've managed a lot of great people, and I love providing references when my former staff, interns, or volunteers are looking for a new gig. But there's one thing that a lot of folks forget to do that can make a big difference:

If you have a new boss or employee, make sure that you get aligned right at the start. Here are three easy steps to get things started off on the right track:

Telling an employee that her performance isn't as strong as it needs to be is one of the toughest conversations managers have. Preparing ahead of time can lower your anxiety, and help you deliver the message more effectively. Here are three steps to take as you prepare:

Most effective campaigns, nonprofit organizations, and associations have a culture of hard work, high pressure situations, and long hours. But the long hours and high pressure can take a toll on even the most committed organizers. To keep your team members productive, efficient, and sane, I recommend the following 3 tactics for managers:

If you let it, your calendar can fill up with meetings and other obligations to the point that you don't have any time left to work on your biggest priorities. Rather than just hoping time will become available, try deliberately scheduling work blocks into your calendar - two three- or four-hour blocks of time per week to do your most important work.

A friend of mine quit her job recently. Like many of us, this Lombardi quote was beaten into her psyche. Even though she was miserable, and there was no foreseeable way to make her work less miserable, she labored on. Finally, she asked herself some tough questions, and realized- there was an upside to quitting.

Short check-in meetings, especially in the morning, can be a great tool to get your team on the same page and pumped for the day. Too often, though, these meetings are low energy, drag on past the limits of people's non-caffeinated attention spans, and end up leaving participants more in the mood for a nap than a productive day. Here are three ways that you can make sure your meetings are nothing to snooze through.

When you're getting ready to hire a new staff member, make sure to distinguish between what is a "must-have" quality or skill for the role and what is simply a "nice-to-have." In doing this, pay special attention to what qualities tend to be inherent (i.e., you either have it or you don't) versus what can be taught or developed.