Being a Manager
at Odoo.
May 2016
Team Leader
As an Odoo manager, you have to be 

team leader, before being manager.
”Management is doing things right.
Leadership is doing the right things.


-- Peter Drucker
What is a
team leader?
Someone who helps his team to succeed.
You have to be at the service of your team,
and not the other way around.
Culture
and the role of the manager.
The culture is not a document. 

It's the way you, the managers, act on a daily
basis with your team.
Many companies have nice sounding value
statements displayed in the lobby, such as: 

Integrity

Communication

Respect

Excellence
Enrol, whose leaders went to jail, and which went bankrupt
from fraud, had these values displayed at their lobby:
Integrity

Communication

Respect

Excellence
(These values were not, however, what was really valued at Enron.)
Odoo's Culture
Managers are the guardians of the culture


Build for the long term

Optimize for customer experience

Execute faster

Recruit, develop and retain great people
Innovate, be disruptive

Keep things simple

Give the autonomy
People
”We want to be proud of our people,
as much as we are of what we do.


-- HubSpot Culture
A big part of the manager role is to recruit,
onboard, develop and retain great people.
1
Recruit
Interview: 

assess competencies, not knowledge.
Evaluate what a person can do, rather than what
he knows.
Otherwise, people will appear better to you
because they are experienced, not because they
can over-achieve.
How to access competencies?
Is he smart? (IQ test)

Can he do a demo? (test it)

Can he understand business

process he does not know? (business flow)

Will he call a lot? (do qualification calls)

Is he a good developer? (develop sth)

Can he learn? (make him think about something he does not know)
“Great” people does not mean “perfect”.
We recruit people for what they can bring to
the team, not because they are perfect.
Exceptional skill
HR Skills
If you recruit for no default, you get
average people.
Red = Odoo
Green = Average Companies
A great interview is about testing what they
can do. Not about asking questions to check
what they know.
?
2
Onboard
new employees
First day at work.
Assign clear learning
objectives for the next
month. Define weekly targets
and be clear about the vision
and what you expect.


Make them perform
something useful quickly.
Also,
Don't treat trainees like trainees. Assign real
responsibilities and projects. There is no
trainee job at Odoo.


It's better for them, and it's better for us.
3
Retention
What motivates people?
Autonomy
Master / Evolution
Purpose
Autonomy
The desire to direct our own life.


Don't command and control, but trust people. Let
them express themselves.


Give responsibilities, not tasks and let them think
about how to achieve it.


Influence is independent of hierarchy.
Autonomy does not mean lack of guidance...
People need guidance; the more the better.
Mastery / Evolution
The desire to get better and better.


Invest time in training your team.


If someone fail, don't blame him but ask yourself
what you insights you missed to provide.


Give books for their personal developments.
Autonomy / Guidance
The right balance.


Always explain the “Why” instead of assigning
“What” to do. And let them the freedom to think
about “How” to do.


If you don't agree, argue rather than command.
It's sometimes tempting to avoid long
discussions, but being assertive is bad for
motivation and learning.
Purpose
What we do is in the service of something
larger than ourself.


Always explain the “Why”. Communicate the big
picture, even on small tasks.


Be sure everyone share the vision of the company
and your team.


Reward and congrats people. Tell them how
useful they are. Even for small tasks.
Decisions
the tool to execute faster
1
Decision
Profile
Quality
Fast Complete
Most Companies 

They try to do
everything: 

Quality, complete, fast.
OpenERP SA

We do less, but we
do it faster with
good quality
Our decision profile
Quality
Fast Complete
How to be faster?
Do only half of the things we should do.
Don’t do it
Do it
Things you would like to do
2
Keep
focused.
Less is more.
Keep the team focused
by sharing a clear direction
Good managers can tell you what to do.
Great managers knows how to remove
tasks that burden people so that they can
focus on what's essential.
Explaining “Why we don't do” is a great
way to keep people focused.




Example:

• If you say “please focus on usability”; you
just burden your team with more work.

• If you say “No new features”, you allow them
to focus on usability.
3
Build for the
long term
Odoo is a
marathon, not a
sprint.
Avoid building stuff for
one-shot operations.
Invest time only if it
allows Odoo to get
better in the long term.
Capitalize on everything
we do.
4
Build a
lean
company
Rigidity increased by:
• Exceptions
• Complex documents
• Permanent decisions
• Validation process
• Long-term roadmaps
• HR Policies
• Planning
• Hierarchies
Flexibility increased by:
• JIT thinking & decisions
• Less software, less code
• Open culture
• Trust Good Judgment
• Smart people 

Keep things simple:
flexibility over rigidity.
Good process help talented people to get
more work done.
Bad process try to cover recoverable
mistakes.
Great managers figure out how to get great
outcome by setting the appropriate context,
rather than trying to control their people.
Context (embrace)
• Strategy
• Objectives
• Clearly defined roles
• Environment to learn
• Decisions Transparency
• Metrics
Control (avoid)
• Top-down decisions
• Management approval
• Committees
• Planning and process valued
more than results

Context, no control
provide the insight and understanding to
enable the right decisions.
Summary
It's all common sense.
But sometimes, for no real reason, people
behave differently when they become managers
as they would have done in their personal life.
Inspired by:
37Signals (Rework, Getting Real) 

The Science of Motivation (Dan Pink)

Effectuation (Sarasvathy)

Netflix (Reed Hastings)

Hubspot (Culture Code)

Be a Team Leader, not a Manager!

  • 1.
    Being a Manager atOdoo. May 2016 Team Leader
  • 2.
    As an Odoomanager, you have to be 
 team leader, before being manager.
  • 3.
    ”Management is doingthings right. Leadership is doing the right things. 
 -- Peter Drucker
  • 4.
  • 5.
    Someone who helpshis team to succeed. You have to be at the service of your team, and not the other way around.
  • 6.
    Culture and the roleof the manager.
  • 7.
    The culture isnot a document. 
 It's the way you, the managers, act on a daily basis with your team.
  • 8.
    Many companies havenice sounding value statements displayed in the lobby, such as: 
 Integrity
 Communication
 Respect
 Excellence
  • 9.
    Enrol, whose leaderswent to jail, and which went bankrupt from fraud, had these values displayed at their lobby: Integrity
 Communication
 Respect
 Excellence (These values were not, however, what was really valued at Enron.)
  • 10.
    Odoo's Culture Managers arethe guardians of the culture 
 Build for the long term
 Optimize for customer experience
 Execute faster
 Recruit, develop and retain great people Innovate, be disruptive
 Keep things simple
 Give the autonomy
  • 11.
  • 12.
    ”We want tobe proud of our people, as much as we are of what we do. 
 -- HubSpot Culture
  • 13.
    A big partof the manager role is to recruit, onboard, develop and retain great people.
  • 14.
  • 15.
    Interview: 
 assess competencies,not knowledge. Evaluate what a person can do, rather than what he knows. Otherwise, people will appear better to you because they are experienced, not because they can over-achieve.
  • 16.
    How to accesscompetencies? Is he smart? (IQ test)
 Can he do a demo? (test it)
 Can he understand business
 process he does not know? (business flow)
 Will he call a lot? (do qualification calls)
 Is he a good developer? (develop sth)
 Can he learn? (make him think about something he does not know)
  • 17.
    “Great” people doesnot mean “perfect”. We recruit people for what they can bring to the team, not because they are perfect.
  • 18.
    Exceptional skill HR Skills Ifyou recruit for no default, you get average people. Red = Odoo Green = Average Companies
  • 19.
    A great interviewis about testing what they can do. Not about asking questions to check what they know. ?
  • 20.
  • 21.
    First day atwork. Assign clear learning objectives for the next month. Define weekly targets and be clear about the vision and what you expect. 
 Make them perform something useful quickly.
  • 22.
    Also, Don't treat traineeslike trainees. Assign real responsibilities and projects. There is no trainee job at Odoo. 
 It's better for them, and it's better for us.
  • 23.
  • 24.
  • 25.
    Autonomy The desire todirect our own life. 
 Don't command and control, but trust people. Let them express themselves. 
 Give responsibilities, not tasks and let them think about how to achieve it. 
 Influence is independent of hierarchy.
  • 26.
    Autonomy does notmean lack of guidance... People need guidance; the more the better.
  • 27.
    Mastery / Evolution Thedesire to get better and better. 
 Invest time in training your team. 
 If someone fail, don't blame him but ask yourself what you insights you missed to provide. 
 Give books for their personal developments.
  • 28.
    Autonomy / Guidance Theright balance. 
 Always explain the “Why” instead of assigning “What” to do. And let them the freedom to think about “How” to do. 
 If you don't agree, argue rather than command. It's sometimes tempting to avoid long discussions, but being assertive is bad for motivation and learning.
  • 29.
    Purpose What we dois in the service of something larger than ourself. 
 Always explain the “Why”. Communicate the big picture, even on small tasks. 
 Be sure everyone share the vision of the company and your team. 
 Reward and congrats people. Tell them how useful they are. Even for small tasks.
  • 30.
    Decisions the tool toexecute faster
  • 31.
  • 32.
    Quality Fast Complete Most Companies
 They try to do everything: 
 Quality, complete, fast. OpenERP SA
 We do less, but we do it faster with good quality Our decision profile Quality Fast Complete
  • 33.
    How to befaster? Do only half of the things we should do. Don’t do it Do it Things you would like to do
  • 34.
  • 35.
    Keep the teamfocused by sharing a clear direction
  • 36.
    Good managers cantell you what to do. Great managers knows how to remove tasks that burden people so that they can focus on what's essential.
  • 37.
    Explaining “Why wedon't do” is a great way to keep people focused. 
 
 Example:
 • If you say “please focus on usability”; you just burden your team with more work.
 • If you say “No new features”, you allow them to focus on usability.
  • 38.
  • 39.
    Odoo is a marathon,not a sprint. Avoid building stuff for one-shot operations. Invest time only if it allows Odoo to get better in the long term. Capitalize on everything we do.
  • 40.
  • 41.
    Rigidity increased by: •Exceptions • Complex documents • Permanent decisions • Validation process • Long-term roadmaps • HR Policies • Planning • Hierarchies Flexibility increased by: • JIT thinking & decisions • Less software, less code • Open culture • Trust Good Judgment • Smart people 
 Keep things simple: flexibility over rigidity.
  • 42.
    Good process helptalented people to get more work done. Bad process try to cover recoverable mistakes.
  • 43.
    Great managers figureout how to get great outcome by setting the appropriate context, rather than trying to control their people.
  • 44.
    Context (embrace) • Strategy •Objectives • Clearly defined roles • Environment to learn • Decisions Transparency • Metrics Control (avoid) • Top-down decisions • Management approval • Committees • Planning and process valued more than results
 Context, no control provide the insight and understanding to enable the right decisions.
  • 45.
  • 46.
    It's all commonsense. But sometimes, for no real reason, people behave differently when they become managers as they would have done in their personal life.
  • 47.
    Inspired by: 37Signals (Rework,Getting Real) 
 The Science of Motivation (Dan Pink)
 Effectuation (Sarasvathy)
 Netflix (Reed Hastings)
 Hubspot (Culture Code)