This week in the pm-clinic discussion forum – The softer side:

(Note: please remember that just because I post these situations, I’m not their author: these things aren’t happening to me, but folks on the pm-clinic list. I get mail now and then that assumes all of these situations are *mine* which I find quite entertaining, but worth clarifying).

How do you keep the middle talent on your team motivated? I manage a team of 10 and I find the stars and the low performers easy to manage: it’s clear what i should do and how to do it. But the middle third is tough: i can’t reward them as well the top, and I’m not inclined to manage their performance like I would a low performer: the result is they get less attention from me. I’d like to push them to compete with the top, but I’m not sure I want my team competing with each other too much – so how do you manage for a happy middle talent pool on your team?

– Managing the middle