Five Reasons to Hold a Meeting
Before you hold your next meeting, be sure you and the others at the meeting know why it's being held. Meetings can drag on and feel like a waste of time if the goals are not clear to all in attendance.
Five Ideas to Increase Your Productivity at Work
Finding it hard to carve out time to get important things done? Checking email, people at your office door, unexpected meetings can all fill time but may not be getting you any closer to getting your own work done or to move ahead on projects.
Saying No to the Boss
If you’re the boss, you don’t necessarily want to hear the word “no.” If you have an issue or concern with a boss’s ideas, it’s not easy or may not be welcome to disagree. So is saying “no” taboo in the workplace?
Getting it Right the Second Time
Repeating yourself and doing it using different methods of communication can enhance persuasion and buy-in.
Are You a Manager or a Leader?
All leaders are managers but not all managers are leaders. Both managers and true leaders get things done through others, but managers do so by virtue of their specific position within their organizations, while true leaders— regardless of their official rank—do so by inspiring others. A real leader may occupy any position, from CEO of a large corporation, to first-line supervisor of a six-person work unit. The distinction is not in their official roles. It is in how they run their organizations. Managers focus on tasks; leaders focus on people.
The Myth of Work and Life Balance
No wonder a recent survey of North American employees found that 87 percent of respondents say their work/life balance is negatively affecting their health. If you’ve been killing yourself trying to achieve daily work/life balance, it may be a pipe dream.
Three Ways to Say No Without Saying No
We’ve all been there. A team member comes up to you with a “great idea.” Sometimes the idea is good, but maybe not great. Sometimes the idea has little merit. How do you respond in these situations without deflating the energies and passion of your team?
How Much Does Your Employee Turnover Cost?
Finding and keeping good employees can be a manager's biggest challenge. This online employee turnover calculator can help assess the financial damage that high turnover can create in an organization.
Four Tips for Conflict-Busting Conversations in the Workplace
The following tips will teach you how to turn your next meeting with conflicting employees into a productive conversation.
Leadership Reality Check
These seven “leadership realities” are often overlooked or undervalued in organizations.
6 Ideas to Improve Team Performance
Poor team performance and productivity is like leaving money on the table.
3 Strategies for Dealing with Toxic Leadership
Neutralizing assaults and waiting before responding can help deflect the problems of "working for a boss like that."
Best Practices with Interns
Interns can offer a company many positive attributes that can offset the time and energy needed to educate and mentor them.
Why don't managers delegate more effectively?
By taking a closer look at why delegation may not be their strong suit, managers can learn how to move beyond the fears of delegation and start doing it effectively.
Seven Signs You May be a Bad Manager
Even if you have no doubts about your management abilities, it might be wise to take a moment of introspection to see if any of these Seven Signs You May Be a Bad Manager could apply to you.
The Three Levels of Leadership
One of the challenges many managers and leaders face is in understanding the distinctions between levels of leadership. In fact, there is a whole level of leadership that many people don't even realize exists.
You Can't Manage What You Don't Measure
Though determining what to measure and how to measure can be tricky, once metrics are in place, you can "tell which strategies are working and which aren't."
Twelve Common Workplace Behaviors that Drain Energy
The source of your exhaustion might not be the tasks you’re doing or the hours you’re working—it may be the actions of the people laboring beside you.
Fair Play Makes You a Better Manager
The most important trait employees look for in a boss they want to work for is fairness.
Why You Need Equanimity
Equanimity is a term that is rarely heard in relation to management but can very helpful in dealing with the stress and coflict that is often inherent in the job.
Is the Peter Principle a Myth?
The Peter Principle holds that “in a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence."
13 Rules of Leadership
From “It ain’t as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning,” to a simple, “It can be done.” These 13 no nonsense rules from Colin Powell untangle much of the sometimes wordy and overblown ideas on leadership.
Don't Let Your Next Crisis Go to Waste
This idea takes the experience of a crisis and puts it to work in less trying situations.
Six Lessons for Creating Successful Virtual Teams
As the "virtual revolution" gains momentum, how can companies ensure that their virtual teams are producing the desired results? First, realize that comparing co-located teams to virtual teams is like comparing apples to oranges.
The Credo of an Empowering Manager
Here are 10 tips for managing people in a way that reinforces employee empowerment, accomplishment, and contribution.