If there’s one person to keep happy at work [other than yourself], it’s your boss. When they’re not happy, though, it can be difficult to stay on their good side.
So when faced with a grumpy boss, try not to give in to a negative workspace and attempt to change the situation for the better.
Brad Isaac suggests 5 ways to do so, the last being Stay Away if the… » Continue
October 24 2007 | By Craig | Tagged: boss, workplace | 1 comment»
Two of the greatest influences on management thinking and practice have been the militaristic politics of the Roman Empire (via the Roman Catholic Church—a masterpiece of top-down, centralized, hierarchical control) and the world’s armies.
Look at the words we use: “command and control,” “stuck in the trenches,” “didn’t have the firepower.” We “attack the issues head-on.” When people oppose us they “shoot down our ideas” or “get us from behind,”… » Continue
October 22 2007 | By Adrian | Tagged: business, Communication, Management, workplace | 11 comments»
Research at the Norwich Business School by Prof Yehuda Baruch is suggesting that allowing, or even encouraging, some bad language in the workplace could benefit employee morale and spirit.
“We hope that this study will serve not only to acknowledge the part that swearing plays in our work and our lives,” said Baruch, “but also to indicate that leaders sometimes need to ‘think differently’, and be open to intriguing ideas.”… » Continue
October 19 2007 | By Craig | Tagged: Communication, workplace | 16 comments»
Can you name four different facets of energy that will get you through your work day? Do you know how you can better manage that energy so you work, and play, better?
President and founder of The Energy Project in New York and a co-author of The Power of Full Engagement Tony Schwartz says the key to productivity is managing your energy, not your time.
The first level is physical. That’s… » Continue
October 2 2007 | By Craig | Tagged: energy, workplace | 2 comments»
It’s been said that a man who stands on principle is bound to face personal attack. In my line of work, school administration, this has certainly been true as attacks can come literally from out of the blue. A longtime colleague can take you on, seemingly out of the blue with a laundry list of complaints. The next day, an attack might come from a parent… » Continue
September 25 2007 | By Mike | Tagged: attack, Communication, Management, stress, workplace | 7 comments»
Author of “Motivation from the Inside Out: Rethinking Rewards, Assessment, and Learning” and “Beyond Bribes and Threats: Realistic Alternatives to Controlling Students’ Behavior”, Alfie Kohn wrote this piece for the New York Times in 1993 about rewards in the workplace not motivating employees the right way.
Kohn suggests that these rewards act the exact same as punishments and create negative work environments.
Whatever the reason, rewards turn play into work… » Continue
September 17 2007 | By Craig | Tagged: motivation, workplace | 24 comments»
Matt Cornell suggests a dozen good ways to get an office into productivity by looking at individual’s habits as a group.
Create an information radiator [6] (e.g., a big wall chart) that shows things like: size of each person’s email or paper backlog, # of days since last emptied inboxes, # of weeks since last weekly review, # of times checking email/day, etc. NB: Must be done positively, and without… » Continue
September 4 2007 | By Craig | Tagged: Productivity, workplace | 1 comment»
I’ve never worked in a cubicle, so please excuse my ignorance on the subject. There’s a site that manufactures cubicle doors called CubeDoors.
It’s a retractable screen that you stretch over the opening of your cubicle much like a sideways projector screen. Not a bad idea, I thought.
Having an indicator to when you are not available is pretty important. Especially when you don’t have any doors! Closing things up… » Continue
August 30 2007 | By Craig | Tagged: workplace | 30 comments»
Want to try a few new things at work that’ll make for a happier and more productive day? Take a look at these 25 tips to doing just that.
Turn off Your Computer. “What?!” you say. “Everything is done on my computer!” Well is it really? What percentage truly is? Plan to have your computer on only for that amount of time each day. Plan out blocks of time for… » Continue
August 28 2007 | By Craig | Tagged: Productivity, workplace | 6 comments»
In any large workplace there are people you should get to know to make your life easier. You may not realize it, but a good relationship with the receptionist and your IT department could change things dramatically at work.
IT Support:
DO: Make friends and really stroke his/her ego. Let’s face it, he is a techy type and may not have the greatest of social skills (may not), but he is… » Continue
August 27 2007 | By Craig | Tagged: workplace | no comments»
Why finding happiness at work may be less complicated that you think.
Everyone wants to be happy at work. Nearly everyone also wants to feel fulfilled by what they do. The Baby Boomer generation thought they could achieve both of these by hard work, long hours, and (hopefully) hard cash. Many people today are not so sure they were right.
Their conventional approach at least had the merit of being clearly… » Continue
August 6 2007 | By Adrian | Tagged: happiness, life, relationship, workplace | 7 comments»
Building on a similar topic discussed here at Lifehack.org is this WikiHow of how to be a good boss.
It’s easy to hate a bad boss, but I always secretly feel sorry for some of them that just seem unable to grasp what they should be doing to get the best out of their employees. Because, as this article states, if you’re not a a good boss, you make… » Continue
June 11 2007 | By Craig | Tagged: boss, workplace | no comments»
The Brazen Careerist, Penelope Trunk, wrote of 9 myths associated with the common workplace. Her most interesting concept, that she’s written about before, is the myth that if you enjoy your job your life is improved so much.
I happen to think there is a lot of truth in that myth, however, Penolope’s argument that there is more importance in a positive attitude towards any work and good relationships in… » Continue
May 22 2007 | By Craig | Tagged: myth, office, office-politics, officelife, workplace, workplaces | 1 comment»
Think you’ve got it bad at work? Your boss might have more to complain about than you. Where you may have one person to direct all your angst to, your boss has many.
For the benefit of a healthier work environment, here are some reasons why you might be the source of strife.
1. Lateness
2. Lack of initiative
“Don’t ask me if you should buy lunch for the client, if the client is… » Continue
April 3 2007 | By Craig | Tagged: boss, relationships, workplace | 7 comments»
One of the age old questions in the workplace is, “How do you find a good mentor?” The Goal Setting College weblog gives insight into how to pick a quality and reliable mentor. With the large quantity of leadership and mentoring courses available today, Goal Setting College does a nice job of cutting through the fat to help you identify worthwhile mentors. The article covers the following… » Continue
March 19 2007 | By Kyle | Tagged: Management, mentor, workplace | 3 comments»
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