I give you CareerJournal.com’s Another Meeting? Good. Another Chance To Hear Myself Talk: Mr. McKay’s confession helps answer the question of why, if everybody hates meetings so much, do we have so many of them? Great question. The gentleman referenced in the article misses meetings in his new company! My word, I cannot relate to that sentiment. Here is the stunning research results: Steven Rogelberg, a professor of industrial organizational psychology at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and a group of colleagues found that among people surveyed about their last meeting, 69% rated them at least “good,” while only 16% rated them “poor” or worse. And although 50% said… Read More
Continue ReadingWide-Angle Thinking
I just caught up to this quote in a good quote from Peter Drucker in BusinessWeek.com’s Wide-Angle Thinking: Surely, Drucker would have applauded. “Too many think they are wonderful because they talk well,” he once pointed out. “They don’t realize that being wonderful with people means listening well.” Here is another aspect we subscribe to in our sourcing activities: Handy goes even further, advising that companies should roam far beyond their traditional bounds to better understand not just technology but myriad practices and processes. Say, for instance, a manufacturer needs to tap a team of top talent for a project that will be disbanded after a relatively brief period. Handy’s… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Problem With Gen Y
BusinessWeek.com offers up a scathing discussion of Gen Y in Getting to Know Gen Why. I’m no expert on Gen Y, but this article takes them out to the woodshed (had to throw in an old school saying). What you hear is: “They don’t want to pay their dues, play by the rules, or give their best to any project unless they are sure it will get them a promotion, a raise, or some kind of recognition. And then if they aren’t totally happy, or if you look at them wrong, they’ll bolt for the next job!” And this: Today’s students memorize names, dates, and algebraic equations, but they graduate… Read More
Continue ReadingOwning The Job
The principle of owning vs. renting is powerful especially when it comes to an employee’s job. Ownership of a job is a fickle thing. Yet, I have worked for managers who assigned responsibility and provided enough autonomy to allow me to excel in my role. The younger generations seem to relish this approach even more than my Gen X group. ManageSmarter.com offers up an article with a clear title – Padlocking the Revolving Door on Turnover. There are 4 good points to support the article’s title, but one stands out clearly: • Foster a sense of ownership within employees. The old encouragement to “act like you own it” is good… Read More
Continue ReadingPeople Need More Feedback
Wall Street Journal offers Avoiding Conflicts, The Too-Nice Boss Makes Matters Worse…you can see where this is going. “In a knowledge economy, where work is more complex and interdependent, people need feedback more — what they particularly need feedback on are on things that are difficult to give: one’s interpersonal style,” says David Bradford, a lecturer at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. … Bosses who want to avoid any discomfort, “use generalities so people really don’t know what they’re talking about,” says Laura Collins, an HR consultant. Instead, they tend toward one-size-fits-all comments: “pay a little more attention to detail” and “improve the way you communicate” and “develop better organization… Read More
Continue ReadingThe End Of Telecommuting?
Perhaps the telecommuting trend will end before it truly gets established? I doubt it, but this Wall Street Journal article discusses some bellwether technology companies that are calling back a portion of their telecommuters. A few big promoters of home-based and mobile-office work arrangements, including AT&T, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and parts of the federal government, have called some home-based workers back to the office, causing some to quit. The callbacks are small and don’t reflect a full retrenchment, but the factors at work — a push to consolidate operations, and the notion that teamwork improves when people work face-to-face — suggest other employers might follow suit as recession clouds loom. I… Read More
Continue ReadingThe 7:1 Rule
An interesting article here from CNNMoney.com titled 8 ways to be a better boss. The article focuses on coaching which is a task that many sales managers avoid to their own detriment. There are some excellent points in the article and this tidbit of which I was not familiar: 2. Always follow the 7:1 rule. “You must give seven pieces of positive feedback for every one piece of developmental feedback if you don’t want to be perceived as overly critical,” Frankel says. “Catch people in the act of doing things right and reinforce it with praise” – even if they’re just doing the job they get paid for. Seems like… Read More
Continue ReadingWhy Communication Matters
I’m presently working on some leadership projects with our customers so these topics are probably on my mind more than usual. ManageSmarter.com presents an article Communication for Managers 101 that provides 5 steps for better communication between managers and employees. Some of the suggestions are rudimentary, but we encounter many managers who simply do not follow these basic tenets. The reason why good communication is important, in case you had to ask (emphasis mine): Harvard Business Publications recently confirmed what many have always known: effective communication is the number one skill for executives to develop. … A Gallup poll of more than 1 million U.S. workers concluded that the No.… Read More
Continue Reading10 Management Lessons
There might be nothing more important to a business’ success than strong management. When management struggles, the entire company pays a price no matter how large. ManageSmarter.com offers an article with 10 excellent tips for leadership. Here’s a taste: • Have a vision and communicate it. Make sure you clearly communicate your vision for the company. No one follows a leader who cannot communicate the way in which the company will succeed. The future of all your employees is tied closely to the success of your company. Make sure they believe in your company, what it stands for, and its products and services, and make sure they know that the… Read More
Continue ReadingWhy Do Salespeople Quit?
I’ve read in many articles, blog posts and white papers that people take a job because of the company and quit because of a manager. I have talked to many salespeople about why they are looking for a new opportunity and the vast majority do come down to their manager. But there is an specific reason that we have been encountering of late when it comes to salespeople. Companies desire to seek out and hire strong salespeople and expect that these new salespeople will be strong for them without extensive direction or guidance from them. This lack of involvement is a pet peeve of mine. Do the salespeople want to be hand held? No, but… Read More
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