How many times have you sat through meetings where discussions got off track, tempers flared, and the meeting ran longer than scheduled? These are just some of the frustrations meeting participants feel about a poorly run meeting. That’s why the second reason your meetings suck the life out of everyone is poor facilitation. Last week […]
“Hey, I’m having a meeting this afternoon, do you want to come?” “Yes! HOORAY! Thanks so much for asking!” Said no one ever. Millions of meetings occur in the U.S. every day and most professionals find that they lose approximately 31 hours a month to ineffective meetings. Why, you ask? Because most people who conduct […]
“So . . . how’s it going?” “Fine.” Most leaders know how important it is to regularly check in with their employees to see how things are going, but many of them don’t know WHAT to ask to get more than just a monosyllabic response. Below are some great questions you should be asking […]
Over the past five years or so, I’ve fostered almost 250 animals for my local animal shelter. Most of my fosters have been kittens; from the “bottle babies” who need to be fed round-the-clock to teenagers who romp, pounce, and cause a lot of chaos. Although they’re often a lot of work, caring for them […]
If honesty is the best policy, why is so difficult to be truly honest? Here are 5 tips for sharing your truth in a way others can hear it.
Great leaders know that discipline is just one of those things that comes with the job. However, most people who find themselves in leadership positions don’t receive the training needed to make their discipline efforts effective. Learning on-the-job works, but only if you have great leadership examples to follow. Therefore, here are five discipline practices […]
This week has been a very hectic week for me, and it’s only Wednesday as I write this post. I’ve had many competing priorities and others’ priorities have worked their way into my life as well. To make it through, I’ve had to say “no” a lot. I’ve told myself “no” when I’ve been tempted […]
One of my personal pet peeves is bad voicemail greetings. I can’t stand calling someone’s home and hearing a four year old giving a voicemail greeting. Having the whole family on the line drives me crazy too. In the workplace, it’s voicemail greetings like the ones below that make me want to hang up and […]
This past weekend, I was recovering from oral surgery that left it difficult for me to talk or to get much work done. As a result, I spent a lot of time sitting on my couch watching television. (Here’s a pic from my vantage point on the couch.) As I caught up on my favorite […]
Every time I teach a “Making Meetings Work” workshop, I ask the group, “How many of you enjoy going to meetings?” Can you guess how many hands go up? You’re right — none! Since so many of us don’t like to go to meetings, I think we’ve developed some bad habits as a subconscious rebellion. Unfortunately, […]
