‘Tis the season for holiday events including those at work and in your professional organizations. The office party can be great times to really get to know your coworkers and colleagues, a chance to network and make new connections, and overall, an opportunity to shine as bright as Rudolph’s nose. ‘ However, every year I […]
Within the mainstream U.S. business culture, the rules for handshakes are pretty straightforward and standard, but people often break them unknowingly. Additionally, before taking these rules overseas or across borders, keep in mind that handshake “rules” vary across cultures. Therefore, do your homework before interacting with those from other places in the world. Your handshake […]
Last week, I shared some common mistakes many meeting facilitators make when conducting meetings and I shared tips on how you can avoid them. For those of you who are tired of reading about meetings, you’ll be glad to know this is my third and final reason your meetings are not as effective as they […]
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 we […]
“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 […]
Most of the conflict I have experienced in my life, both firsthand and secondhand, has not been the result of factual disagreement, but of differing perceptions. Every day we interact with others, “notice” their behavior, and then proceed to draw conclusions about what it is, what it means, etc. Our interpretations, and thus our final perceptions, […]
Without even realizing it, you may have let wimpy words and powerless phrases sneak into your vocabulary. These words and phrases tell others that you’re unsure of yourself, your ideas, and your position. The result? They’re likely zapping your personal power and credibility at work. If you want to project confidence and authority and need […]
I’ve done many blog posts on how to be a better leader and supervisor as well as some that help readers identify when they’re not being at their best. However, I hadn’t thought about turning the tables and looking at the issue from the employee’s perspective, that is, what you should do if you have a […]
The first step in bridging the workplace generation gap is understanding that you have one and how extensive it is. By identifying your employees’ generations (no, don’t ask how old they are), you can take the first steps toward bringing your team together. From Harvard Business Review to Inc Magazine, articles about “Generations in the […]
If you’re over 30, you’ve probably made the mistake of trying to dump everyone under 30-ish into the much maligned box called MILLENNIAL. This post isn’t going to be about my beliefs that Millennials have received a bad rap by old folks (how does that feel Traditionals, Boomers, and X-ers?). It’s going to be about […]
