How to Protect Your Boss From Bad Meetings (13 Jun 2006) Attention bosses and assistants: Here's how to protect your valuable time, avoid ambushes, and create a good impression.
How to Select a Facilitator (13 Jun 2006) Facilitation is a complex activity. Thus, you want to make sure that you engage someone who knows how to help you get results. Here's what to look for.
IT Asset Management – How Times Have Changed (13 Jun 2006) IT Asset Management has changed over the years. Donna Johnson Edwards shares her insight on the direction she feels IT Asset Management is heading.
Problem-Solving Success Tip: Avoid Bug Mentality (13 Jun 2006) Fixing bugs fixes symptoms: like taking aspirin for a headache, it may provide temporary relief but does nothing to prevent the next headache. It's ok, and often necessary, to relieve the symptoms but you have to dig deeper if you're going to prevent problems from recurring.
How Culture Affects Sharing Information in an Organization (13 Jun 2006) Knowing yourself, your limitations, weaknesses and strengths provides an advantage when considering the ability to share and use information effectively. The same is true with an organization made up of people. The synergy experienced by a free flow of relevant information has great impact on your organization's ability to leverage its information assets.
Interviewing Overqualified Applicants (13 Jun 2006) A manager of a small business recently posted a job opening for a mostly clerical type job. A degree is not required and generally neither is judgment. She also put the level of compensation clearly on the job posting and worked very hard to not over exaggerate the importance of the position.
How To Make Meetings More Productive (13 Jun 2006) Meetings are a fact of business life, but most most of them are frustrating and time-consuming. The results are rarely worth the time and effort of the many people involved. Yet meetings, if they are well planned, well organized, and have good leadership
are the best way to have discussions and solve problems.
Hey Mr. Manufacturer-- Distributors Are not Catfish (13 Jun 2006) Some manufacturers may think of their distributors in the same vernacular. They may believe distributors are slick, quick, and eager to feed on the almighty dollar. They say distributors "bottom-feed" on rebates, discounts and special promotions, preferring lowered prices (i.e., dead stinky bait) as opposed to the hard work of selling value. Manufacturers believe some distributors have grown large and lazy, demonstrating the "Cadillac and Boat" syndrome. "I have all I need, a Cadillac and my bass boat, so why break my neck trying to capture even more market share?"
Management Coaching: Inside the Eight Steps (13 Jun 2006) Our research identified 47 qualities that distinguished great coaches from their opposites. We chose the key themes that did the best job of teaching what we had learned, and built our management coaching model with them.
Three Motivation Mistakes Managers Make (13 Jun 2006) Smart companies know that as the competition for talent heats up, they can no longer afford the luxury of another bad manager.
Introduction to Pipeline Integrity Management (13 Jun 2006) Pipelines are an essential component of our nation's energy supply. They remain largely unnoticed until disaster strikes.
Catastrophic Events = Business Purchase Opportunities (13 Jun 2006) Sometimes the best source for finding a quality business to purchase results from a catastrophic event - be on the look out for once-in-a-lifetime opportunities!
Catch Your Staff Doing Something Right (13 Jun 2006) As a manager, are you constantly juggling problems that crop up unexpectedly? Do you end up reacting to things instead of being ahead of the curve? Or, do you simply wish you were more plugged in to the every day workings of your department? There's a simple cure for all these problems. Read on...
Test Your Hiring IQ (13 Jun 2006) Great hires are always the result of good preparation, good information, and good decision making. Have you hired anyone recently? If so, how well did you do? You can probably teach a turkey to climb a tree - but it is easier to hire a squirrel. Test your ability to hire the right people with the right skills for the right
Smart Staffing: Replacing a Key Manager (13 Jun 2006) In today's hurry-up and get-it-done work world, many people are unwisely promoted to management positions. Basically, their abilities do not match or are insufficient for the new job role. Before you place someone in a management or supervisory position, take heed of three key staffing principles.
Morale Boosters: Feed the Troops First (13 Jun 2006) When economic conditions turn tough or when the heavy work load seems never-ending, leaders tend to forget the "basics"-building commitment beyond the paycheck. It's the small things everyday that can bring down morale and it's the small things everyday that can raise performance. Learn to quickly boost morale.
Employee Discipline: How to Nip Problems in the Bud (13 Jun 2006) Disciplining employees is so dreaded by so many supervisors that many look the other way when trouble develops, perhaps in the hope that the matter will correct itself. But most of the time it doesn't - it tends to go from bad to worse. Learn coaching techniques to prevent a potential problem from becoming a real problem.
