Working with a difficult person can be distracting and draining. Next time a colleague irritates you to no end, try these three things:
Management & Leadership
You Can’t Get It All Done
If you’re like most people, you’re overwhelmed with how much you have to do and frustrated by all the things you can’t finish. The reality is that there isn’t enough time to do it all. Once you admit that, you can explicitly choose what you are going to do. Instead of letting things haphazardly fall through the cracks, you can …
Even High Performers Need Feedback
Some managers assume their star employees don’t need feedback. They’re clearly doing a good job and they don’t need to improve, right? Wrong. Even your top performers need input to stay engaged, focused, and motivated. Frequently give your stars both positive and negative feedback. Tell them how much you appreciate their good work.
…
End a Mentoring Relationship Before It Dies
It’s easy for a mentoring relationship to outlive its worth. You get into a groove, you enjoy the stimulating conversations, and you’re learning. But sometimes you have to move on to move up. Set goals and assess whether you have achieved them. Once you have, it might be time to find a new mentor to help you with your next set of …
Make Service Easy for Your Customers
The notion of going above and beyond customer needs is so entrenched that managers rarely question it. But delighting your customers may be a waste of time and energy. In fact, most customers just want simple, quick solutions to their problems, and your company should make that possible. Think about the service initiatives you have …
Practice Being a Leader
Leadership is not an innate trait that you’re born with. It can be learned. The key is to practice before you have the official title. Start by focusing on the choices you make now, such as who to put on your team or what vendor to use for your project. Recognize that you likely don’t know everything. Making decisions based on …
Keep Your Cool When Getting Feedback
No one likes to hear that they aren’t performing well. Yet, everyone can improve. Next time you receive constructive feedback, do these three things:
Why U.S. Businesses Are Nervous About Losing Boomer Retirees
Along with overburdened retirement plans and overcrowded early-bird buffet bars comes yet one more worry as the flood of Baby Boomer retirements begins: The overwhelming majority of America businesses are not prepared to deal …
Run a Decisive Project Meeting
To keep momentum in a project, you need to run great meetings. Make your next project meeting productive with these three guidelines:
4 Secrets of the Most Productive People
The path to productivity is not a new assistant or project management software. It’s these four shared characteristics.
Regain Your Focus
Multitasking may speed you through your to-do list, but it also makes you more likely to make mistakes and miss important cues, and less likely to retain information. Here are three ways to focus:
Need a Mentor? Forget the Expert
When people early in their careers seek mentors, they often target those with a depth of experience. But experts can’t teach you everything. And, often they are so far removed from your day-to-day work that they can’t help you solve problems. Select at least one mentor with only a few more years of experience than you. Someone who …