We've all attended meetings that were a big waste of time. There are many ways meetings can go wrong, but as a manager, you can prevent many of those problems. Check your meeting behaviors against the following list, and make changes if you’re guilty of any of these sins: Meeting for the sake of meeting. Don’t fall into the rut of scheduling a marketing meeting for Tuesday … [Read more...]
Are You An Arrogant Boss? Here’s How To Tell
It’s one thing to be proud of your successes and promotions; it’s quite another to allow that pride to morph into arrogance. Reflect on your attitudes and actions, and identify whether the following statements are True or False: I behave toward my subordinates very differently than I do toward my superiors. If forced to choose, I’d rather make myself look good … [Read more...]
3 Leadership Mistakes That Make You Look Really Immature
Young supervisors face their own unique set of challenges. One of them, however, is often self-imposed: Some bosses are perceived as immature not because they are young, but because they act young. Eliminate these three immature behaviors to garner more respect from your employees, co-workers and boss: Blowing up at your team. Toddlers have tantrums; managers should … [Read more...]
Ira Glass on Being a Beginner
This quote from Ira Glass, the host and producer of NPR’s This American Life, has been embraced by many in the creative fields. We’ve seen it pop up on a number of design and photography blogs, but it’s just as relevant to those of us in the business world if you replace “good taste” with “vision.” Your “creative work” probably has more to do with creative problem-solving … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Ensure That Employees Understand (and Follow) Your Directions
This is a guest post by Phil Gerbyshack, a trainer and speaker. If you’re a boss, one of the most important parts of your job is giving directions. Whether you’re training, coaching, or assigning work, it’s critical to do the job right. If you think about what you do when you share travel directions, you’ll do a better job with supervisory directions. Here are some tips to … [Read more...]
7 Things You Should Have Done When You Were Promoted
You are several weeks or even months into your new leadership position, and you are struggling. You can't figure out why, but you don't feel like a leader (or your employees don't treat you like one), and each day brings challenges that you weren't quite expecting when you accepted the promotion. If that is the case, or even if you just want to become a more effective … [Read more...]
It’s Time to Hire: Don’t Botch This Critical Task
Most leaders can cop to hiring the wrong person at one point or the other. Perhaps they were dazzled by an impressive resume and overlooked key requirements for the job. Maybe they were tight on budget so they hired someone on the cheap, when much more experienced (and expensive) talent was needed. They could have been influenced by someone to make the hire, rushed through … [Read more...]
5 Biggest Myths Regarding Employee Motivation
Only 32% of employees in the U.S. are engaged, according to Gallup Daily tracking, and in the 15 years since Gallup started tracking the metric, it's barely budged. So despite the general awareness that people are disengaged, companies don't seem to be doing much to help the situation. Unfortunately as a new supervisor, you can almost expect to take over a team of people who … [Read more...]
A Much Better Way to Delegate Work During Stressful Times
Busy is a good thing, but if your employees are stretched too thin, it could be hurting the quality of their work. You may not be able to add staff right now, but you can do one thing to ease their stress: Show your employees how to prioritize work assignments. Conduct a workload assessment Take time to review what is on each employee’s to-do list. Discuss what they … [Read more...]
Mandatory Training Doesn’t Always Improve Behavior
What happens when an employee or customer survey indicates that the supervisors, customer service agents, or senior management team needs to behave in different ways? Often, someone in the organization creates a mandatory training program to teach the supervisors, customer service agents, or senior management team new skills in the hope that knowing about the new skills will … [Read more...]