This is something most of us experience from time to time in the workplace. No matter how much we think we know or how much experience we have we’re still likely to make this mistake occasionally. The mistake of course is confusing friends with coworkers. There’s a big difference between friends and coworkers and to [...]
It’s finally happened. The unthinkable. The unlikely. The extremely rare! The tyrannical, psychotic bastard (substitute bitch and her as needed) that has been terrorizing employees for years has finally been discovered and removed by his boss. So now what? How do we deal with the wreckage and get everyone back on track? There are unfortunately [...]
I’ve had the good fortune (or misfortune) to work in a number of unhealthy work environments over my career. Not unhealthy in the physical sense but unhealthy in the Patrick Lencioni sense (think “The Advantage”). Psychologically unhealthy. These environments also included some of the worst managers and poorest leaders I had the pleasure to experience [...]
Most leaders want to improve their workplace environment. Improve morale, improve productivity, improve profitability, and increase the general success of the organization. Implementing any improvement program requires that you first understand the current state, which in turn requires you to be able to measure the current state. When helping a client establish formal project management [...]
I’ve had the good fortune (or misfortune) to work in a number of dysfunctional unhealthy workplace environments over the course of my career. I say “good fortune” in the context of having the opportunity to experience first hand some of the bad manager behaviors that, in my current career, I try to teach people how [...]
Allowing team members as much control over their work as possible is always a good way to develop intrinsic motivation and improve performance. I recently came across a great story that beautifully illustrates the power of autonomy and participation. I’d like to share this to hopefully inspire some of you try this concept out with [...]
It’s surprising to see how long it takes for an old, bad habit to die out. The resistance to allowing people to work from home is one that we should have been over a long time ago. The knee jerk reaction to this subject is mostly the result of management ideas that are holdovers from [...]
It’s always good to use a great title to lead into an important topic. I first came across this one (the great title) in “Reframing Organizations” by Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal. They in turn were referencing “The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First” by Jeffrey Pfeffer. Regardless of the origin [...]
Project managers know that a typical workday can be filled with “exciting” events. While these events make the day pass quickly, they tend to put the PM in a “reactive” rather than a “proactive” state. Dealing with a steady parade of crises leaves little time for project management. Lets take a closer look at the [...]
If you’ve ever worked with someone or had someone on your team who is “unpleasant” to work with then you know exactly what we’re talking about here. Ever work with a “screamer” or a bully? Dealing with bad behavior, at a minimum, is going to involve at least one (probably more than one) uncomfortable conversation. [...]
