Most people will tell you they are working as hard as they can, says bestselling business author Vicki Halsey. “The problem is, they still aren’t able to keep up with the workload. Today, people need to work smarter, not harder,” says Halsey. “That means leaders need to (1) be sure direct reports are clear on…
I have to share with you something that happened to me the other night. I’m at a restaurant having dinner with a colleague. We finally get seated, and the host hands us each a menu. Well, not exactly a menu, it’s closer to an encyclopedia. The options seem endless. We both struggle for a while,…
Dr. Reality has received an intriguing letter for this blog. It basically confronts a red-hot workplace issue, “Is it possible to perform at a level of maximum output without burning oneself into smoldering human wreckage?” Well, let’s read it first, shall we? Dear Dr. Reality: You have always been so candid and practical with…
Working from home can improve employee productivity and satisfaction and provide substantial cost savings for businesses. But is it right for everyone? Not necessarily. Even organizations with the most successful work from home programs confirm that some individuals work better in an office environment than they do from a home office. What about you? Here…
New survey data just published in the July/August issue of Training magazine shows a serious gap between employee desires and reality when it comes to goal setting, goal review, and performance feedback from their managers. More than 700 of the magazine’s subscribers were asked what they wanted out of their individual meetings with their managers…
Last week I met with a group of sales managers for a national retailer that is doing very well. Turnover is low. Same-store sales have been outpacing their peer group for five years. Quarterly and annual financials have been excellent. The question they were asking was, “How do we keep our people motivated?” I asked…
In a new column for Fast Company, Scott and Ken Blanchard share some of the best thinking from their recent leadership livecast on Doing Still More With Less where over 40 different thought leaders shared tips and strategies for getting work done during a time of limited resources. Feeling a little overworked and under-resourced yourself? …
In a two-part series on The Tougher Workplace, Los Angeles Times reporter Alana Semuels takes a look at how the recession has negatively impacted working conditions for both hourly and salaried employees. One of the main themes of her story is that businesses are asking employees to work harder without providing the kinds of rewards—financial…
Marissa Mayer’s decision to halt employee telecommuting at Yahoo has unleashed a torrent of controversy around telework, remote work, collaboration, and productivity. For those of us who work at home or remotely, or even in an office, it’s a great time to refocus on what we do—consciously or subconsciously—that looks like work but often isn’t.…
In their latest post for Fast Company online, management experts Scott and Ken Blanchard share that, “One of the big mistakes we see among otherwise promising managers is the self-limiting belief that they have to choose between results and people, or between their own goals and the goals of others. We often hear these people say,…