In theory, the word “ma’am” is a courtesy extended to women. But many women say it makes them cringe. In a recent poll by Survey Monkey, only two participants preferred the term “ma’am.” The best course of action? When in doubt, skip the courtesy term altogether.
Wind up a drop-in visitor’s chat by saying: “This is what we’ve spoken about … this is what you said you’ll do … and this is what I’m going to do.” The unspoken message: “Let’s start working.”
Here’s reassuring news to anyone who loathes a sycophant: According to new research out of Northwestern University and the University of Michigan, overt ingratiation can backfire. The research revealed that there is a wrong way and a right way to suck up. So what does work?
Be a better speed-reader by ignoring the “structure words,” such as “the” “or,” and “and,” which account for 60% of the words you read. You can skip them and still grasp the meaning of a sentence.
Question: Our company was acquired by a large corporation. When jobs were realigned, mine was assigned to a lower pay grade. However, as we merged functions, my responsibilities were effectively doubled. At my performance review, I received glowing praise. But I was told I will only receive a 1 percent raise because my salary is almost $10,000 more than others in my group. My boss says this decision is “not personal”. Should I believe him? -Demotivated
Between vague agendas and never-ending PowerPoints, meetings have become a waste of time for many. Here’s how some “experts” structure their huddles to make them productive and run smoothly:
Ask for the e-mail address and fax number when recording the phone number of someone you will add to your contact database.
Have you ever found a great table of data on the web and then gone through a 90 step process to copy, paste and clean up that data to use in your Excel worksheet? In many cases, you can set up a link to that data that not only keeps the data in the tabular arrangement, but allows you to refresh your data when the web site updates.
For all the talk of teamwork in corporate America, your co-workers should be oozing with collaboration. Right? Yet that’s often not the case. What do you do about another administrative pro who gives you the cold shoulder? How do you draw more collaboration out of that co-worker?
Say this: “You know that I have a huge capacity for work. As much as I want to devote 100% to all these assignments, the truth is that even I am spread too thin. May I propose some ideas on how we can distribute this work better?”
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