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Year: 2015

Gift-giving: Great idea… on paper

Q: I’m a big gift-giver. When someone on my staff does great work, I pick a little gift, get it wrapped and give it privately to the individual. When I mentioned this to a manager at another company, she scolded me. She said I was setting a bad precedent. What do you think?

Managing your old-school ‘to-do’ list

Whether it’s on paper, online or on a smartphone, many people still structure their work and home tasks via to-do lists. But how do you decide which item to tackle first? Use this tried-and-true process to manage competing priorities.

Helping a co-worker stifle simmering resentment

Q: “My manager and I are concerned about one of my long-term employees who has a very negative attitude. ‘Jerry’ has been here for more than twenty years, but has not been promoted because of his job performance. He sometimes lets his resentment about this come to the surface. We recently got a new department head, and Jerry is having trouble adjusting to the change in management style. He doesn’t seem to understand that his poor attitude is going to cause him problems with the new boss. What can we do to help him?” Worried Supervisor

Careful where you dangle that cellphone number

Do you casually include your cellphone number in the email signature that’s seen by co-workers and clients alike? Watch out; if it’s there, it’s an invitation to use it when they can’t get through on your office line. Do you really want to be driving home and have some salesman calling your cell because he […]

Helper or enabler? The line is not that fine

Q: “I work with a woman who seems unwilling to learn anything on her own. About twelve months ago, ‘Tanya’ transferred back into our department after being gone for five years. Although we are now using completely different software, she refuses to take classes or consult the manual. Tanya constantly asks me to help her and often wants to copy my work. She shows no interest in the online training that I have suggested. Her endless requests are driving me crazy. What should I do?” Not a Teacher