‘Greenhouse’ ideas
One of the best ways to come up with creative ideas is to hold a “greenhousing” session where ideas are nurtured before they’re judged, says Dave Lewis, who runs ?What if! The Innovation Company.
Category: Communication
Resolving a conflict with the boss
Your boss asked you to prepare a spreadsheet for a meeting the next day. It took a couple of hours and some shuffling of priorities, but you did it. When you arrive at the meeting, though, your boss handed you a spreadsheet that someone else created. Should you tell your boss how frustrated you are?
Intimidated? Fight the feeling
Sara feels like retreating into her shell whenever a certain VP, with his bellowing baritone of a voice, talks to her. Sam shuts down in meetings when an opinionated co-worker dominates the conversation. Feeling intimidated is like having a heavy chain around your ankle. Here are some tips for combating the feeling.
1-Minute Strategies: March ’09
Pump up your managers with useful research they don’t have time to do themselves … Sharpen your workplace instincts by playing The Office-Politics Game … Soothe stress by first dividing triggers into two categories …
To get a good answer, ask a good question
If people asked good, direct questions instead of a vague “What do you think?” we’d never feel overwhelmed by all the queries sitting in our inboxes. Get the fast response you’re looking for by learning to ask a good question, advises Penelope Trunk, author of Brazen Careerist.
Online invitations
Sure, there’s Evite.com. But have you checked out the competition in online invitations lately?
Greening the rest of the office
You’re already doing your part to be “green” at the office by printing on both sides of paper, recycling and steering clear of bottled water. Now, what can you do to inspire your less-green co-workers? Tips from Tim Sanders, author of Saving the World at Work:
Thwarting ‘toxic takers’
Anytime you thrust people together, whether work related or family related, you come across a “toxic taker.” Toxic takers poison your environment, and you need to take action against them. Here are some survival tactics.
Watch your back with workplace saboteurs
She steals credit for your work, blames you for something that you didn’t do or attempts to damage your reputation: the workplace saboteur. Saboteurs are most apt to strike in a weak economy like the current one, business psychologist Wendy Alfus Rothman tells The Wall Street Journal.
Grammar Repair Shop: Top 5 phrases to avoid
Which phrases and buzzwords have we so overused and mangled that we should stop using them altogether? Researchers at the University of Oxford keep track of books, magazines, online media and other sources to look for “irritating expressions” that ought to be retired.