Q: “Can you suggest a nice way to interrupt during a business conversation? For the past week, I have been meeting with vendors who hope to sell their products to our company. Some of these people spend a lot of time chatting or giving me unnecessary information. I am a polite and courteous person, but this is sending me over the edge. These incessant talkers are wasting time that I do not have. How do I get them to focus on the business at hand?” Trapped
Q: “After our former boss was promoted, his ‘favorite’ became our supervisor. Gina avoids chatting and doesn’t even say good morning when she arrives. She just keeps her head down, walks straight to her desk and gets to work. If she does talk, she’s usually complaining about the other supervisors. I recently told my previous boss that I’m not optimistic about this management change. My former teammate cannot help me develop into the leader that I want to be. What should I do?” Discouraged
Question: “Five months ago I was hired as an admin at a telecommunications company. Recently I’ve come to realize that while my boss and I do get along, he’s kind of a classic jerk—and everyone warned me about it. He’s rude, condescending, argumentative and sometimes just plain mean, but he seems to get away with a lot because he’s apparently terrific at bringing in profits. Does anyone but me feel there’s something not right about working so hard for someone you find personally offensive, even if you need the paycheck and your work relationship is perfectly functional?” – Valerie, Administrative Assistant
Wayne Turmel for Management Issues writes that conference calls and remote meetings can be challenging when it comes to engagement. Here are some tips to help you build connections from afar.
Quick question: What’s the most dangerous thing you do all day? Answer: Sit. Scientists at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana analyzed the lifestyles of more than 17,000 men and women over about 13 years. They found that people who sit for most of the day are 54 percent more likely to die of […]