What your boss doesn’t need to know
Tell a lie about a co-worker? Never. But there are times your boss doesn’t need to know everything, says Nicole Williams, author of Girl on Top. Here are five things your boss doesn’t need to know about you.
Category: People Skills
1-Minute Strategies: Sept. ’09
Reduce the odds that a conversation will bog down when people take things too personally by avoiding statements that begin with “you.” … Learn how you can add more value at the office by conducting your own “listening tour.”… Stay current on technology by signing up for free e-newsletters. …
Boss a creative type with too many ideas?
Whether you call your boss’s work style “creative” or “chaotic,” when your higher-up is full of ideas, it seems impossible to follow through on everything. You can help an idea person by putting structure into your conversations with him, says Alaina Love of Purpose Linked Consulting.
Cultures clash on technology use
Technology is blurring the lines between work and leisure and revealing real tensions between Gen Y, Gen X and baby boomer employees. A recent LexisNexis survey reveals divergent ideas about what is and isn’t an appropriate use of technology and software in the white-collar workplace:
5 steps to making an online tutorial
You need to show Tom how you pull together monthly data, and one of the newly hired assistants needs coaching on some online tools. Here’s an easy way to accomplish both: Screencast-o-Matic lets you create a video from your screen (your “screencast”) and upload it to share.
Pressuring supervisors to meet deadlines
When a secretary posted a question on our Admin Pro Forum recently, she heard plenty of advice from admins who have trouble getting supervisors to adhere to deadlines. Here’s a sampling of their “been-there-done-that” advice:
Social networking tricks and tweets: Stay within protocol
Social media, such as blogs, Facebook and Twitter, are leading to confusion over what’s appropriate: Should your boss be your Facebook friend? Can you “tweet” about work? What would your firm’s VP say about your mentioning him in your blog? Some tips from etiquette expert and labor lawyer Joseph Clees:
Tame those bullies
Is bullying marring your workplace? Gary Namie, co-founder and director of the Workplace Bullying Institute, advises going directly to management.
What to say when dealing with a ranter
When a colleague or customer gets so upset they stop making sense, you need to remember this: Too much adrenaline is muddling their thinking. Here are the most common forms of ranting, along with what to say to get them back on track quickly:
Team ice-breaker: quick tip
Break the ice quickly with a new team by trying this: