Email has become the de facto standard for business communications. It is on our desktop, our laptop and our phone. For this reason email has become the new form of “on the record” types of communications within organizations, thus like everything else subject to politics. Office politics within an organization seems to be an unavoidable [...]
How To Improve IT Customer Service
Over the years IT has evolved and become more customer service oriented. No longer is an IT department just about keeping the hardware and software running. We serve customers within the organization with products, services and solutions. Gone are the days when IT was disconnected from the business. IT is now an integral part of [...]
13 of the Worst Email Mistakes Made at Work
Doing research for another post I ran across a survey where people were asked if they had ever sent out an email message to the wrong person or copied someone by mistake. Not surprisingly seventy-eight percent of the respondents answered yes they had. I am sure we all have sent out emails by mistake. I [...]
How a Proactive IT Manager Can Handle Any Crisis
Today many IT professionals are expected to do more with less. This means there more pressure with less time, more work with fewer staff members, and more control with less tolerance for mistakes. All of these can put the business at risk unless processes, plans and monitoring are put in place to handle potential problems. [...]
5S System Challenges – Slow and Steady Implementation
You will face many challenges implementing and sustaining a 5S System. One of those is that a 5S System represents change. One way to make the change easy for employees it to use a slow and steady method if implementation. The first thing to remember is there is no cookie cutter solution when it comes [...]
SaaS Fail? Many IT Customers Not Enthusiastic About SaaS
According to a recent survey many IT users in the U.S. and U.K. are “underwhelmed” with SaaS. Software as a Service (SaaS) has gained in popularity as IT looks to cut costs, however it seems a lot of customers are not yet fully satisfied with the results. The Gartner survey of users and prospective users [...]
Management Tool – Employee Performance Log (PLog) System
There are many times when a manager needs to recall facts and information about an employee. During performance reviews and dealing with disciplinary issues top the list. As a manager one tool I have found to be very useful for this task is keeping an employee performance log (PLog) for each of my reports. An [...]
Dealing With Harassment and Discrimination in the Workplace
Anywhere people work together conflict is inevitable. As a manager you must work to promote healthy associate relationships and deal with conflict in a constructive manner. Harassment in the workplace is a serious issue every manager should educate themselves on. Sooner or later you will deal with it. Sometimes what starts as poking fun or [...]