As managers we often face long-term projects and initiatives that test our metal. Our IT department is near the end of an initiative that has evolved over a seven-year period. It has encompassed many projects, many departments and a lot of my time. Now with less than 10 weeks left until the end of this initiative the end is finally in sight. Over the next few months I plan on sharing some of … [Read more...]
How To Use Progressive Discipline for Employees
As managers we all must deal with employee issues from time to time. You should have an established process for dealing with them. Your goal is to correct the issue and improve the employee. This is not about punishment for an employee. It is about using a system to help the employee return to being an effective member of your team. In this article I will outline the steps used in progressive … [Read more...]
What Makes Employees Happy?
A happy employee is a more productive and content employee. So what makes an employee happy with their job? A good salary, with good benefits and a good work environment only go so far. Employees want job satisfaction, they want to feel like they are a part of something and that their contributions are appreciated. Recognition This is one of the biggest complaints employees have. They feel their … [Read more...]
Four Essential Skills For Managers to Master
All managers can agree that many skills are needed to be an effective manager. But what skills are the most important skills that a manager needs to master? To be a more effective manager you should master four skills. Communications, motivation, building trust and leadership are critical skills for every manager. These four skills are essential for a productive work environment, a cohesive and … [Read more...]
Management Skills – Professional Communications
We all want to be seen as professional. But professionalism is in the eye of the beholder so even though you may think you are coming off as professional, in reality you may not. Over the next few articles I will explain how our professionalism is judged and give some tips on how to maintain your professional reputation. We Are Judged on Our Communications Effective communicators must be able to … [Read more...]
Improve Your Time Management in Easy Three Steps
For busy managers time management is essential to getting things done. Time management is about controlling your most valuable resource, your time. Time management is a process and just like any process you can improve it. As I mentioned in the post Management Tools – Time and Problem Management Simplified I am a big fan of using lists to manage time, tasks and problems. My method is … [Read more...]
What to Do With Under Performing Employees
Turn an under performing employee around by couching, motivating the employee, giving them clearly defined expectations and make sure they are fully trained. Every company has some "ducks." Ducks are employees who have a detrimental effect on productivity. Their work is consistently substandard, they rarely meet deadlines, and their skills are out of date. They hate change, resist taking … [Read more...]
How To Work Under Pressure
In the IT world working under pressure is a daily event. Knowing the steps to take when faced with an issue can lessen the stress of working under pressure. Deadlines, project changes, unforeseen obstacles, critical outages are only a few of the stressful issues that can arise in the IT world. We face these circumstances often and can feel a great deal of pressure to get them taken care … [Read more...]