People Skills
Question: “I’ve been asked to write a thank-you note to one of our clients who put the company through hell recently. How do we grit our teeth and write a pleasant paragraph that won’t seem disingenuous?”
Does your team really behave like a team? Over time, some teams develop cliques and grow distant—if not downright hostile—to outsiders and new members. If you want to keep your team productive and healthy, you have to keep the “in-crowd” from taking over. Here’s how to intervene.
Remember that you can easily blow your career by losing your cool at work. So, predetermine what might cause such incidents and identify ways to deal with them civilly and compassionately.
If you point “human speed bumps” in the right direction, you can turn their pessimistic outlook into a strength.
If you or your people communicate with customers over the phone or via email, you undoubtedly have to deal with some who are worried, flustered or angry. Avoid making the situation worse with disingenuous, inaccurate or insincere replies:
Heading a committee or leading a project team is quite a job to begin with. When the group’s work gets heavy or complicated enough that you have to appoint subcommittees to handle specific areas or tasks, your job can become even tougher. These four tactics should help.
Running a department or business is a serious endeavor. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a sense of humor.
Yes, you can order your employees to do what you want, but you’ll get better results by persuading them that you know what you’re talking about. Persuasion is a skill that can be developed with practice. Here are four tips.
Even the best leaders make mistakes from time to time. What makes them stand apart is a willingness to face up to their flaws and correct them. Take a good look at your performance, and guard against these shortsighted errors.
One of your employees has done something wrong. Before you call him or her on the carpet, ask yourself these questions.
Most managers don’t spend a lot of time on discipline, so it’s no wonder that many of them aren’t very good at it. Correcting mistakes and misbehavior is part of the job, though. Learn to avoid these pitfalls.
It’s not simply what you offer in the way of money and position that affects your hiring success rate. How you behave as an interviewer also carries great weight. Take note of these interviewer behaviors that applicants are very aware of—and don’t like.
Conflicts at work may be inevitable, but they don’t have to be destructive. Remember this advice for keeping disagreements between employees from spiraling out of control.
