Management Information

Why Training Fails

Sometimes when I conduct my workshop on Effective Meetings, one of the participants will ask, "Where's my boss?"And I say, "Your boss claimed to be an expert on holding effective meetings."Then the person laughs.

Another Use for Meetings

Every meeting is a laboratory where you can observe and learn important things about the people who attend. In fact, you can use meetings to identify people who merit being promoted into leadership positions.

Employee Turnover: Is It Eating Up Your Profits?

Keeping the cost of doing business down, yet providing a quality product or service, is one of the most critical components of success for today's leader. What many fail to realize is that employee turnover can represent a very substantial price tag to a company's productivity and its bottom line.

Quality Hiring: Are You Doing It Right?

Quality hiring is more than running ads, screening, interviewing and checking references. It is a series of specific procedures that can bring in top candidates or create bottlenecks and inefficiencies.

Employee Surveys: a Strategic Tool for Positive Change

Do you want to measure your workers' level of satisfaction? Or change policies and procedures to make them more effective? Or find out if your supervisors are stuck in out-dated ways of managing? Good Idea! But how do you make sure you are getting reliable information to make sound management decisions?When it comes to conducting quality research, a pound of prevention is worth much more than one ounce of cure. Here are five steps to turn your employee surveys into a powerful strategic change management tool.

Employee Motivation: It's More Than A Paycheck

Managers often ask, usually with exasperation, "How can I keep my employees motivated? I pay them decently. What else is there?"Offering competitive salaries is certainly important.

Effective Meetings - Quick Survey

Here's an easy quiz to check the health of your meetings.1) Who leads your meetings? a) No one, b) Everyone, c) A facilitator2) What happens to the ideas in your meetings? a) If we had to think of ideas, it would be work, b) We make fun of them, c) A scribe writes them on a chart pad3) Are results obtained in your meetings? a) We eat all the donuts, b) And we drink all of the coffee, c) Yes!4) Do your meetings have an agenda? a) Is that some kind of cabinet?, b) I saw one once in an article, c) Yes!5) Who attends your meetings? a) We have bleachers to hold the spectators, b) The entire staff plus any homeless people in the neighborhood, c) Only those who can contribute6) How long are your meetings? a) I'll let you know when this one ends, b) All day, c) An hour or less7) During a meeting do you: a) Break a foam cup into bits, b) Prepare for the next meeting, c) Focus on the topic8) How soon after the meeting do you issue minutes? a) If you think I want to publicize how much time we wasted, you're nuts, b) Within a few months or so, c) As soon as possible, if not faster9) While someone is speaking, do you: a) Wonder about the strength of plastic foams, b) Plan a way to change the subject, c) Listen empathetically10) What structured activities do you use in your meetings? a) We sit on chairs, b) Everyone leaves at the same time, c) Process tools designed to gather information, make decisions, and manage participation.

Why Would Anyone Hold a Bad Meeting?

Pssst, want a stock tip that will make you rich? Okay, here it is: phone a public corporation and ask to speak with the CEO.If a secretary tells you that the CEO expects to be busy in meetings for the next six hundred years, call your broker and sell the stock short.

How to Hold Effective Staff Meetings

Many people believe that they conduct effective meetings, when all they really do is host a party. Or worse, they deliver a monologue.

Quick Tip - Effective Meetings Have a Complete Agenda

Most agendas for a meeting look like this.* Budget* Payroll* Staff* Sales* VutszxtnSome people would tell me, "That's a perfectly good agenda.

Jewelry Use by Employees

Many companies have dress codes, which include jewelry. Some companies do this because they do not wish to offend customers who are of various faiths by employees who wear necklaces with religious symbols.

Employee Orientation: The 90 Day Difference

Why do some new managers succeed while others fail? It all depends on the first three months - the critical time when the new hire is learning the ropes. The new manager's boss plays a vital role in the orientation process.

You're Hired, Now Go Home: Managing Workers at a Distance

Telecommuting or virtual work opens up a wider net of potential employees for businesses - the disabled, the stay-at-home parent, the student, the retired, the flextime person, etc. However, it also creates unique challenges in hiring, supporting and managing this new group of workers.

Management Training: Are You Satisfied With The Results?

If you're not satfied with the results of your management training programs, maybe it's because you handle training as a 'one shot' event rather than a process of developing your people to be better managers.One of the common misconceptions is that a manager can take a course and voila he is now skilled in communicating with others, or managing his time or delegating work.

Empowering Others - Giving Them Some Control

It's been a pretty good weekend around the place - not done a lot, but I have done what I've wanted to do - and that makes the difference.I changed my role when I first left the employed world.

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