There comes a time in your work life that you will meet someone who you know can’t do his job properly. He might be in a brand new position. It might be their first job. Whatever the story, you may feel the urge to find ways to either circumvent him or do his job for [...]
Today, I had one of those email days with a co-worker. You know what I’m talking about: I had a problem and sent an email. He replied with an email. I replied with an email. Email, email, email. The problem wasn’t getting solved, and worse, we were escalating and misunderstanding each other over and over. [...]
You’ve just started a new project. You have the expertise to finish your portion of the tasks. You’ve got reasonable deadlines, the right amount of resources, and best of all, you believe in the work you’re doing. Looking over all your preparation work, you think you’re ready to start working. Think again. Whenever you begin [...]
Since my last post focused on leaving a team, I thought I’d look at the flip side of the picture on what to do when you join a new team. (You know that song, right? ”Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”) Joining a new team can seem daunting: you have to rebuild [...]
Normally, I write about how to maintain healthy relationships at work. Sometimes, however, you have to leave a team. You may choose to go because you’ve found a better opportunity. You may quit because you’ve decided the job isn’t right for you. Or you may be fired or let go under unfortunate circumstances.
If all you do is complain: You don’t solve any problems. You don’t get anything done. You feel bad. You cause other people to waste time. You don’t learn anything new. You waste time. You stir up negativity with no recourse. You reveal ignorance to other people’s problems. You lose the respect of people who [...]
Now, I’ll be honest up front and say that I believe I have expertise in a few subject areas. Writing for one. Team management for another. We all have these areas of expertise which we not only use to nab a paycheck, but we’re proud of them. They distinguish us from the crowd, and we [...]
Right after college, I taught English in Japan on the JET programme (which I highly recommend for anyone who wants to really experience living abroad). At my base school, I was grouped together with all the normal English teachers as a teacher’s aide – I would go into classrooms with the main teacher and supplement [...]
Most of us know the cliché, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease,” meaning that the loudest people gain the most attention. The complaining shopper earns free credit at a department store. The crying sibling gets more sympathy from her parents. The co-worker with the best boasting skills receives the promotion. Well I say, throw away [...]
It’s been a while since I wrote about self-managed teams, but it remains a topic dear to my heart. Teams that choose how to divide work and responsibility often get more done than when a manager dictates work, and for good reason. It creates buy-in, and you gain a sense of how you personally impact your [...]
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