"Z"

Ex-colleague trashes us online: What to say?

June 8, 2022
Q. A senior leader was let go from our company. As a friend of hers, I’ve become aware of disparaging things she now writes online about it—nothing widely seen, but I think many of them are unjustified. I want to stay friends, but also put an end to these inaccuracies. Any suggestions?

The 10 tenets of a group dynamic

June 8, 2022
“A group or co-operative enterprise is more likely to succeed,” wrote researchers Malcolm Harper and A.K. Roy in a study published in 1980, “if the following conditions are satisfied.”

Let employees go out how they want

June 8, 2022
Like most rituals, the office farewell party is, in theory, a nice idea. But honestly… who has ever enjoyed theirs?

6 questions to consider after Elon Musk’s anti-telecommuting decree

June 8, 2022
When you think about the productivity of your remote employees, ask yourself these questions.

How to get your team to huddle up again

May 11, 2022
Q. I’m starting to feel like a football coach who has “lost the locker room.” After a couple of projects went very bad, I sense the staff has lost faith in me. What can I do?

Wow, now this is tone-deaf!

May 11, 2022
Recently, some workers received an email from their employer, a large health and science university. The email read: “In response to the current community hardship caused by the covid-19 pandemic, (company) has decided to assist all employees in getting through these difficult times.”

Time to stop testing for marijuana?

May 11, 2022
In this competitive hiring environment, Quest Diagnostic reports that fewer companies these days are testing their employees for THC, the chemical component in marijuana that delivers a high. Many employers have decided it’s most practical to stop testing for marijuana in most locations.

Don’t turn off that Zoom cam!

May 11, 2022
Employees should think twice before switching off their webcams during those seemingly endless Zoom meetings. According to a new study by software company Vyopta, 92% of executives in medium-to-large firms say people who turn their video cameras off in team meetings won’t last long.

3 deep-dive performance principles

May 11, 2022
The podcast “Think Fast, Talk Smart,” produced by the Stanford Graduate School of Business, recently featured a conversation with psychology professor Philip Zimbardo on the most powerful influencers of human behavior.

Make tough tasks brutally simple

April 13, 2022
Don’t you wish things were… well, frankly, easier? Well, maybe that’s not as far-fetched as you think.