Employee Performance

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.

Shake up the team and its results with sprints

April 13, 2022
The sprint process as it relates to business is just what it sounds like: a burst of intense activity for a short, set amount of time, typically about five days. A team is challenged to zero in on one big goal and move from idea to prototype to customer outreach within that tight window.

Is role-playing really going to get you there?

April 13, 2022
It’s like eating your vegetables when you were a kid. You muscle through it in innumerable trainings; you trust (optimistically) that you’ll emerge from the exercise somehow better, more prepared for the real business world. But, just for a moment, let’s face what we all suspect but can’t give ourselves permission to admit: Role-playing may just be a bust. Let’s go over a few of the reasons why many of us just don’t want to try it anymore.

Zoom fatigue: 5 tips to help employees feel better connected

April 13, 2022
If you find yourself exhausted after the third videoconferencing call in a row, you’re not alone. Say hello to Zoom fatigue.

Dog meets homework: How to interpret and deal with 6 classic employee excuses

February 25, 2022
While hopefully not as flimsy as the grade-school classic about canine intervention, adults offer a variety of excuses to get out of trouble at work. Some reasons employees provide will make a manager’s blood boil. Others, however, actually offer insight into workplace problems and merit further consideration. Here’s a look at six excuses modern managers often hear and actions that might eliminate them.

Metaverse to influence how work gets done by 2026

February 15, 2022
Move over, Slack and Zoom; you’re about to get replaced by something bigger and potentially better. The metaverse will soon become part of many Americans’ work lives, according to the Gartner business advisory group.

‘This workload is just plain killing us’

February 11, 2022
How to know when you’ve reached their limits of productivity.

Prepare to stop remote worker moonlighting

December 9, 2021
Many remote moonlighters have figured out the best way to pull off simultaneous employment: Fire up two laptops at the same time and toggle back and forth between jobs. Employers aren’t powerless in cases like these. There are ways to prevent remote employees from splitting their labor, loyalty and attention

End-of-year reviews, 2021-style

November 24, 2021
Annual performance chats should probably look a little different this year.

5 tips to get the most out of employees’ annual evaluations

October 28, 2021
How do you handle a performance review that involves some news employees won’t necessarily welcome?