Management Skills

Turn teams into problem-solvers

June 1, 2009
At age 37, Dan Carmichael earned a key promotion. He became regional vice president for Crum & Forster, an insurance firm, with responsibility for five states.

The four stages of managing change

June 1, 2009
You know major organizational changes are afoot. You’ve repeatedly told your team that such reforms are not far off and you’ve hinted at what may occur. Yet despite your best efforts, the time has come to enact change.

Three goals for June

June 1, 2009
Break your proposal into three parts, end training sessions with a commitment list, and tame difficult workers without ultimatums.

Another side of lying

June 1, 2009
Identifying basic emotions in facial expressions and becoming aware of these emotions can help one spot a lie.

Three goals for May

May 1, 2009
Mitigate conflict by stating your intention … Say what you want, not what you want to avoid … Cut the catastrophizing.

To tame warring parties, withhold your suggestions

May 1, 2009
You’re a take-charge personality who enjoys solving problems decisively. That serves you well most of the time. When you mediate conflict among employees, however, your eagerness to act can work against you.

Cleanse your computer of unneeded software

May 1, 2009
The more you use your computer, the slower it works. But you can take maintenance steps to improve performance even after years of typing away on an aging PC.

Get out of your office!

May 1, 2009
For Bill George, it’s easy to differentiate between a manager and leader: A manager spends too much time doing paperwork while a leader spends most of the day interacting face-to-face.

April fools rush in

April 1, 2009
Some people love April Fools’ Day. They play elaborate hoaxes on you and your colleagues that have taken weeks to prepare. While there’s nothing wrong with occasional practical jokes at work, they carry a certain risk. What one person deems harmless can strike the victim as a mean-spirited exercise in humiliation.

Three goals for April

April 1, 2009
Lift your teammates to a higher level, confront a complainer, and enliven slides by listing three compelling bullets.