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Is There Such a Thing as "Gossip
Etiquette"?
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Diet Coke commissioned a study on gossiping at work in which it was
found that gossiping was not just idle talk, but a crucial skill
"with a specific code of rules that forms the backbone of modern
office communication."
The article also contains what the author called "The Etiquette of
Gossip:"
- Don't "be seen" to be a gossip, but be good at it.
- When people say "they don't like gossips," they mean "they don't
like bad gossips."
- Know when to keep a secret and when to use a secret as office
currency.
- Know who to trust - gossip allies vs. enemies.
- Choose where to gossip.
Paranoid at
Work? You Should Be..., OnRec.com
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Learn about
Hispanic Recruiting at LatPro.com.
Two Sides to the Workplace
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Jennifer Reingold and Jia Lynn Yang from Fortune magazine uncovered
what is hiding underneath the organizational chart. The formal
ranking system known as the "organizational chart" does not always
reflect the underlying power structure within a company.
In other words, going by the rule book is not necessarily the best
or most expedient way to get things done. To read further on this
issue and to see how major companies leveraged this phenomenon to
their advantage, please click on the following link.
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Freedom of Expression at Work?
Monday,
May 21, 2007
The following article discusses the issue of freedom of expression
in the workplace. As is stated in the article, freedom of speech,
as entrenched in the Constitution, protects us against the
Government, not employers. Once we enter the workplace, employers
are justified to take appropriate actions to limit employees'
freedom of expression if they think it will harm their bottom line.
Overcologned Co-Workers
Friday,
May 18, 2007
Roni F. Noland discusses how to deal with overcologned co-workers.
The first thing to do is to ascertain whether the situation is an
annoyance or a health issue. Based on that preliminary
determination, he suggests two courses of action.
Office Stories
Monday,
April 02, 2007
Ben Mathis-Lilley has some office horror stories and suggestions on
how to avoid them. It's worth the read!
Bad Bosses Preferred Over Inconsistent
Ones
Sunday,
April 01, 2007
Linda J. Lerner, from BostonWorks.com, discusses the situation of an
employee who works for a boss that is "inconsistent," meaning that
he always changes his mind or temper. She also mentions that,
according to a large survey, "the supervisors who treated employees
badly all of the time were preferred over the inconsistent ones."
To Cry or Not to Cry... at Work
Tuesday,
February 20, 2007
This article in TheState.com addresses the unusual issue of whether
it is appropriate to cry at work and under what circumstances.
Research Study Found Office Desks
Harbor More Germs than Office Restrooms
Thursday, February 15, 2007
A research study by Charles Gerba, a professor of soil, water and
environmental sciences at the University of Arizona, found two
interesting things:
- Women have three to four times the number of bacteria in, on,
and around their desks than men do.
- The average office desktop has 400 times more bacteria than the
average office toilet seat.
What does this mean? Maybe it's time to use disinfectants on office
surfaces.
Desks Worse than Bathroom for Workplace Germs, Associated Press
IKEA: Making the Office More Comfy
Sunday, February 11, 2007
The New York Times has an article on IKEA's corporate philosophy and
how it tries to blur the line between work and home with bright
colors, flexible work schedules, and an open work environment.
New Study Finds that Dissatisfied
Workers Can Be Positive Forces
Monday,
January 22, 2007
In an interview with the Toronto Star, Jing Zhou, a professor of
management at Rice University in Houston and co-author of a research
paper on job dissatisfaction, said that "grumpy employees" can
actually contribute to improve organizations. Although common
wisdom would lead most people to think that peppy workers positively
contribute to organizational effectiveness, there is no empirical
research to support this assumption. To the contrary, happy
employees don't see problems whereas grumpy ones see them and, if
they take action to change things, that can help contribute to a
better and more effective work environment.
Ways to Save Time at Work
Tuesday,
January 09, 2007
Author Stuart Levine reveals some interesting tips on how to save
time at work in her new book "Cut to the Chase:"
- Cut to the chase, meaning that you should approach things with
clarity and focus. Know what's important, what's not, and spend
your time accordingly.
- Get things started. If you have a project to do or an idea in
mind, don't let it linger.
- If you are busy, try to arrive at the office early and stay
focused throughout the day to get your work done. Take control of
your day and resist the temptation to chat with colleagues on the
latest gossips.
- If you got the point, let the other person know so he or she can
move on too and both of you don't waste your time.
- Spend the first 20 minutes of your day planning for your day:
define your priorities, update your to-do list, review your
calendar, etc.
- Don't let things that happen to you during the day affect you or
make you angry. Don't let anger paralyze you.
- If another person is distracted or moody, don't assume that it's
your fault. It may be due to an event totally unrelated to you.
Don't waste your day wondering what's wrong.
Eight Ways to Save
Time at the Office, MSNBC
Effective Verbal Communication in the
Workplace
Friday, January 05, 2007
97 percent of executives and managers say their communications to
subordinates is "clear, understandable, consistent, and direct." On
the other side, only a fourth of these same executives and managers
say that communications from their direct superior is effective.
There is an obvious disconnect.
This problem is compounded by office politics and personal
viewpoints. "The biggest challenge I see is that people
misinterpret intentions and thus twist communications based on their
own fears," said a respondent. "It is a lot of work to unravel these
misses." As messages go from one person to another by word of
mouth, the accuracy of what is being passed on also suffers.
"Presenteeism" Is the Opposite of...?
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Absenteeism, of course. As an increasing number of people are
heading to work even when they're sick, experts have assigned a name
to this new phenomenon. According to Anne-Marie Green, a reporter
for CBS3, 98 percent of people went to work even when they felt ill
or in pain.
The problem, according to Judy Kornfeld, the CEO of a consulting
firm, is that even should workers decide to stay some, they know
that the work will just accumulate on their desk. A recent study
has found that people that come to work sick do so because they have
a heavy workload, feel guilty for staying home, want to save sick
days (e.g. in case their children get sick), or want perfect
attendance.
No matter what the reason is, employers do not always appreciate the
gesture, as 56 percent of HR executives agreed that presenteeism has
become a real problem in the workplace, costing employers $180
billion a year because sick employees are less productive and make
others sick.
A good compromise if you feel you can still do some work? Work from
home. Otherwise, just rest as health is more important than
anything else.
What to Give to a Co-Worker for the
Holidays?
Friday,
December 15, 2006
What to give to the person working in the next cubicle or office can
leave some people scratching their heads. Overall, experts agree
that workers should limit themselves to gifts below $20. Don't make
the "gifting" about the gift; instead, make it about the intention.
Let's face it, we're all grown ups. Also, giving a present that is
too expensive could make the person at the receiving end
uncomfortable as that person might feel he or she needs to return
the favour.
Here are some suggestions: gift cards, food and drinks (e.g. for
amateurs of coffee), calendars, decorative objects for the cubicle
or office, music cds, etc. That being said, a Christmas card in and
by itself could also do the work.
Ten Office-Related Resolutions for the
New Year
Tuesday,
December 12, 2006
IBT-USA, Inc., a company that delivers Personal Efficiency Programs
(PEP) and developed the White Collar Efficiency Index (WPI), asked
this question to its clients and associates around the U.S.: "What's
on your TOP 10 list of things you would like to improve, learn, or
change in your office for 2007?"
Here's the list:
- Fall in love with my "Delete Key" & learn the power of "Right
Clicking".
- No scroll bar in my email "In-Box" at the end of the day.
- Respect my time and the time of others.
- Set & keep appointments on my calendar to do my own work.
- Get organized so I stop wasting time looking for things I can't
find.
- Get fit - both physically and mentally - it relieves stress.
- Schedule the priorities, instead of prioritizing the schedule.
- Don't over distribute emails to my colleagues and boss.
- Say yes to effective meetings and no to time-drainers.
- Work from anywhere but not anytime - have a life.
Top 10 Office Resolutions for 2007, NewsReleaseWire.com
How About Bringing a Pet to the Office?
Monday, December 04, 2006
In a recent survey by Simply Hired and Dogster (a "MySpace" for
dogs), one-third of respondents answered that they would accept up
to a 5 percent cut in their salary if it meant they could bring
their pet to work; two-thirds stated that they would be willing to
work longer hours with their animal companion by their side; and
one-third would consider changing employer if bringing an animal to
work were an added perk.
In a society where the work environment has become increasingly
impersonal, this may be a good way to bring some smiles back to the
workforce. According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers
Association, almost two-thirds of U.S. households have at least one
pet. As opposed to common wisdom, family-owned or small businesses
are not the only places that are pet friendly. Corporate giants
such as Google and Amazon.com both advertise themselves as pet
friendly also.
The ability to bring a pet to work is definitely something that pet
owners would love, but that decision should be taken after careful
consideration, such as whether the pet is well-behaved in public and
whether a co-worker has allergies. It remains a balancing act and
the decision to bring one's pet along comes with its own set of
responsibilities.
* Simply Hired has a special filter in its search engine for
dog-friendly companies. Choose the "advanced job search" option.
Be Careful in that Cubicle
Monday,
September 25, 2006
For many workers, life in a cubicle is a daily reality. Following
are some tips in order to deal with that situation:
- Careful what decorations you put on.
- Don't use speakerphone if you don't have to (or go to an empty
office).
- Keep political issues out of the office.
- If possible, avoid eating lunch at your desk.
- Keep your tone down when discussing confidential matters or,
preferably, avoid discussing them altogether.
- Keep your desk clean and stay organized.
- Be careful about spending too much time surfing the Web.
- Use the mute or the vibrate option on your cell phone.
- Avoid coming to work when you're sick.
To put it simply, a cubicle only has three walls, so be careful not
to disturb your co-workers. Also, your cubicle is reflective of your
work ethics, don't forget that.
Your
Cube Can Kill Your Career, CNN.com
Top 50 Companies for Employees Over 50
Wednesday, September 06,
2006
The AARP released a list of the top 50 companies for people over 50
years old. This year's ranking gave special preference to employers
that offer flexible hours. Following are the top 10 companies:
- Mercy Health System (Janesville, WI)
- Lee Memorial Health System (Fort Myers, FL)
- Bon Secours Richmond Health System (Richmond, VA)
- Leesburg Regional Medical Center and The Villages Regional
Hospital (Leesburg, FL)
- Yale-New Haven Hospital (New Haven, CT)
- Volkswagen of America, Inc. ( Auburn Hills, MI)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)
- Oakwood Healthcare System, Inc. (Dearborn, MI)
- First Horizon National Corporation (Memphis, TN)
- Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. (Nutley, NJ)
For a complete list of the top 50 companies, please click on the link
below.
50 Best Companies for Employees Over 50, CNNMoney.com
American Workers Enjoy 2 Hours of Free
Time on Average a Day
Wednesday, August 02,
2006
According to a survey by America Online and Salary.com, American
workers spend around two hours daily calling friends, surfing the
Web, running errands, and "spacing out." Oddly enough, this number
is down this year (1.86 hours) compared to last year (2.09 hours).
For employers, no need to rejoice, however, as Lena Bottos, Director
of Compensation at Salary.com, suggested a possible explanation: "I
think it shows a trend that the lines are getting blurred between
what's wasted time and what's acceptable. Is it wasted time if you
spend 20 minutes looking for a baby sitter because you had to work
late? Is it wasted time if you're figuring out your 401(k) -
something that's provided by your company and could be considered
work-related?"
Although most employers factor in the wasted time in calculating
their employees' pay, the survey found that employees waste on
average twice as much time as their employers expect. Does this
denote a lack of supervision from employers... who seem to have no
clue of what is going on at work?
The above numbers may not refer to all types of positions, however,
and should be taken in perspective. People in some professions do
work harder than others (lawyers, investment bankers, consultants,
etc... versus
employees occupying support roles, without
deadlines or objectives to meet).
Religion in the Workplace
Monday,
July 31, 2006
In a world where secularism seems to have reached its peak, we have
seen a resurgence of religious faith. Commercials on television are
the perfect example of how low some corporations are willing to go
in order to propagate the values of capitalism, yet, at the same
time, we see some religions gaining in popularity... as if there was
some kind of balance to be achieved...
As these two extremes confront each other almost daily, we also see
the workplace open itself to the religious needs of employees by
trying to accommodate them. Yet, beyond the corporate policies
accepting and allowing those practices in the workplace, how are
co-workers viewing them?
Dealing with "Jealous" Co-Workers
Saturday, July 29, 2006
The work environment can be a source of jealousy as some employees
might receive preferential treatments or might fare better than others.
Following are some suggestions to prevent negative feelings of jealousy
in the workplace:
- try to defuse jealous feelings from other employees by gaining
respect from your peers; or
- pre-empt any possible jealous feelings by looking at your
actions and see if your behaviour at work is to blame.
If confrontation cannot be avoided:
- find allies higher in the hierarchy;
- keep track of all confrontations... in case...; and
- if an incident happens, give your adversaries some room to back
down by avoiding to make them feel desperate or on the defensive as
over the long run confrontation will hurt both sides.
How to Deal with Jealous Co-Workers, Mumbai Mirror
E-mail Etiquette at Work
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
E-mail has invaded the workplace in recent years. Yet,
notwithstanding increased use of this form of communication, little
has been written on it. Christina Harper suggests 10 tips to keep
in mind when communicating through e-mail at work:
- don't write something in an e-mail that you would not want
everybody to know about as e-mails can easily be forwarded;
- organize your e-mails; get in the habit of using folders and
deleting unnecessary e-mails;
- know the rules, meaning that if your employer has an "e-mail
policy," take the time to go through it;
- if you receive a message that has an angry tone, take the time
to cool off before replying;
- never give your ID and password out to anybody;
- don't use emoticons or smiley faces in your e-mails as it is not
professional;
- don't use capital letters in your e-mails as it "sounds" like
you are shouting;
- only send attachments to the people who really need them, as
this will lessen the burden on the system;
- be extra careful when sending e-mails to clients as you are
representing your employer in those circumstances; and
- use the spell-checker and proofread your e-mails because a
poorly written e-mail will reflect bad on you.
E-mail
Etiquette in the Workplace, Scotsman.com
Lesser Office Space for Workers
Thursday, July 20, 2006
There is an article on the BBC News website about the "shrinking
office syndrome" where the author relates the fact that
employers are trying to save money on the back of employees by
saving on office space.
On the other hand, those that get to use laptops at work may have
more freedom, only to carry their work home...
Colour at the Workplace Influences
Productivity
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
A study has revealed that the colour scheme used at the workplace
has an influence on employees' motivation. As such, white, beige,
or grey, with their monotone tones, have a negative impact on
employees' motivation.
The same holds true for uniforms, as workers required to wear them
do not feel that they need to push themselves to be creative, etc.
Indeed, if the reason for wearing uniforms is to blend employees
together, why should they go the additional length to differentiate
themselves?
The Controversy Surrounding the Term
"Office Spouse"
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Nowadays, with the integration of women in the workforce, men get to
work alongside women on many projects and sometimes collaborate so
closely that a special bonding appears that is at the root of the
expression "office spouse".
A survey by LinkMe.com found that 17 percent of Australians have a
work husband or wife.
"The survey was spurred by a dinner party slip of the tongue by U.S.
national security adviser Condoleeza Rice, who inadvertently
referred to her boss, U.S. president George Bush, as "my husb. . ."
Some observers interpreted that verbal stumble as a sign that she
saw Mr. Bush as her office spouse."
Some people argue, however, that the expression carries a negative
connotation. Why not just say close friends or collaborators?
Indeed, we all know that close bonding can lead to real marriage
break ups, although having good friends at work definitely helps
make the day seem a little bit shorter. According to a Gallup poll
conducted between 2002 and 2004, 30 percent of employees in the U.S.
had a best friend in the office (4.5 million employees in the U.S.
were interviewed).
Advice for New Grads
Tuesday,
March 28, 2006
Making the transition from being a student to becoming a worker can
be more abrupt than many would imagine. It involves a change in
mentality where reality often sets in.
Especially important is starting a new job on the right foot:
- Watch and learn from people who have been there before you. If
you have a degree from a prestigious university, some people might
resent that, especially if you show attitude. Take it slowly and
make your mark.
- When people help you, show appreciation. It doesn't hurt to say
"thanks".
- Act responsibly and let go of that "college student" thing.
It's something of the past.
- Pay attention to work dynamics. Yes, you don't want to hang
with the wrong group and you want to stay clear of conflicts.
- Do you remember how you tried to project that "professional"
image during the interview? Try to stick by it.
Rookies Should Know the Score, Asbury Park Press
Bored?
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
I just found out about this website. Set up especially for bored
office workers.
Are You One of Those People Who
Have...
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
... looked for another job while at work? Well, don't feel so bad.
According to a recent survey, 23 percent of U.S. workers that use a
computer at work admit to have looked around for other jobs while
working. According to the same survey, 12 percent of workers surf
the Web almost everyday and 6 percent spend more than half an hour
attending personal matters.
Employees mentioned that employers knew that they were surfing the
Web for personal reasons. The fact that companies have policies
for Internet use did not prevent workers from using the Web.
One effective way to have employees focused on the job is to have
attentive managers: ""Employers should not discount the impact
attentive managers have on shaping workplace behavior and
productivity," according to Kris Rzepkowski, Interactive Manager,
Hudson North America. "Corporate policies serve their purpose, but
employees respond best when those rules are a part of the day-to-day
interaction with their supervisors.""
Notwithstanding the above, managers are no better than their
"subordinates". 24 percent of them have admitted to job hunting
while on the job. Also, one-third of managers send or receive
personal e-mails at work, compared to 26 percent for non-managers.
Interesting...
Can't Focus at Work?
Monday,
March 20, 2006
According to a recent survey, 31 percent of employed adults in
the U.S. said that their BIGGEST pet peeve at work was loud
talkers.
Get the hint?
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