Ask "Z"

Page 1 of 1512345...10...Last »

Motivation razzle-dazzle: What could go wrong?

April 16, 2018

Q. My efforts to motivate people are not doing so great, and I have a feeling what would work better is a bit of showy exuberance, or a fiery display of some kind to break the calm around here. How can something like this backfire?

There’s no “I” in “team” (but I wish there were)

April 12, 2018
Q. We’re so irritatingly team-based where I work that my best ideas just get folded into everyone else’s. How do I make sure I get some of the credit I think I deserve?

Don’t let the lack of a path keep you from moving

April 12, 2018
Q. I work for a company where the responsibility for upward mobility is entirely on the employees; there’s no career development program, no performance reviews. What’s the best strategy to start out with given these restrictions?

Get them to the point quicker

April 11, 2018

Q. I don’t have time for ramblers who fail to edit themselves. How do I express to someone that the clock is ticking on my attention span?

When money corrupts trust

March 12, 2018

Q. I’m quite well paid and it’s obvious to everyone at my company. But I’m in charge of motivating a lot of very low-paid employees. I’m not sensing their trust—I think the income disparity is a real problem. What do you recommend?

When they ask, ‘Why did she quit?’

March 1, 2018

Q: We had a superstar here who quit because she couldn’t take the C-suite’s bad decision-making anymore. Now since I’m fairly high up the ladder, several people are asking me what happened. How much honesty can I afford here?

When the trust is gone

February 16, 2018

Q. I’ve lost trust in one of my employees. He’s acted in ways that make me think he’s unreliable and possibly a liar. But he’s technically very good at his job and I’d prefer not to lose him. Is it possible to have someone on your team who’s proficient at his work, but untrustworthy? I mean, everyone lies sometimes, right?

Enlist allies when planning merger

February 14, 2018

Q. Our organization is merging with another organization in a few months. I’m on the integration team, and my counterpart at the other organization is starting to boss me around. Any tips on how to assert myself without ratcheting up the tension?

De-stress a co-worker during volatile times

January 16, 2018

Q. The nature of our business is up and down. All the volatility makes it fun for me, but some members of our team aren’t very good at handling the uncertainty. They get frazzled and don’t deal well with sudden lulls and surges in activity. Are there ways to help people take volatility in stride?

Replace paranoia with open discussion

January 11, 2018

Q. One of my employees is paranoid. He talks about how the company spies on everyone, uses hidden cameras in the restroom, eavesdrops on us, monitors our online usage, etc. I keep assuring him he’s full of it, but he replies, “You’re just a supervisor. This is above your pay grade.” How can I convince him to stop all the nonsense?

Page 1 of 1512345...10...Last »