People Management

Put a lid on verbal free-for-alls

October 9, 2014
Because introverts and extroverts learn differently, customize your training strategy. A one-size-fits-all approach rarely works for everyone.

The old suggestion box: How to make it work

September 18, 2014
Some suggestions from our readers … and some ideas that might be charitably considered, well, unusual.

Learn to quiz staff the right way

September 18, 2014
Quizzing employees on critical facts can help them acquire the knowledge they need. But there’s a right and wrong way to administer one.

Proceed with care after complaints

September 3, 2014
A CEO cannot play referee to resolve every internal dispute. But leaders need a strategy to address employee complaints about each other.

4 ways to build your people skills

August 13, 2014

Top leaders connect with others easily, emphasizing shared interests and minimizing resistance. Try these techniques to communicate better with colleagues.

Motivate by listening to them

August 4, 2014
Ken Rees, former CEO of Think Finance and now of Elevate, takes every opportunity to ask front-line employees to share their ideas and experiences interacting with customers. “That’s where the answers are,” he says.

NIH chief built trust by defining success

July 30, 2014
Employees need to trust you as their leader if they’re going to outperform as a team. They must believe you’ll put their interests ahead of your own. But how do you communicate you’ll do just that? The director of the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins, provides an example.

An easy way to gain compliance

July 17, 2014

Years ago, Steve McClatchy worked at a company that put him in charge of getting everyone to show up on time for a weekly meeting. His job was to set the agenda, lead the meeting and assign project teams. But there was one problem: Few treated the meetings seriously …

Replace compliance with engagement

June 10, 2014
Management is a technology—a technology from the 1850s. Few 19th century technologies are still in use. And no matter how you cut it, management is designed purely to get compliance. So how to replace compliance with engagement?

Self-test: How well do you keep employees on task?

May 23, 2014
Workplace surveys suggest that employees waste up to one full day of every workweek—up to nine weeks a year—with unproductive time. While some of the blame lies with inefficient or unmotivated employees, some can be chalked up to decisions made (or not made) by managers.