It seems like an easy enough task, right? Getting along with your co-workers. But they’ve got a few little teeny, tiny annoying habits. Or maybe, instead, it’s a giant ego. What can you do when your co-workers drive you crazy? Good working relationships take more than luck While you may have lucked out in yourRead… Read more »
It happened a few years ago. And as usual I was fully unprepared. “I do all the work. I take it all on. And I never say anything,” she whispered, trying not to have our office neighbors hear. A long time ago I had a manager who said, “At work you should have Valium and someRead… Read more »
Office politics is an inevitable part of work life. And unfortunately, avoiding it altogether, or pretending to be above it, is nearly impossible and likely won’t help you move through the ranks. But this doesn’t necessarily have to be negative, as long as you know how to navigate the system. Ultimately, office politics is allRead… Read more »
“At meetings, we try to sit as far apart from each other as possible,” Jim, who is married to one of my other colleagues, Sue, told me. “In the office, people assume when they are talking to one of us they’re talking to both of us, but we make a point to act like anyRead… Read more »
“The man who gives little with a smile gives more than the man who gives much with a frown,”-Jewish Proverb
There has been many a night in my lifetime where I dream a dream about not being able to speak or my voice is gone. I try to scream and shout but not a word comes out. Paging Dr. Freud: I think this has something to do with me being concerned about whether my voiceRead… Read more »
Dealing with Toxic People (in my People Gardening terms I really like “Weeds” better), is not always easy. Of course we go through those same thoughts I asked originally, pull them, ignore them, eradicate them, but you know, what I’ve realized, is that it doesn’t make us any better to pretend them away in any… Read more »
A majority of Americans view government employees in a negative light; we are viewed as overpaid and underqualified according to most polls of the general public. While research shows that this isn’t true (see my last blog post), how do we improve public perception of government employees? For those of us that interface with theRead… Read more »
Yes, you are married to your work. And why recognizing this matters! During my first of several appearances on his show, Karl Wadensten, LEAN management expert, owner of Vibco in RI, and former host of The LEAN Nation radio talk show, quickly saw the benefits to thinking of the employer-employee relationship as a marriage.Read… Read more »
There are times when you dislike a person on sight and this was one of those times. Thin, tall, beautiful, irritable. Scowled when I asked for a bit more room on the bench, to accommodate family and coats. “What a bitch,” I thought. In quotes because so loudly it seemed out loud. We shuffled andRead… Read more »