Don’t Let Managers Derail, Coach with Communication
Times of change present many challenges for organizations, particularly for front-line managers whose people will be responsible for implementing the change. Pressure to perform is high, as are emotions, and everyone is expected to do more with less.
Ironically, the times when you need your managers to perform at their very best are the very times they are most likely to fail. The challenge of change is compounded by the fact that the higher managers rise in an organization, the more likely they are to develop blind spots that increase their risk of failure.
Why do front-line managers fail, and what can be done to avoid failure? Research has proven that one of the top five management derailers is poor interpersonal and communication skills. Poor interpersonal and communication skills seem like they would be obvious enough to detect, but some managers may overcompensate for their lack of communication. A manager may be at risk if he:
* Always seems to be feuding with someone or some group in the organization
* Has a reputation for being authoritarian, cold, aloof, arrogant, or insensitive
* Acts as a polarizing force within an organization. Other employees either love her or hate her
* Avoids direct communication or contact with some or all co-workers
* Delivers bad news through e-mail rather than through direct conversations
* Exhibits a hostile attitude towards co-workers who share interdependent goals
* Becomes the target of subtle or blatant sabotage efforts
To remedy an “at risk” manager, try to understand the true root cause of conflict. Does your manager have a personal or political problem with just one or two people, or does your manager have more significant issues with a number of different people? If the conflict stems from a small personal issue then mediate a resolution immediately rather than letting it fester. If it is more serious issue, consider relocating or removing that manager.
Another solution is to understand the manager’s management style and motivation. Some people just aren’t cut out to be managers although they may be exceptional individual contributors. Other people just don’t want to be managers. And while some people may have what it takes to lead, they might not have the skills or experience to do the job. If your manager’s issue is the latter, it may be easier to help him develop his skills than it is to train someone who completely lacks the behaviors and interests that lead to success.
Finally, help the manager understand his own management and communication style. In many situations managers simply don’t know what they don’t know. For example, if he comes across as insensitive or aloof, point out the behavior and help him improve. It is important for the manager to understand his natural management style and how it impacts others both positively and negatively. The manager can’t be expected to improve if he never receives concrete feedback.
Communication is crucial for managers to master. Management derailers inhibit the productivity of employees, but they also inhibit the manager’s ability to progress professionally. Understanding the root of the conflict and the manager’s personal management style will enable business leaders to better understand what solution would best fit the situation. Once the manager has a chance to understand their mistakes, the company can then decide if they would like to move forward with that manager or find someone more capable.
Just because managers are in leadership positions does not always mean they are good leaders. Enable your managers with identifying their development needs and keep them from derailing themselves and their employees.
About the Author
Dario Priolo is the CMO at Profiles International, leading provider of human resource management.
Web Conferencing Basics for SMEs – The Definitive Guide
Web conferencing is almost a technical necessity in our busy world. Using a reliable web conferencing system can actually help to increase productivity and reduce excess travel associated expenses – a must in today’s economy. Indeed web conferencing is a technological tool that can’t be ignored. This guide will show you how to choose and use this effective tool.
What is web-conferencing?
Web conferencing may sound complicated but in reality it is easy to set-up and use and doesn’t require a high degree of technical skill. Web conferencing is typically provided as a subscription service through many vendors. There are many advantages to using web conferencing in your business.
Web conferencing is a perfect way to hold virtual meetings and manage communications. Participants from different locations can easily be part of the meeting. Multiple participants can work on documents together allowing your employees the freedom from travel that would have otherwise been necessary. Web conferencing allows people to take an active real-time role instead of using emails and attachments back and forth. Your team can accomplish in one session what could take days (or longer) to accomplish using traditional methods.
How web conferencing can benefit your business
Once you are ready to use web-conferencing what is the best way to proceed? Start by determining your specific business needs. You may have some applications for use that you haven’t even determined yet. One of the best ways to ensure that you have a complete understanding of your needs is to involve individual departments in the process.
Some of the many uses for web-conferencing include:
- Training seminars
- Departmental meetings
- Sales presentations
- Company-wide meetings
- Webinars
Web conferencing allows you to use highly talented people on projects no matter where they are located. In today’s economy it can make sense to use contract or outsourcing to assist in key work functions. Web conferencing gives you the ability to use these resources while keeping within budget and actually saving money.
Web meetings can also be used with great success to communicate internally.
In fact one of the biggest complaints among workers is incomplete or insufficient communication within the company. Using web-conferencing can quickly and easily facilitate communication with employees increasing work satisfaction and boosting performance.
Evaluate web conferencing options
Start the evaluation process by determining the types of specific application requirements that your business may have for using web conferencing. There are many choices of functionality to pick from which can be confusing at first. Think about the way you envision using web conferencing. For example will you need to use web conferencing between countries? How many simultaneous meetings will you need and how many participants will you want to allow?
With these answers in mind you can begin to review the various web conferencing providers. Typically there are two options to choose from – hosted and in-house. Hosted web conferencing uses a host-provided web-server and you pay a subscription usage fee. In-house web conferencing is done by installing software on your own server paying a license fee.
Consider some of the features that are available with web conferencing. Things to think about include:
- Ease of use – user friendly, training
- Security – system level security as well as meeting specific security
- Pricing – based on usage and features
- System requirements – hosted solutions, telephone or VoIP service
Test Drive your Options
Most web-conferencing providers offer a free trial period. Narrow your list down to just several providers and then opt for a free trial. The trial will allow you to easily test-drive the features and ease of use and give you options to see how web-conferencing will fit into your company.
Don’t feel as though you need to go it alone. Look for a company that supplies you with web-conferencing provider options and evaluates features, performance and price for you. The best of these can be found at http://www.webconferencing-test.com. Here you’ll find reputable information ready for your evaluation. The web site was used as a resource in a recent Gartner research document published on web conferencing. The website provides information and comparison on more than 25 web conferencing solutions including detailed ratings on the top five applications.
About the Author
Robert Harnischmacher is Managing Director of Publicare – an online marketing agency that has been using online meeting tools on a day-to-day basis since 2003. Visit http://www.webconferencing-test.com to obtain thorough insights on more than 21 web conferencing solutions.
How To Avoid Bad Verbal Communication At Work
Bad verbal communication is when a person:
* Talks in an abrupt and/or irritated manner.
* Is being too aggressive or annoyingly pleasing.
* Speaks to you in person, but looks elsewhere, at another person, any part of your body except your eyes, etc.
* Speaks in an incoherent manner, especially over the telephone.
Now there can be various reasons why a person is behaving in this manner. Maybe the person..
* Has had a fight with someone and is still fuming about it.
* Is upset and can’t concentrate on the conversation.
* Stammers or stutters.
* Doesn’t understand what you’re saying.
But all these reasons hardly matter. If you can’t communicate effectively, bad communication can ruin your reputation, even outside of work. So, here are a few tips for you to communicate effectively, and maintain a good reputation at work:
* If you’re in a bad mood, avoid all types of communication – verbal and non-verbal. When you’re stressed, you don’t know what you’ll say or write, so it’s better to cool off first than do something that you’ll regret later on.
* Make direct eye contact with the person(s) you’re speaking to. It shows you’re paying attention. Plus when you concentrate, you’re likely to make less mistakes, and instead make a good impression on the other person(s).
* Refrain from speaking while eating. It’s not good for your health, plus it might disgust or annoy the other person(s).
* If you feel you’re not fluent in the language mostly used at your workplace, take lessons to master the language. If you stammer, there are classes to correct that too.
So here were some of the tips you can use to avoid bad verbal communication at work. Keep these simple tips in mind when you’re at your workplace. Communication is one of the best tools you have at your disposal to be more successful at work. Using these tips will help you communicate better and therefore, become more successful at work.
About the Author
<strong>Contact us now</strong> to understand how to communicate more effectively at your workplace. Let us help you achieve your highest potential with our unique <strong>business image consulting solutions</strong>.
Whipping up a storm with disruptive communications
I’ve been reading Leandro Herrero’s latest book, Disruptive Ideas, and he’s got me thinking about the potential we communicators have to transform our organisations from the inside-out. It proposes a menu of simple ideas which could, if implemented in the right organisation and the right way, fundamentally change the fabric of organisational life – by changing the behaviour of individual employees.
Like Viral Change, Disruptive Ideas is built on the premise that at the heart of every organisation is a small group of highly networked people (change agents if you like) who hold the key to spreading change virally – like an infection. He sees organisations as non-linear and argues that small interventions (disruptions) can have a massive impact. Butterflies and hurricanes. Leandro also believes that the only way to change an organisation is to focus on changing individual behaviours; there is no culture, only behaviours. It’s fresh and extremely compelling stuff.
The book itself proposes 30 such small interventions – 10 relating to structures, 10 to processes and 10 to behaviours. They are all extremely powerful yet exceedingly simply ideas. Here are a few of them that relate directly to our own area of focus:
* Team 365: the team that (almost) doesn’t meet – create teams that are ‘always on’; that get things done without waiting for the monthly team meeting; that collaborate, share and take action in real time. Use meetings instead to create social glue – to talk strategy, to talk behaviour, to celebrate success.
* Face it, don’t email it – encourage face-to-face interaction; reduce email clutter; use emerging channels like blogs and wikis to encourage collaboration and reduce email traffic. Stop emailing people who sit a few desks away.
* Less Power point, more stories – switch from presentation to conversation mode; kill the slide deck; identify, capture and share real stories about real people doing real things
* Go to source (and turn the volume down) – stamp out rumours quickly and decisively by going to the source; decrease the noise coming from the negative, vocal minority; listen to the grapevine; use facts to tackle half-truths.
These four suggestions will give you a flavour of Leandro’s thinking and approach, which I’m right behind. So what else can we as communicators do to ‘disrupt’ our organisations? If we are the butterflies of the corporate world (excuse the metaphor), how can we start the flapping that will trigger an internal hurricane?
The four ideas above are a good start – hinting at the massive potential we have to revolutionize the workplace. And there are many more of these communication-related interventions that we can drive and influence and that could, collectively, turn our organisations upside down.
We got talking about social media as a disruptive technology. I hadn’t given the subject much thought at the time, but I have done since. I have no doubt that social media channels – blogs, wikis, social networking sites, etc – can be used to trigger deep and fundamental change inside organisations. They can bypass the hierarchy, boost transparency, stimulate grassroots conversations, identify issues, give the silent a voice, reduce email traffic, and trigger action. What’s more, if adopted and championed by those all-important change agents, these tools could help spread the virus of change at lightning speed.
Building on Leandro’s point about storytelling, I would also argue that injecting more emotion into internal communications has hurricane potential. Much of what gets communicated inside organisations (at least formally) is hard, rational and emotionally hollow. But that’s not what how we operate as humans. We think, feel and do – and our communications should reflect this by ensuring wherever possible that it has a rational and emotional component – and, where appropriate, prompts action and behaviour change. Hearts heads and hands.
Likewise, visual communication is hugely powerful and under-utilized in internal comms. The use of colours, icons, photographic images, charts, visual metaphors and learning maps can get messages through quickly and clearly, cutting through the jargon, gobbledygook, clutter and spin that too often dominates communication at work. Yet all too often we fall naturally into the habit of churning out more words, more bullet points.
About the Author
Lee Smith is co-founder of Gatehouse, an internal communication agency, consultancy on internal communications, internal comms, employee communication, research, audit, jobs, change management and employee engagement.
The Secrets of Inspired Relationships (Part 5 – The Foundation of Relationships
What’s the foundation of your relationships?
In the previous article we discussed the importance of understanding someone else’s perspective. Their motivational preferences or the nature of their work can lead them to need an overview or require lots of detail. This can lead to challenges in communication on a mental level because it is difficult to communicate when one of you is in a helicopter and the other in a rabbit warren.
By understanding the perspective of others we can adapt our communication to get our message across without unhelpful judgments about them being up in the clouds or nit-picking!
This article will look at the ‘Purpose’ Level and how the criteria we use to guide our behaviour in that relationship can help or hinder how easily we get on.
The Purpose level is one of the four simple levels of relationship that can be used to identify where we have compatibility or friction. When we have excellent rapport with someone, we are probably able to relate with them on all four levels.
* Physical = all the non-verbal communication and body language stuff
* Emotional = the ability of both parties to empathise and understand how the other feels
* Mental = being articulate and intellectually stimulated
* Purpose = clarity of shared values and the purpose of the relationship
As you probably know good relationships are still possible with only two or three levels working well, but it’s very interesting to diagnose on what levels possible misunderstandings occur. The article below gives us some clues to what our relationships are actually built on and some interesting ways of diagnosing the motivational preferences of the people with whom we are communicating on the ‘Purpose’ level.
Check out your assumptions
Every relationship has a purpose but all too often it is unspoken, undefined and ambiguous. When things are going well we naturally assume that our purpose is aligned and there is a good mutual understanding. However this allows many interpretations and both parties may have completely differing views and expectations for the relationship.
When a shift of priorities or external pressure begins to affect the relationship things can become fraught, especially if there is a lack of clarity about the fundamental purpose.
While it is fascinating to look into how this affects personal and intimate relationships, this article will focus on relationships in a work context. However I will invite you to reflect on all the relationships in your life as you read on!
Over the many years that I have been coaching and advising clients, I have met Directors who feel totally ‘betrayed’ when a senior manager decides to resign; did they have an unrealistic expectation that the manager was as ‘wedded’ to the long term success of business as they were? (As in ‘until death us do part’!)
Or Managers who believe that the purpose of their employer is to further their career and financial aspirations, and who then complain when they have to put in a few extra hours to fulfil the responsibilities that they do not enjoy, or do some learning out of normal hours.
When I was Training and Development Manager at the Waldorf hotel in London the managers thought the purpose of my relationship with them was to ‘fix’ their staff. If someone was underperforming they would send them on one of my courses and then expect them to suddenly be 100% competent without changing their own management style or behaviour (which was often part of the problem).
It took a few years to change the culture and the managers’ understanding of the real purpose of their own relationship with staff. But just after I left the Hotel to go walkabout in India and Nepal for 3 months, the Waldorf was re-recognised as an Investor in People. It was nice to know that the managers did it all by themselves. They had become clear about the purpose of their relationship with their staff; to lead, manage and develop them.
What is the purpose of the important relationships in your work (and in your personal life)? Are you able to define it? Would your definition match how the others in the relationship define it? I invite you to explore this and if you want some tips on how to do it see below.
Check out what’s really important
Asking about or discussing the purpose of a relationship can seem like ‘indulgent navel-gazing’ and might get you some strange looks, so it is not a great way to start a conversation.
It is much easier to explore what is important to someone in a given context. Most people can easily respond to a remark like; “I was just wondering what’s really important for you at work…”
Their answer is a way for them to describe their ‘criteria’ or ‘values’ in that context. Our values are like ‘Hot buttons’. If they get mentioned we cannot help but have an emotional response. Just ask anyone with teenagers – they have a natural talent for pressing hot buttons in a variety of contexts!
Some other questions that uncover their values are:
* What has to be there?
* What can’t you do without?
* What’s important to you?
* What would you like to be there?
* What really matters?
Being able to identify what someone values at work (or in any other context) can provide you with a very powerful way to motivate them by relating what you are discussing, or what you want to achieve, to their hot buttons.
People usually get very engaged when you start to discuss what is most important to them. It is then easier to explore how you can help them achieve more of what they want and avoid what they don’t want. This in turn begins to touch on the purpose of your relationship and you can begin to discuss or agree a mutually beneficial purpose.
Once the real purpose of a relationship is clear it becomes possible to challenge, explore and help one another grow. In a working context it can mean the difference between having a fractious or difficult relationship and one that may not necessarily be easy, but respectful and genuinely helpful.
On a personal level if there is an upset in a relationship it is just a signal that there is a misalignment of values. By clarifying expectations and what is important to you (and them) it can take a lot of heat out of the situation and enable deeper understanding, empathy and the removal of unhelpful judgments.
About the Author
David works with We work with Owners, Directors and Senior Managers who are focused on growth, to implement their business strategy by working smarter not harder
The Importance of Good Conference Room Tables for Office Communication
Saying that the conference room is one of the most important rooms in an office may be an understatement. After all, it is the one place in a company’s office where the brains of the company unite, usually to achieve a common goal for the benefit of the company as a whole. Meetings and consultations between different aspects of the business come together inside the conference room to make sure that they are constantly working together to improve the business and its processes.
Hence, this is the reason why many office interior designers place a lot of emphasis in making the conference room well-designed and able to accommodate the needs of the people who will use it in the conduct of their tasks. They place a lot of importance in choosing the right conference room furniture and making them aesthetic and functional that will help enhance the performance of its users.
A good conference room table will not only facilitate smooth meetings and conferences, it will also help create a good impression for the company’s external image. Remember that the same room is also where a company invites clients, potential clients, suppliers and other third-party or external entities to meet and exchange ideas. It is a place where business deals are forged and consummated and, hence, may also be considered as a great tool in profit-making.
There are many different designs to choose from when you are looking for a suitable table for your office’s conference or meeting room. The question on what to buy will ultimately depend on a number of factors, some of which are enumerated below:
- Available space (must accommodate how many?)
- Shape or design preference (depends on aesthetic and practical considerations)
- Features needed (data ports, electrical ports, provisions for an LCD projector, etc.)
Aside from the above functions, the conference room table also serves as a nice get-together point for the office staffers. It is a nice place to make conversations and to bond with co-workers and, on many occasions, a venue for lunch or coffee breaks!
The conference table plays an important role in many business processes and serves as a rendezvous point for company brains to come together and make things happen for the benefit of the business.
About the Author
Learn more about conference and boardroom tables by reading this very informative article about modular furniture for boardrooms.
Three Ways Your Company Wastes Money On Wireless
Why are your company’s mobile phone bills so high? Sometimes it may be nothing more than the current market environment or regulations that allow carriers to charge premium prices, but when you dig deeper you’ll often discover that high wireless costs arise out of issues you can change for the better. Making these adjustments for a sizeable fleet of mobile phones and devices is the art of cellular telecom expense management. As companies adapt to an uncertain economic client they’re looking at communications costs more closely than ever. Consequently, professional telecom expense management services are more popular than ever.
Telecom expense management firm GILL Technologies encounters a number of common reasons for high billing. If you suspect that you’re paying too much for mobile service pay close attention to the following three situations:
Mobile Bill Errors: Major carriers like Rogers and Bell in Canada, or Sprint and AT&T in the US, have a surprisingly high rate of billing errors. A cellular expense management audit is essential – without one, it’s difficult to find savings by simply cross-referencing rates and actual charges. Telecom auditors have detected error rates as high as 30%. These are almost always excess charges. Carriers don’t apply discounts you’re entitled to, list the wrong usage for pay per minute or pay per use services, or add a surcharge that doesn’t apply to your plan.
Phones That Go Missing: Tracking a large fleet of mobile phones is a surprisingly challenging task. Handsets go missing, migrate from one employee to the next, or get upgraded to the next model. Unfortunately, there are many cases where unneeded handsets are still active and accrue monthly charges long after they’ve stopped being used for company business. Worst of all, missing or “dead” handsets may be subject to unauthorized use, leaving you the bill for fraudulent activity. A skilled telecom expense management company should be able to track your billing by unit and flag supposedly dead accounts and phones for unusual activity.
Inefficient Mobile Plans: Carriers offer attractive-looking plans because in many cases the average user won’t take advantage of all of their voice minutes, data or other features. Once you figure actual usage it may turn out that your office would have been better off on lower-volume plans that actually reflect how you use mobile communications. Just estimating based on what you hope to achieve with wireless isn’t enough; you need hard usage data. Even though you imagine a “wired” sales force who constantly use mobile email and web access to process sales, the facts on your bill may indicate a completely different usage pattern. In fact, some of the employees you assign handsets to may never use them. Once you analyze your true usage you can purchase mobile plans that fit the bill – and keep that bill to a minimum.
Studying your usage will also let you home in on your company’s heavy users or unusual patterns. Is one member of your staff using more data than anyone else? Is an employee who should be sending mobile email regularly not doing so? Answering these questions will help you enforce company policies on appropriate use and get a better idea of how wireless interacts with your business goals.
About the Author
Established in 2000, GILL Technologies provides telecom auditing solutions such as cellular expense management and single-point, all-carrier customer service.
Workplace Conflict: Survey Says? We Could be Doing Better
Almost 80 percent of workers in Quebec indicated that they have often or occasionally witnessed workplace conflict in the last year. This according to a survey published today by Ordre des conseillers en resources humaines agrees; a Quebec based Human Resource Professional Association.
What does lack of engagement by management in conflict mean for your business?
To your employees, management has two options when conflict arises: to get involved, or to turn a blind eye. The survey reinforced the importance of taking an active role in managing conflict with results that demonstrated staff being 21% more likely to be less productive when managers did not engage. Conflict in the workplace has clear effect on a company’s bottom line and more importantly on the happiness of the staff. Does any of this sound familiar to you?
• Increased absenteeism;
• Increased resignations and dismissals;
• Decreased productivity; and/or
• Breakdown in trust of hierarchy.
How do I engage?
Workplace conflict is not necessarily a bad thing. Many of us have negative emotions tied to the word conflict, but it does not have to be that way. Conflict lies at the heart of competition, creativity and diversity. It is only ill-managed conflict that results in disputes that create toxic work environments.
The first step in relation to workplace conflict is listening – actively. Without being involved in the dialogue management may miss the cues of festering disputes. Active listening means paying attention to the words being used to describe situations, the body language of the person talking and the general tone of the conversations in the workplace. Are they nurturing or are they gossip riddled? Who is saying what and about whom?
Through active listening, management can take the next step: strategize about the sources of workplace conflict. They can be numerous: task related stress; breakdown in communication; trust issues; personality based conflict and so on. Once the sources have been identified, it becomes a matter researching and implementing the proper tools to mitigate the unhealthy conflict.
If the causes are related to workflow procedures then streamlining and revision may be necessary. This process should, if at all possible include as much input as possible from those involved in the workflow procedure. Input from front line staff is more valuable than a textbook solution put into practice. Additionally, by investing in the opinions of your employees, you will reap the benefit of increased trust – as long as the feedback is not dismissed. That is not to say that all input must be included in the revision. If an idea is not followed through on, follow up with clear communication behind the rationale. Leading with respect for others will foster an environment of respect.
Lack of trust, breakdown in communication and personality related conflict are more complicated to solve with a single brush stroke. That being said there are reams of tools available to managers that can empower employees to more effectively manage conflict.
If your company would like to do better and is looking to implement new solutions, you are encouraged to consult training providers with expertise in these areas, as well as mediation.
About the Author
Michelle is the owner of Eye2Eye Consulting, based out of Toronto, Canada. She is an expert in the field of conflict management and public relations. For more information about the company and their services, please visit their site: http://www.eye2eyeconsulting.com.
Eye2Eye Consulting, indisputably indispensable
The Way to Deal with a Very Difficult Boss
One of the greatest things in life is landing a new job that offers a great salary, benefits, and a chance for future promotions. Mostly everyone would wish to land such a job for the obvious reason: it can certainly make the future look bright. That said there is always the ominous case of reality setting in when you start a new job. In other words, all the fantasies you have with the job will dissipate because the images you have in your head are exactly that…they are idealized images you created in anticipation. Reality may not exactly be what you expected. This really should not be too much of a problem. As long as you are situated in a solid job, you probably will be quite happy with it.
Most disappointments with a new job are minor. Yet, there may also be serious issues you might have to face on the job. One of the most difficult to scenarios, however, would be contending with a boss that is a nightmare to deal with. Yes, there will be those overbearing bosses that can truly make working at the office a disaster.
So, what can you do when you are dealing with a seriously difficult boss?
First, don’t make the error some people make which is to up and quit at the first time of trouble. Remember, you always have the option of just quitting if you have no other choice. But, quitting too quickly is a bad idea that can turn into an even worse habit. It just becomes a lot easier to quit on the next job. Plus, if you want to reduce hassles with difficult bosses, you will need a little bit of experience with dealing with them.
Take solace in something: most bosses that are angry, difficult, and unruly are usually incompetent and in over their head. This is why they become difficult. They are frustrated and are lashing out. And here is some news: your boss’ boss is aware of it and it probably not thrilled. Angry bosses are not only difficult with underlings they are difficult with EVERYONE in the office. And your boss’ boss will hear about it from all directions. Executives are busy enough without having to deal with an incompetent. Take solace in the fact that a troublesome boss is troubling to everyone and not just you.
In other words….you boss may not be your boss much longer. And if he/she remains your boss, his/her attitude might chance overnight. Why is this? Because word may come down: change your attitude or you are fired.
Can you rely on this to happen? No, this would be magical thinking. However, it is a likely possibility. This does raise questions regarding what you should or shouldn’t do in the interim. Here are some tips to deal with the issue….
Always conduct yourself in a professional manner. Just because your boss is unprofessional does not mean you have to be. Also, people will be taking note of odd conduct in the office. If they notice you are professional, this would be a feather in your hat since it could keep the blame for the situation deflected from you.
Do your job as best as can be. The old cliché good help is hard to find is true. If your current boss is not appreciative of your skills and hard work, another boss might be. That boss could be in another division and if you may be able to transfer elsewhere. Of course, you need to create the track record required to present yourself as valuable. So put a tremendous amount of effort into your current job performance.
Have a side income. These days, that is not all that difficult. There is a number of viable and valuable work from home opportunities. If you have the potential to earn money on your own, you will develop the independent streak not to let your current boss bother you. Why so? It is because you have other ways of earning and income and do not need to be too reliant on this job.
Eventually, there will come a time to address the problems with your boss’ boss. Don’t rush into this because you need to show your value in the office. But, you may have to make the proclamation that unless you are moved, you will resign. And honestly, if the office’s policy is to keep you under a horrible boss, you do not want to work there. What future would there be in a company that does not respect its employees.
Look, you can always get another job if you are a good worker. And good workers are deserved of a good place to work.
For more information on beating the ‘boss blues’ visit http://www.theerainbowmethod.com
About the Author
Joan Seever is an MBA grad and personal business coach.
Business Mobiles Available to You
The world of business mobiles has been increasing with the different types of voice and data communication products on the market today. With the revolution of wireless hotspots, and increased satellite and phone tower capabilities, it is possible for many business people to travel and have a totally mobile office.
Some of the business mobiles services available may involve Blackberry installations, (BIS and BES), for the growing popularity of the Blackberry hand-held phone/computer combinations that work at increasingly more productive speeds.
There are Nokia and Sony Ericsson business phones that offer mobile data solutions and mobile business telephone solutions to fit the needs of the user. Apple, HTC and Samsung are other products that are also being used in the business mobiles networks of many companies today.
With the global economy of today, many of these products can fill the needs of business telephone services needed for the mobile phone and data communications market.
Some of the different mobile networks besides Blackberry Solutions are O2, Vodafone, Orange, T-mobile, Bluetooth technology headsets and Mobile Broadband. Depending on the requirements of your business mobiles, there is a network and equipment available to you to meet your exact needs.
Mobile broadband allows you to connect your business mobile phone to your laptop to send and receive messages or surf the internet using mobile broadband technology. Blackberry Solutions like Blackberry Internet Service, Blackberry Professional Software and Blackberry Enterprise Service offer a range of products that offer complete wireless experiences, free software downloads and can be used to mobilise an entire work force.
Other business mobile plans, such as Vodafone Total Business offer inclusive calls to other mobiles on the account, calls to 10 company owned landlines and inclusive voice mail retrieval, and can be tailored to the needs of the customer, at plans from 500 to 48000 minutes per month.
Orange Venture and Orange Momentum offer plans that fit the number of employees, designed for smaller and medium size businesses. You can get Free Orange answer phone, itemized billing, unlimited calls and texts between sharers, rollover minutes and free missed call alert for a set monthly fee.
O2 offers shared business tariffs that offer unlimited calls to O2 mobiles and up to 10 UK landlines of your choice. If you use large amounts of voice and data, the Business Super User Tariff offers unlimited calls, texts and internet browsing. Data tariffs allow mobile internet, push email and Blackberry solutions.
T-Mobile business mobile plans offer 20 tariffs ranging from 250 to 50000 minutes at affordable pricing.
You can get free Bluetooth headsets when you connect any business mobile phone service, if you have a Bluetooth compliant business handset. Bluetooth technology is great for hands-free talking and offers safety for your entire business mobile network.
With the wide range of products and networks for business mobile phone service, you can find the equipment and plan to fit your data and voice communication needs. Advanced technology gives you many options to increase productivity and keep in touch with your mobile workforce, no matter what size it may be.
About the Author
Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who represents a number of UK businesses. For business mobile requirements, he recommends Intech Telecom, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of business mobiles.