Whenever I hear a manager talk about personnel in a complaining tone that focuses on their lack of motivation, sloppiness, and all the other shortcomings that managers so frequently speak or or think about, I am reminded of a central fact about business. ((this actually applies to any organization where there is a hierarchy, non-profits, education, government, and more)) Continue reading
Author Archives: Mark Orton
Leadership – “bringing people around softly” and speaking last
The other day I was talking with a business owner about her people management practices. In comparing some thoughts about how to effectively supervise people she noted that waving your finger and giving instructions was almost always a non-starter. She said that she thought that “people need to be brought around softly”. Continue reading
Seize Your Time – step away from “managing” time towards seizing your time
I have written earlier about the strangeness of the concept of “time management” (( in my posting, “Time Management – is now the time to get beyond this distracting oxymoron?”)), but I continue to bump into elements of the vast industry of time management consulting ((I am hardly the only person to note the fallacy of “time management”,here is David E. Allen of Getting Things Done fame on this point)). And clients continue to wrestle with how to use their time more effectively. All of this means that I am continuing to sharpen my practices. Continue reading
Feeling Lonely? Call a Meeting – more from the world of meetings
Recently I was talking with two clients (partners in an engineering firm) about meetings. In particular were the meetings that one of their customers was calling on short notice with no formal purpose with a cast of thousands. We were puzzling through the various ways they could handle customers who think that it is alright to have meetings that take up lots of time and only really involve my clients occasionally for their input and expertise.
Feeling lonely today? Let’s call a meeting. Continue reading
ASAP Means “Never”
A Truly Terrible, Over Used Acronym – An Indicator of a Sloppy Culture
ASAP – “as soon as possible”, this acronym has been in use for over 50 years. Its use is ubiquitous.
ASAP is all too frequently slapped on to every memo or email where a dues date is to be found. How does this help to prioritize work? What does it say about the person making the request? Will sometime tomorrow be just as good? Maybe next week sometime? Perhaps the requestor does not really know when they need it. When does the person requesting really need it? Is this a symptom of out of control work processes? Continue reading
Do You Meet with Your Staff Regularly? – make these meetings more productive
A recent article in the New York Times business section, “You’re the Boss: the art of running a small business”, by Paul Downs, “The Comment That Changed My Business” spoke of this owner’s experience with holding weekly meetings with his employees. In the 24 year history of this company, they had never held regular employee meetings. Mr. Downs reported on how successful these now are for him.
His story reminded me of my own experiences with meetings. Here is one that is germane to Mr. Downs’ story.
I used Stand Up Meetings for staff. Continue reading