Michelle Chase, managing director of all-virtual, 10-employee firm Perkett PR, shares more of her experiences and best practices when it comes to running a company with no central office.
In my last column, I questioned whether there was a "right" way to handle layoffs. Does a good manager tip off employees before the event or abide by the wishes of the powers that be and stay silent, all the while uneasy with the knowledge?
Motivating your staff can be difficult, even in good times. So in times like these- with tighter budgets, smaller staffs and the ever-present threat of more layoffs - it appears even more difficult, if not impossible. I've talked a lot about motivation in this newsletter, but there's one angle I haven't covered: what to do if you are not motivated.
I recently bought a laptop from one of the leading consumer PC vendors. It was not the best experience of my life. From the moment I placed the order online to the moment I sent it back, it's been a litany of confusion, frustration and dysfunction. I'm sure you can relate on some level.
While on vacation recently, I witnessed a pretty cool example of leadership in action. I was out to dinner and a couple tables over from me was a group of 12 or so people. It was early evening, the restaurant wasn't crowded yet and the head honcho's voice carried, so I got a pretty good idea of what was going on.
In a previous article on Computerworld, recruitment expert Phil Sullivan reminded us it's time to get back to basics when hiring new employees. When the labor pool was shallow, it was not uncommon for managers to offer prospective employees jobs right on the spot at an initial meeting. Today, Sullivan says it's time to return to the standards of hiring, and the first step is a detailed reference check.
Hiring is more of an art than a science. It's a combination of facts and gut instinct, and some times one of those factors - or both - fail us, despite our best efforts.
The topic of hiring in an employer's market has been hot as of late. On one hand we have candidates rightly complaining that they're being - for lack of a better word - jerked around by prospective employers. Multiple interviews, return trips back to the company and hiring processes that take months are common for many job seekers today. On the other hand, employers say they're not taking advantage of the market, but rather exercising due diligence in a time when many desperate job hunters are overinflating their resumes.
Last time we started our look at the importance of question-asking, specifically, the book "78 Questions Every Leader Should Ask and Answer" by Chris Clarke-Epstein. A speaker, trainer and consultant, Clarke-Epstein says the key to improving relationships with your employees and customers lies in the art of asking questions.
Management can be overwhelming sometimes. On top of the myriad issues we have to deal with daily is the internal desire to be a better leader. Yet tackling that issue can seem impossible, given it's made up of so many different areas. What do I work on first: communication, recognition, retention, goal-setting
or something else? The list goes on and on.
IT professionals may not be the Rodney Dangerfields of the corporate world, but they don't always hold the sway they deserve. There are myriad theories: CXOs just don't understand technology. IT pros are "nerds." Everyone has a PC at home, how hard can IT be? IT has a huge budget, why do I still have trouble accessing the 'Net from my office? The list goes on and on.
Managers attract paper like bees to honey - except honey is sweet and papers are stifling. Even in this age of high-tech, most of us have stacks of paper on, about, under or adjacent to our desks. If you're like me, you'll draw the line at some point, then spend considerable time cleaning up the mess. Then, unfortunately, you wonder where you put everything - or if you threw it out in a fit of "effciency."
Last time we examined the concept of "The 2R Manager," by Peter Friedes, who says leaders need to be able to relate to their people, but also enforce deadlines and deliver feedback to be effective. You're not helping your staff when you're managing to be liked, but you're also not leading well when you're all
business. A good manager, Friedes says, is adept at requiring and relating (the two Rs from the book's title).
To be a good manager, you have to care about your employees. However, there's another side to this coin. To be a good manager you also have to help your employees grow, and to do that you have to enforce deadlines and deliver feedback. Whenever either subject comes up, I usually get e-mail from readers stating, "But I'm not good at the personal stuff" or "I have a hard time dealing with conflict."
Retention is a hot topic, despite the cool economy. As we all know, your super staffers may stay put now, but once the economy improves, they could split if they're unfulfilled or unchallenged. Retaining employees is more art than science, but it certainly can feel like advanced physics or molecular biology if you're having a hard time with it.
