MgmtWatchSM Helping you manage If you are having difficulty seeing this mail or images in it, you can view it in your Web browser. Volume 10, Issue 5      In This Issue:   We Have Met the Enemy and He Is PowerPoint   9 Things Employees Want from Their Managers (And 5 Things They Don’t)   How to Ask for Help at Work   How Rude! Bad Office Behaviors We’re All Guilty Of          Quiz: How Rude Are You At Work?   Having ’the talk’: Wise words for troublesome people   Employment law 101: The six most common manager errors   Ten Things Human Resources Won’t Tell You   Curbing Cyberslacking at Work   Impress your Boss   Live Longer by Slowing Down If you enjoy this newsletter, read more in our Archive and Explore more Topics and Events We Have Met the Enemy and He Is PowerPoint The US military is hooked on PowerPoint, for good or bad, for richer or poorer... Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the leader of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, was shown a PowerPoint slide in Kabul last summer that was meant to portray the complexity of American military strategy, but looked more like a bowl of spaghetti. "When we understand that slide, we’ll have won the war," General McChrystal dryly remarked, one of his advisers recalled, as the room erupted in laughter. The slide has since bounced around the Internet as an example of a military tool that has spun out of control. Like an insurgency, PowerPoint has crept into the daily lives of military commanders and reached the level of near obsession. The amount of time expended on PowerPoint, the Microsoft presentation program of computer-generated charts, graphs and bullet points, has made it a running joke in the Pentagon and in Iraq and Afghanistan. "PowerPoint makes us stupid," ... Read the article     Back to top 9 Things Employees Want from Their Managers (And 5 Things They Don’t) There are some things that almost all employees want. Do you offer them? Inspiring leader . Quiet problemsolver . Compassionate mentor. Different employees crave different things from their managers. For example, some employees want a hands-on boss who stops by with a "How are things going?" every couple of hours. Others don’t care to see their boss but once a year at the performance review. Unless you’re a mind reader, it’s impossible to know exactly what your staff wants from you. But a survey of 500 U.S. employees-published in the book What People Want, by Terry Bacon-reveals what matters most to workers... Read the article     Back to top                   How to Ask for Help at Work Spend your valuable time mulling options instead of questions. The Handel Group’s Beth Weissenberger tells senior leaders it’s O.K. to admit when they need assistance, advice, or additional knowledge. One thing we at the Handel Group have frequently found in our work with senior leaders is how difficult it is for them to ask for help, especially among their co-workers, whether subordinates or superiors. When faced with something they don’t know how to do or handle, or something they need in order to do their job, it is as if... Read the article     Back to top How Rude! Bad Office Behaviors We’re All Guilty Of Technology had changed the way we communicate. Has it caused you to be rude? Quiz: How Rude Are You At Work? Take this quiz and see how you do! The accelerated pace of office life has made us lose touch with common courtesies once taken for granted, like saying, ’’Good morning.’’ Cecille Hansen works with a great guy who has an extremely irritating habit. Whenever someone speaks to the account executive, he makes a "hurry up" motion with his hand, winding his wrist as if to say, "Hurry up. Get to the point, already." "He didn’t even know he did it until someone brought it to his attention," says Hansen, a records manager for an insurance broker in Bellevue, Wash. "He’s the nicest guy. He just goes at a higher speed than most of us."Hansen’s generous view of her colleague’s rude behavior is due, in part, to her awareness of her own sins:... Read the article     Back to top Having ’the talk’: Wise words for troublesome people Use the "D-I-S method" to improve morale and stay out of court. Being an effective manager means confronting those "challenging" employees who, while typically good at their jobs, too often display unprofessional or downright obnoxious behavior. Simply tolerating such workers is a finger-in-the-dike approach, and it runs counter to two traits of good managers-leadership and decisiveness. Managers who silently put up with such behavior will undermine their own authority. The best way to tackle such problems is to meet with employees right when you spot the problem behavior. Follow these guidelines, which have the side benefit of protecting the organization from employee claims that they weren't treated fairly... Read the article     Back to top Employment law 101: The six most common manager errors Violate these errors and pray you are not sued! Lawsuits by employees against their employers have grown tremendously in the past decade. Sometimes those lawsuits have merit, sometimes they don't. But, either way, those lawsuits cost time and money to fight-money that is better spent on product development, training and raises. Even worse, some laws-including federal overtime law and the Family and Medical Leave Act-allow employees to sue their supervisors directly, meaning a manager's personal bank account could be at stake. Most lawsuits are not triggered by great injustices. Instead, simple management mistakes and perceived slights start the snowball of discontent rolling downhill toward the courtroom. Here are 6 of the biggest manager mistakes that harm an organization's credibility in court. Use these points as a checklist to shore up your personal employment-law defense:... Read the article     Back to top Ten Things Human Resources Won’t Tell You What HR personnel will want to share outside of the department... "We’re squeezed too." There was a time when human resources departments handled every staffing need at a company, from hiring and firing to administering benefits and determining salaries. But HR’s role has begun to change significantly as departments have shrunk at companies across the board. According to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management, the profession’s largest association, the head count at the average HR department fell from 13 in 2007 to nine in 2008. "HR departments are under pressure like never before," says Steve Miranda, the society’s global HR and integration officer. As much of what was once HR’s domain increasingly gets... Read the article     Back to top Curbing Cyberslacking at Work How strict you need to be depends on your employees work environment and your leadership. What do ABC’s "Lost," the World Cup and Playboy share in common? They all have the potential to put a big dent in small businesses’ production flow these next few weeks, as each has something new to tempt employees who work online. The TV series "Lost" ends May 23, giving viewers much to chat about on fan sites in the days leading up to and after it airs. And starting June 11, the 2010 World Cup, which takes place in Africa this year, will be live during office hours in the U.S. Sports lovers may be inclined to frequently check sports sites for score updates. They all have the potential to put a big dent in small businesses’ production flow these next few weeks, as each has something new to tempt employees who work online. The TV series "Lost" ends May 23, giving viewers much to chat about on fan sites in the days leading up to and after it airs. And starting June 11, the 2010 World Cup, which takes place in Africa this year, will be live during office hours in the U.S. Sports lovers may be inclined to frequently check sports sites for score updates... Read the article     Back to top Impress your Boss Three strategies to impress your boss. GOLDEN OLDIES - FROM THE MANAGEMENT-ISSUES ARCHIVE Whether you’re working toward a raise, a promotion, or your work ethic just won’t let you do otherwise, you probably aspire to hear the words "good job" from your boss. If that’s you, one of the quickest ways to impress your boss is by making his or her life easier. Although every supervisor is different and will be impressed by different actions, here are three things you can do that are likely to give any boss a favorable impression of you... Read the article     Back to top Live Longer by Slowing Down Here are a few easy exercises and foods to help you feel younger by 10 or more years. Our basic premise is: Your body is amazing. You get a do-over; it doesn't take that long, and isn't that hard if you know what to do.In these columns, we give you a short course in what to do. We want you to know how much control you have over your quality and length of life. Today we want to introduce you to two things that will, if practiced with regularity, give you the energy you had 10 years ago:... Read the article     Back to top                   Forward to a Friend: Do you have a friend that would like to receive mgmtwatchsm? Perhaps you know a peer within your organization, or associate at a partner company that would benefit from applying to receive this publication. Inviting a friend to experience the benefits of joining the BusinessWatch Network is easy! Just FW: this newsletter to the person you know who may have an interest and ask them to click here http://www.businesswatchnetwork.com Your friend will be glad you did! If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from MgmtWatchsm simply change your status for email address $EMAIL, or send a letter requesting opt-off to: The BusinessWatch Network Privacy Mailbox, 1321, Marblehead, MA. 01945 DISCLAIMER: mgmtwatchsm and the BusinessWatch Networksm are service marks of DMS. All other trademarks or service marks contained in this email are the property of their respective owners. At the time of publication, all links in this e-mail functioned properly. However, since many links point to sites other than businesswatchnetwork.com, some links may become invalid as time passes. DMS Inc. supports the DMA Privacy Promise and Guidelines for Ethical Business Practice. We are committed to the proper use of email and to protecting consumers from fraudulent or inappropriate offers. Privacy Policy