HR

By Camille Smith • May 13th, 2013

Exhausted by being connected 24/7? Worried you’ll be seen as a slacker if you don’t answer every email within 14 minutes? Tweeting, liking and pinning multiple times a day because you don’t want to miss anything? One ‘yes’ = this message is for you. (If someone hands you this column, thank them, then read it. [...]

(This article is part of a series originally published in Japan by ALC Press English Journal, and is written in “Global English”. CLICK HERE to see the accompanying video, spoken in “Global English”.) QUESTION:  “My biggest problem is I lack the confidence to take on more responsibility at work. Now I’m watching less qualified people get promoted, and [...]

I received the below great question a few days after my Art of War for Product Managers and High-Performing Professionals.  I thought you might be interested in the answer as well. Q: Many senior employees work under my lead. In this case, many other senior employees think that what a lucky me. Jealousy is coming [...]

I recently received a question regarding “How do you transition from a consulting job back into management?”. This is a great topic, because the answer is useful whether you are moving from a consulting job back into IT, or management; OR moving from any field to a different career.

In the previous SSWUG TV interview with Stephen Wynkoop, we covered How to protect your job when there is a shake-up at the top” . This is a more detailed discussion on that topic.

One of the great “aha”s for me as a manager was realizing that motivating people – and not de-motivating them – are two different things. It was years ago – I think I was at Apple. One of my colleagues shared a Harvard Business Review article from the 1980s that recounted Frederick Herzberg’s work in [...]

As a Business Process Consultant and Efficiency Coach, I am a subject matter expert in the field of Process Improvement. I work closely with the client to analyze both operational processes and financial metrics to assess project opportunities that positively impact the financial performance of the client business. In that role, I see a few misconceptions in how to make office changes (or any change for that matter). The most prevalent false premise is to “start where you are and take small steps”. That may be the resulting action – but I don’t recommend we start there.

In the realm of following your heart’s passion, I’ve noticed that when people do not feel safe to be themselves, they start to wear a mask. This mask can be worn at home or at work, and may even morph into many “masks” for those who tend to compartmentalize their lives.  Wearing a mask is tiring; and [...]

Role of the VPE in Management The role of the VPE has two essential tasks: (1) to build and direct an efficient organization that can do the work and to which operational responsibility can be delegated, and (2) manage the complex web of communications between the Engineering organization and all the other interested parties, be [...]

Your online reputation score is your new credit score …  Today, I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned about the care and maintenance of your on-line reputation; in essence, how the on-line “virtual you” can greatly impact the living, breathing you – now and in the future. How great an impact? Look at [...]

How do you evaluate how well a team is functioning? A key indicator is energy. Energy is a quality of the interactions going on in the room the team is working in, a quality that you feel when you’re in the room with them. There are a variety of types of energy. A team may [...]

In my last post, Low Hanging Fruit, Part I, I outlined some quick and ever-so-easy tips that make communicating on global projects a bit smoother. These are things we know but just may not do as we are running so fast:  Share the pain of time zones (easier said than done, admittedly,) share photos even [...]

Professional Development Series by Laura Lee Rose www.LauraLeeRose.com Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – Corporate Exit Strategist for the Blooming Entrepreneur – and I am a business and life coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.  As a success and business coach, I encourage continuous learning and sharpening our [...]

Enhancing PMP with Business Process Excellence Part III (Final Part of Series) Viable Lean Six Sigma Solutions to Validate Project Timelines and Increase KPI Linkage for PMP leaders Dr. Shree Nanguneri and Mr. Gustav Toppenberg   Meandering in a World Swayed by Certification: In Part I, we addressed the vitality of the linkage of a [...]

In my last blog, we looked at the research-based link between happiness and the ability to focus the mind. Simply put, people who are able to focus their minds a greater percentage of the time (most people’s minds wander about 50%) appear to be happier and more productive at home and at work. Now, I’d [...]

I really didn’t give much thought to the concept of happiness in the workplace until I was walking through the Phoenix airport and spotted The Harvard Business Review (HBR) out of the corner of my eye. Why did it catch my attention? Because here was a big yellow Smiley Face on the front cover (gasp!). [...]

Beliefs, and by extension, belief systems, are powerful energy magnets that shape our inner and outer worlds … and they can be innocently (or not so innocently) misleading. For example, in the 1500′s, authority figures believed that the world was flat as a pancake; in the 1940’s doctors appeared in ads advocating the health benefits [...]

This time of year in the US many people, including me and my family, celebrate Christmas. It’s the most important holiday for us, and it’s a time of year when people seem more tuned in to the connections among all human beings. It seems to me that people are a wee bit nicer to each [...]

Project Management in a Brave New World Which level of proof do you require on your projects? Do you have a tolerance for ambiguity? Is it shared by your sponsor? What exactly does Red, Amber or Green mean? This article focuses on the difficulties of managing people and projects across functional areas, global regions and [...]

“The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.” “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” ‘The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams, would be over 30 years old today, a phenomenon born in London around the same time that the Project Management Institute (PMI) was created [...]

I was speaking to a fellow speaker (who was a developer from Germany). He was sharing that his company will be sending him to 15 conferences this year. I was amazed and impressed at the expense his company was investing in him. “Wow! Share with me what you are bringing back to them, that makes it worth their investment to continue to fund all these trips for you?” He looked confused. “I mean, what is there ‘return on investment’. What are they getting out of these funded trips. How are your trips accomplishing their business goals?”