No Bull Business Blog

The dangers of Facebook, Twitter, blogging in the workplace

Excerpted from the Executive Report - Facebook, Twitter and Your Employees: The Dangers of Social Networking

Employees are flocking to social network sites. Every organization needs to have a written policy on use of social networking sites by employees - for the good of both employees and the company.

A recent Harris Interactive survey found that just under half (48%) of U.S. adults have either a MySpace or Facebook account.

Usage statistics are much lower for Twitter, with only 5% of Americans saying they currently use it. But that number doesn't tell the whole story.

Twitter grew 1,382% year-over-year as of February 2009, registering a total of just more than 7 million unique visitors in the U.S. for the month.

As you might expect, there are substantial differences in who is and who isn't using these selected social networking sites:

• Three-fourths of those ages 18-34 (74%) have a Facebook or MySpace account, but this quickly drops off the older people get. Just under
• one-quarter (24%) of those ages 55+ have an account.
• Tweeting's also more common among the young, but not by much; only 8% of 18-34-year-olds use Twitter, while 7% of those ages 35-44 use it, 4% of those ages 45-54 and only 1% of those ages 55+ use it.
• While men and women use Twitter at the same levels (5% each), women are more likely to have a Facebook/MySpace account (52% vs. 45%).
• There's also an educational difference in usage of MySpace and Facebook. Two in five people with a high school degree or less (40%) have a Facebook or MySpace account, compared with 55% of those with some college and 52% of those with at least a college degree.

DIGGING DEEPER
To protect your company and employees, it's smart to have a policy to explains what's acceptable and what's not. To find out more, get the Executive Report - Facebook, Twitter and Your Employees: The Dangers of Social Networking

Prima donnas: Are they worth keeping?

Excerpted from the Executive Report: The 7 Most Disruptive Workplace Issues - and How to Handle Them

No question, prima donnas are often valuable to companies. Start-ups especially benefit from the high-powered energy that prima donnas can bring to the table.

But there are times that these employees are simply more trouble than they're worth. And then management has a critical decision to make.

A few questions to ask:

• What's this person's effect on morale? Did good employees jump ship because of this person's behavior?
• How much extra staff time is spent dealing with this person?
• Is he/she really the only employee who can handle this assignment?

The answers will indicate whether it's appropriate to make internal adjustments or end the relationship. Sometimes, jettisoning the top-performing prima donna may be less painful than managers fear it's going to be.

Other employees (rejoice) step up to fill the vacuum, and morale gets a boost.

There's an old saying: "The cemetery is full of indispensable people." That sort of puts it back in perspective.

DIGGING DEEPER
Keeping employees focused has gotten more difficult. So no manager can afford the distractions that a disruptive employee causes. Get the help you need in the Executive Report: The 7 Most Disruptive Workplace Issues - and How to Handle Them

Rookie managers' biggest mistake

Excerpted from the Executive Report: 9 Mistakes New Managers Make Most Often

New managers persist in doing their old jobs rather than the new one. It's the No. 1 classic mistake almost every manager makes upon first being promoted. The good ones recognize it pretty quickly and make the needed change.

But many continue to make this same mistake over and over, even though they know they shouldn't.

It's tempting for a new manager to fall into the trap of wanting to be productive and doing the job he or she performed so well - the job that got them promoted in the first place.

One main reason managers continue to do their old jobs is they haven't yet learned how to delegate the work effectively.

They hang onto every little task themselves and eventually burn out. While this burnout is underway, the people who report to them fail to grow and eventually burn out and feel unmotivated, too.

DIGGING DEEPER
Rookie managers generally have talent, yet they’re missing one key ingredient to be successful – experience. But with guidance, they can avoid the mistakes that can derail them. Get the Executive Report: 9 Mistakes New Managers Make Most Often.

You can't treat every employee the same

Excerpted from the Executive Report: 6 Dumb Ways to Kill Morale - and What You Can Do to Fix It

It's human nature to look at other people through our own prism. When people are very different from us, we have a much more difficult time understanding where they're coming from. Two people facing identical problems or sets of circumstances often choose very different actions.

Does that mean one is smart and the other is dumb? As managers, we may see it that way, but the different actions most likely have very little to do with smarts or lack thereof. People do things more because of their own intrinsic nature than because of any real or perceived lack of expertise or intelligence.

Managers who play to people's strengths do a better job of making new hires work. The easy part is to identify skill sets. It's much harder to identify the behavioral nature that fits the job - that's where most mistakes in people management are made.

DIGGING DEEPER
Managing people is the hardest thing we do. Motivating them and keeping morale up is never ending. For help, read the Executive Report: 6 Dumb Ways to Kill Morale - and What You Can Do to Fix It

Don't waste time on the turkeys

Excerpted from the Executive Report: Turning Good Employees into Great Managers – A Guide for New Managers

If you have a bad apple on your team. Is it better to try and salvage the person or just get rid of that person?

Clearly if the person can do the job and just isn't trying or is goofing off, you want to put some energy into salvaging that individual. New managers often think they can - and should - try to save everyone.

But they shouldn't spend too much of their time on that.

The top commodity a new manager offers to the organization is his or her time. And if you waste too much of it on a lost cause, you're turning yourself into overhead and others you manage will notice. 

To simplify, you can break your employees into three categories:

• eagles: top performers who fly and soar
• robins: folks who come to work and get the job done, but who don't rise to the top
• turkeys: self-explanatory.

Ask: Where am I spending the majority of my time and energy? Nine out of 10 managers will say the lion's share goes to the turkeys - and that's not good!

Best approach: Spend most of your time encouraging the eagles to keep soaring and develop the robins to become eagles.

Spend just enough time with the turkeys to let them know they need to get better - or else.

DIGGING DEEPER

The key to business success is managing people. For more help, check out the Executive Report: Turning Good Employees into Great Managers – A Guide for New Managers

What nervous employees don't want to hear

Employees are quite antsy these days. So be careful what you say. BuzzWhack.com listed the top 10 things not to say, including:

• "I've always thought of us as family around here, but ..."
• "Can I see you in the conference room"

And our favorite is: "They've asked everyone to come to the Employee Appreciation Room for a 4 p.m. meeting."

See the full list and another 10 that readers offered up at BuzzWhack: Top 10 things nervous employees don't want to hear right now

No more raises: 5 ways to motivate employees

Excerpted from the Executive Report: Motivating Without Money: 91 Inexpensive Ways to Keep Employees Happy

 

There will be very few raises this year, but there are still ways to motivate employees and boost morale. Here are five ways:

1. Make your people the face of your organization. You have to advertise anyway, so why not put their smiling faces in your ads or feature them in company publications, such as newsletters.
2. Give shiny cars. You can buy express car washes for about $5. So for $100, you can give 20 employees clean cars.
3. Add a handwritten note to your employees' paychecks from time to time. Highlight something they did, how you felt about it and the effect it will have on the company, co-workers or customers. For instance, "Jill, your perseverance helped us find the software bug. I'm proud you're part of my team. You saved us a lot of time and money."
4. Give employees space to do their own bragging. Put up a large bulletin board and invite them to fill it with certificates, newspaper clippings, artwork and other noteworthy items about themselves or their loved ones.
5. After someone puts in an extra effort, send a care package home to the employee's family. Include items with the company logo and passes for all family members to see a movie.

 

DIGGING DEEPER
Motivating employees is a never-ending job for managers. But there are plenty of ways to do it. For more ideas, read the Executive Report: Motivating Without Money: 91 Inexpensive Ways to Keep Employees Happy.

Is delegating a dirty word?

Excerpted from the Executive Report: Taking Control - 163 Ways to Save Time.

Delegating is a dirty word to many people.

Because doing it properly takes time and energy, they often think: "In the time it would take me to teach someone else to do this task, I could do it myself."

Or: "The only way I can be sure this task will be done right, is if I do it myself."

Here are two reasons to toss out both those ideas:

• Look at the big picture. While it may take more time than you'd like to explain how to do the task the first time around, it will save huge amounts of your time in the long run.
• Perfectionism is one of the biggest time-wasters. Are there some tasks that need to be perfect and require your expertise? Absolutely. But there are so many more tasks that don't need to be perfect, and where "good enough" is just fine. Productive people know how to tell the difference - and so can you.

DIGGING DEEPER

For most managers, working harder really isn't an option. But they try to do it anyway. But there are plenty of ways to streamline your job, eliminate distractions and get others involved. For help, read the Executive Report: Taking Control - 163 Ways to Save Time.

Use the word 'behavior' instead of 'attitude'

Excerpted from the the Executive Report: Dealing With and Eliminating Unacceptable Behavior.

You may think a person has a good attitude or bad attitude, but unless you're crawling around inside his or her head you really don't know.

Managers should steer clear of using the word "attitude" in the work stetting.

Instead, use "behavior."

You can actually see and document behavior.

You can tell a worker: "It's unacceptable for you to suck your teeth and walk away while I am giving you instructions."

That's more clear and specific than "I don't like your attitude."

DIGGING DEEPER:
For the most part, employees do the right thing at work. But there are always those moments of "unacceptable behavior." Get a handle on it with the Executive Report: Dealing With and Eliminating Unacceptable Behavior.

Got any 'plate lickers' at your place?

We all know folks who don't miss an opportunity to get a free meal. BuzzWhack.com  calls them "plate lickers." Here's BuzzWhack's  definition:

plate lickers: People who show up for the free food. Could be members of a customer's staff who invite themselves to a working lunch. They provide no input, have no decision-making authority, generally dress slovenly and order the most expensive thing on the menu. After lunch, they will go back to their cubicles and complain about you, the restaurant and their station in life.

BuzzWhack.com         

Why managers struggle with difficult conversations

Most managers will do almost anything to avoid having a "difficult conversation" with an employee.

Obviously, they aren't fun and no one looks forward to them.

But there's another reason why managers hate them. They don't know how to do them!

Why? Well, most good managers were promoted into management because they almost always did the right thing - without being told. They had initiative. They produced results.

There's a good chance that their bosses never had to have a "difficult" conversation with them. So they don't know what it's like to be on either side of the difficult conversation. And therefore don't know what to do when they finally have to have one with their own employee.

DIGGING DEEPER
Difficult conversations are just part of business. And when they're needed, it's bad to put them off. The sooner you have the conversation, the better the employee, your staff and company will be. For help, read the Executive Report: Handling Difficult Conversations with Employees - What Every Manager Needs to Know.

No Bull Quote

"Worry about being better; bigger will take care of itself."

- Gary Comer

Writer's block: 7 ways to break through

Excerpted from the Executive Report: Business Writing: A Guide to Clear, Concise and Effective Writing.

It doesn't matter how many letters, reports or memos you've written. At some point, you'll find yourself staring at a blank screen, struggling to come up with that first paragraph or sentence.

Try these proven techniques for conquering writer's block. The methods are different, but their goal is the same - to get you "unstuck" and writing:

1. Write a headline. Before getting started on your letter, report or memo, ask yourself: "If this were a news story, what would be the headline?" Coming up with a headline forces you to identify the single idea you're trying to get across.

2. Create an outline. We're not talking about a long drawn-out outline with Roman numerals. Just jot down the major points you want to make and use it as a guide while you're writing.

3. Write it wrong. When you're working on your first draft, forget about typos, poorly constructed sentences and awkward transitions. The sole purpose of your first draft is to get your basic ideas down on paper. In other words: Just do it.  You can worry about "cleaning it up" later.

4. Take 10. For 10 minutes (time yourself), write nonstop. Glance at your outline if it helps, but keep writing. Sure, some of it won't be usable. But you'll find the simple process of continuous writing will help shape your thoughts.

5. Say it out loud. If you're drawing a blank trying to write the first sentence, say it out loud. Pretend the person to whom you're writing the letter is sitting across from you. What's the first thing you'd say? Now write it.

6. Switch readers. Sometimes writing a letter can be difficult because you know there's a good chance the reader may be intimidated or angry about your message. Write your first draft as if you're writing to someone else - someone who's friendly and receptive to what you have to say. You can change your tone when you go back to revise it.

7. Pick a card. Stuck on the order in which to present your points? Get a few index cards and write down one idea per card that you'd like to include in your letter. Don't worry about the sequence. Once all your ideas are down on cards, rearrange them so the ideas flow in a logical sequence.

DIGGING DEEPER
The truth is, most of us aren't great writers. One reason is that we try too hard to sound fancy or formal. But concise and conversational does a better job when trying to communicate ideas. For help, get the Executive Report: Business Writing: A Guide to Clear, Concise and Effective Writing.

Recipe for conflict: Comparing one employee to another

Excerpted from the Executive Report: Dealing With and Eliminating Unacceptable Behavior

A rule of thumb when dealing with unacceptable performance is to avoid comparing the employee to co-workers. That just creates more problems.

Instead, focus just on the person in front of you, giving a straightforward assessment.

For instance, it should never be "You only do six of these a day, and Beth does 10."

Instead, it should be "You do six of these a day, and there is room to do more. I'd like to find a way to build you up to eight, or even 10. What do you think of that? What do you think we need to do to help you get to that number?"

DIGGING DEEPER

One of the biggest headaches that managers have is dealing with inappropriate behavior in the workplace. For additional help, see the Executive Report: Dealing With and Eliminating Unacceptable Behavior.

New FMLA rules provide employer leeway

Excerpted from the executive report: The New FMLA Rules: What Employers Need to Know Now

The new FMLA rules give employers more leeway in what they ask for when seeking certification of a serious medical condition. The paperwork can now include the physician's area of specialization, specific facts pertinent to the employee's condition, and whether intermittent or other leave is medically necessary.

The new regs include an optional form, WH-380E: New Certification of Health Care Provider for Employee's Serious Health Condition, which is for the employers use.

Under the old rules, employers couldn't check directly with employees' medical providers when further information was needed to determine FMLA leave eligibility. Companies could ask for an opinion from another healthcare professional - but the firm had to pick up the tab.

The new regs allow employers - with authorization from the employee - to contact the worker's physician directly if clarification or authentication is needed.

But there's a catch: The individual contacting the doctor has to be one of the following:

• a health care professional
• a Human Resources staffer
• a leave administrator, or
• a member of upper management.

The rules expressly prevent the employee's direct supervisor from making contact with the worker's medical provider.

DIGGING DEEPER

The new FMLA rules, which take effect Jan. 16, 2009, make some significant changes. And employers must make those changes to be in compliance. Get all the details in the executive report: The New FMLA Rules: What Employers Need to Know Now