Six behaviors that could come back to bite you | Ward Wired As project managers we want our team members to have a commitment to deadlines, be optimistic about their work, stay focused on the goal, have a competitive mindset, stick to the budget, and please clients and management don’t we? And yet, these 6 behaviors, which most of us would readily agree are important, can precede a scandal, cause morale problems, and sink projects. In an interesting blog post David Gelber, author of The 3 Power Values provides some pertinent examples of disastrous business results from being obsessive about these behaviors. They intrigued me so I decided to write about them in a project management context. See what you think. Commitment to deadlines—While this is at the core of successful project management, when the schedule becomes sacrosanct and we do everything in our power to meet it, we create more problems than their worth. Excessive Optimism—Optimism can be a powerful influencer on projects.
Pierre Rabhi : « Si nous nous accrochons à notre modèle de société, c’est le dépôt de bilan planétaire » - Ecologie Et si, après une stressante campagne électorale, on respirait un peu ? Quelle société voulons-nous aujourd’hui construire ? « La croissance est un problème, pas une solution », affirme Pierre Rabhi, paysan-philosophe. Face à la disparition des questions écologiques dans le débat politique, et à la frénésie marchande qui nous a pris en otages, il invite à repenser la vie sur un mode à la fois « sobre et puissant ». Basta ! Pierre Rabhi [1] : Je ne me réjouis pas de cette situation, mais je me dis finalement que l’être humain a besoin d’entrer dans des impasses pour mieux comprendre. Pendant la campagne électorale, l’écologie a quasiment disparu du débat politique. C’est parce que les citoyens ne sont pas véritablement conscients de l’enjeu de l’écologie que nous sommes obligés d’avoir une écologie politique pour lui donner une place au forceps. Selon vous, le progrès technologique nous asservirait ? Le progrès technologique ne rétablit pas de l’équité dans le monde, au contraire.
culture management Archive Recognize This! – Social recognition has most impact when it touches all employees frequently, wherever and however they work, to drive the data needed to make smart talent and business decisions. During my career as an employee recognition strategist and consultant, I’ve had the honor and privilege of working with many truly innovative and forward thinking company leaders who want to do right by their employees. These people, and the companies they work for, are deeply invested in the helping their employee engage more fully in their work, thereby delivering a more satisfying experience for their customers and communities. JetBlue is an excellent example of this attitude and approach. 1) Use Social Recognition to Reinforce Great Behavior“When one of JetBlue’s employees—or as JetBlue calls them, “crewmembers”—receives recognition from a peer or crew leader, other people in their workgroup can see that recognition and add their own comments and congratulations… It’s a win-win.
6 Steps for Avoiding Burnout : Managing If you're burnt out, consider the following tips to get you back on the right track. April 12, 2012 Chances are you are racing through this article. You might be sitting behind a desk, jogging to your next appointment, and answering 10 emails–all while racing through this article. If so, you are among the entrepreneurial majority–too much to do and simply not enough time. And chances are your team is operating the same way - and running the risk of burning out. If you want to succeed, you need to not only do your best, you need to feel your best. Here is how you do it: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Burnout and stress are not only unhealthy for your body as a whole, but they can also wreak havoc on your personal relationships, as well as put your company in jeopardy. Photo credit: Thinkstock
How to Make Great Decisions in Life: Top 5 Practical Insights Making great decisions can be tricky: there are many hidden traps and potential roadblocks you need to be aware of. Here are 5 practical, actionable insights to help you make the best possible decisions to improve your life. 1. Value is in the eye of the beholder How much is a gallon of water worth? Well, if you’re reading this, you can probably get a gallon of water for pennies from your kitchen tap. Many people believe value is intrinsic to an object. Decision making is a very personal business — it’s about assessing what’s valuable to you. How to Apply This Insight Always decide on your own. 2. As we’ve seen in insight #1 above, no decision outcomes are intrinsically ‘good’ or ‘bad’ — the outcome depends on who you ask, and there are never absolute answers. Salesman: Hey, want to buy an elephant for $800? Be clear about your goals before deciding. 3. Many people see decision making as an analytical process that, if done right, is guaranteed to lead to nice outcomes. 4. 5.
Changing Your Culture by Bringing Humanity to the Workplace Managers, from the senior level down to the front line leaders, often have the misconception that to manage effectively, neither they nor their employees can actually show their human side at work. These managers believe that to allow personality, humor and humility gives away too much of their power, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Maybe back in the command and control era of management, when employees clocked in and clocked out and were expected to repeatedly perform routine tasks, this type of emotionless management style may have worked. But the workplace is different now. Today, we call on every employee to use their creativity and innovation to help companies compete on a global level. Employees must know that they can suggest new ideas without those ideas being immediately shot down. It’s a common belief that money is the great motivator. Kelleher injected humor and fun into the workplace in his own way, which included dressing in drag and dressing like Elvis.
Comment les mouches deviennent alcooliques après s’être fait rejeter sexuellement ? Si vous êtes un homme célibataire, cette situation pourrait vous être familière : vous passez la soirée à essayer de séduire des femmes dans un bar, mais vous vous êtes suffisamment fait jeter et vous finissez par noyer vos peines. Il s’avère que les humains ne sont pas la seule espèce qui se tourne vers le démon de l’alcool, quand on ne peut pas s’envoyer en l’air. Une étude publiée cette semaine (lien plus bas) suggère que les mouches mâles, privées de sexe vont boire de l’alcool afin de stimuler un système de récompense naturelle. Les chercheurs ont commencé par diviser une population de drosophile de sexe masculin en deux groupes. Chacune des mouches les plus chanceuses a obtenu un véritable marathon sexuel de six heures, avec des femelles vierges réceptives, une fois par jour pendant quatre jours. Puis, les mâles de chaque traitement se sont dirigés vers le bar. Ne soyez pas trop triste pour les mâles asexués, car on leur a finalement donné la chance de s’accoupler. Source
Work Culture: What’s All the Hoopla About? Popular Today in Business: All Popular Articles With every generation comes a Corporate Culture evolution. As technology facilitates logistics and streamlines work processes, so too must corporate culture evolve. I recently read an article citing that work culture was an important element in the decision-making process of Millennials to accept a job. The concept of organizations modifying corporate culture and work models is nothing new. Having run an organization for over 20 years, I have come to realization that any solid business relationship, whether it’s client relationship or employee-employer relationship, is very much a two-way street. So… am I right, or am I wrong?
10 clés pour une externalisation réussie Pas facile quand on dirige une jeune boite de confier à d’autres une partie de ses activités, quand la moindre décision a un impact immédiat et visible sur la vie de l’entreprise. Voici quelques conseils pratiques qui vous permettront d’éviter les écueils habituels d’un projet d’externalisation. Posez vous les bonnes questions L’idée d’externaliser une ou plusieurs compétences peut naître de nombreuses attentes : gain de temps, flexibilité, économies financières, apport d’expertise, etc. Comparez les solutions qui s’offrent à vous Apporter de nouvelles compétences à l’entreprise peut se faire de plusieurs manières : stagiaire, job étudiant, apprenti, freelance, salarié, prestataire spécialisé, externalisation offshore… La nature de la mission, le degré d’expertise nécessaire, le niveau de risque que vous êtes prêt à accepter ou encore la viabilité de la solution sur le long terme sont autant de critères qui devront vous guider dans votre choix. Tracez un contour précis à la mission
Housing Anywhere - AIESEC International Global Newsletter AIESEC is present in all continents of the world: AIESEC’ers come and AIESEC’ers go into 110 countries, every year again. People leaving a country, will leave an empty room behind in their country, and those people will need a new room on their new location abroad. To facilitate this house hunting, AIESEC has partnered with a student-to-student housing platform www.HousingAnywhere.com: AIESEC’ers going abroad have the opportunity to rent out their rooms on this platform, so that students that come to your country can rent those rooms. If e.g. 10 outgoing students in Los Angeles rent out their rooms on this platform, then there is a place to stay for 10 incoming AIESEC students in Los Angeles. HousingAnywhere is a student-to-student housing. The platform facilitates that outgoing & incoming students can find each other. What are the advantages for AIESEC members: Want to be part of this
Why Leadership Means Listening Today's employees want to be asked for feedback and they want to be heard. Here are four tips to help you become a better listener Over the past several weeks, I interviewed a half-dozen well-known business leaders for a new book on communications. One theme came up repeatedly—great leaders are great listeners. The differences they found were striking. 1. The other week I asked a newspaper reporter who he considered the most inspiring person he had ever met. This reporter meets plenty of famous people, yet Clinton made an impression on him because in Clinton he found someone who seemed to show a genuine interest in what he was saying. When you speak to someone, maintain eye contact with that person. 2. Great listeners ask questions in response to a question asked of them. Just as eye contact makes people feel important, asking questions makes them feel as though their opinions count. 3. 4. Goldsmith calls listening the one skill that separates the great from the near-great.
Posséder, c’est dépassé ! Principales tendances motrices La crise économique et écologique, qui devient également sociale et politique Les réseaux sociaux, qui aident à transformer la contrainte (et la rage contre le "système") en énergie positive, tournée vers la recherche de solutions à la fois personnelles et collectives Signes avant-coureurs Le développement de différentes formes de "consommation collaborative" : achats groupés, partage de ressources et de capacités, "consumer to consumer" (don, troc, location, revente de biens)… L’"économie de fonctionnalité" : faire payer un service (transport, chauffage, éducation, culture, soins, etc.) ou l’usage d’un bien plutôt que ce bien lui-même. Multiplication des espaces partagés, depuis les "coworking spaces" jusqu’aux fab labs en passant par les jardins partagés. Extension de formes "hybrides" d’emploi : multi-employeurs, auto-entrepreneurs, portage salarial… Les territoires sont les premiers à se mobiliser pour accompagner ce mouvement. Raisons de douter
What Do You Do When You Don’t Fit In Your Company’s Culture? I know this won’t be shocking to regular blog readers, but I write fairly often about company cultures. Usually, I write for leadership – what their role is in creating a strong culture, how to do that, how to proactively manage culture based on core values. This time, however, I’m writing for the average employee, because employees also have a direct responsibility in building a positive culture of recognition by actively acknowledging and appreciating the efforts and achievements of their colleagues. What do you do when you don’t fit in your company’s culture? That’s the question asked in this Forbes article, which gives several good examples. 2 options when the “problem” is you What do you do when the “problem” is you. Change to fit the culture – Perhaps you’re more of a “heads down, get the work done” kind of person in an office that enjoys lunches as a group, birthday celebrations, etc. Ultimately, we have to be comfortable in the place we spend the majority of our waking hours.
10 Reasons Why Top Sales People are Successful: Boost Your Sales Career The top 20 percent of sales people earn 80 percent of the money. Your goal is to become one of the highest-paid people in your profession and accelerate your sales career using the vital keys to success in sales. Fortunately, this is easier than you might think. Key to Success #1: Top Sales People Do What They Love to Do All truly successful, highly paid sales people, love their sales career. You must learn to love your work and then commit yourself to becoming excellent in your field. Key To Success #2: They Decide Exactly What They Want Don’t be wishy-washy. According to the research, only about 3 percent of adults have written goals. Key to Success #3: They Back Their Sales Career Goals With Perseverance A key to success in sales is to back your goal with perseverance and indomitable willpower. Key to Success #4: They Commit to Lifelong Learning Your mind is your most precious asset, and the quality of your thinking determines the quality of your sales career.