Communication and Conflict in the Workplace

Conflict is impossible to avoid in the workplace.  Whenever people are together, especially in tense or stressful situations, conflict is inevitable.  As a leader, it’s important you understand the main causes of workplace conflict and ways you can create a supportive atmosphere that equips team members for resolution rather than destruction. Information and Communication Think…

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Don’t Take Work So Seriously. Add Fun To Your Team.

Fun is an important part of stress management.  Changing business conditions demand a lot from your team.  Extended work hours and stressful situations create negativity and gloom in the office.  You can help your team maintain a positive attitude by making fun a part of every work day. Laughter, and even the anticipation of laughter,…

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Laughter Reduces Employee Stress

How can you keep your team functioning and the peak of productivity?  How can you lessen the impact of stress on your employees?  Studies show that laughter produces long lasting positive health benefits and increases productivity long term. Children laugh an average of 400 times per day.  Adults, on the other hand, laugh roughly 15…

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Does Your Team Trust You?

Trust matters.  Trust is crucial to performance.  Your team will simply be more productive if they trust you and your leadership.  Trust is crucial to profitability too.  If your team trusts you not only will they use their time more productively, they will share creative ideas that make your organization more profitable. Does your team…

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Encourage Employee Work Life Balance

Work balance is increasingly important to your team.  Millennial employees are especially interested in balancing their work obligations and home life.  Attracting and retaining a highly productive and creative team means encouraging employee work life balance. Ultimately your organization is not responsible for the work balance of your employees.  The policies, decisions and expectations you…

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Do You Really Know Your Employees?

Do you understand your employees?  Do you know what motivates them, what they enjoy, and the talents and creativity they bring to your workplace?  If you organize workers and assign tasks for maximum efficiency but don’t take interest in your employees as individuals, you are missing out. The workplace is changing, and the role of…

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Team Building and Project Management

Project management requires more than organization and drive.  Project managers must inspire a team of people with a variety of skills and build a strong and productive team out of individuals who don’t share a single supervisor. Project management is essentially people management.  Project managers are on the front lines of team building. When you…

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Consistency Brings Results

Athletes train daily.  Why?  They know regular, continuous training gives them the best chance of winning and achieving their goals.  Team building works on the same basic principle.  Effective team building needs to happen regularly and become a part of your company’s culture if it’s going to be successful. Some organizations plan team building events…

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Do Your Events Actually Build Teams?

What happens in your office after a team building event?  Is it business as usual, back to the same old issues or do you see improvement?  Team building events should result in stronger workplace relationships, improved communication and stronger teams.  If they don’t, you’ve simply hosted an event. Team building events can be a powerful…

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Benefits of Trivia for Your Team

Why is a trivia event so powerful for team building?  What are the benefits of trivia for your team?  Casual work events that include trivia are powerful team building opportunities.  Not only does your team get to know each other, they build problem solving skills and a cohesive team identity within a fun setting.  Consider…

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Build Trust by Spending Time with Your Team

Want to make your team stronger and more creative?  Spend time with them.  Getting to know your employees in a casual setting leads to enhanced employee productivity, loyalty and creativity.  Why?  People work better when they feel included and valued.  People work more creativity when they trust the people they work with. Trust opens the…

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The New Work Ethic

The workplace is changing.  Your team is increasingly interested in personal success, fulfillment and enjoyment of their role in your organization and less interested in the greater good of the organization as a whole.  Unless you engage workers in your business objectives and make those objectives relevant to each member of the team you may…

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Encouraging a Casual Start-up Culture

Start-up companies are known for their energy and fast pace as well as their casual atmosphere.   The culture is casual, the staff is engaged, and problems are solved at lightning speed.  Do you manage a team in a more traditional setting but want to inspire the same creative energy?  Here are some tips for encouraging…

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Want to Keep Your Best Employees? Keep it Casual

Despite the relatively high unemployment numbers out there, most organizations know it’s becoming more difficult to recruit and hire qualified employees.  Your best strategy is to retain your top staff and reduce or eliminate your need to recruit.  How do you do that?  The key to retaining your best employees is providing an enjoyable work…

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Casual Work Activities Compliment Modern Workplace Strategy

The workplace culture is rapidly changing.  The traditional office environment is becoming more flexible, distributed and collaborative.  Change is continuous and your workplace strategy must adapt.  Job requirements, mobile devices, and enhanced communication blur the lines between work and personal time.  Your employees simply won’t respond to the traditional, formal team based activities. Casual work…

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