action

Segment Your Audience

Tips for managers who speak to large audiences about change. 1. Know your audience The members of your audience aren’t like you. They don’t think like you. They don’t act like you. They are a mix of people who have different roles. They like to know that you are aware of them and their role [...]

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People versus Process Orientation

People have passionately argued about whether people are more important than process or process is more important than people. Tune in; for instance, a colleague writes passionately about the triumph of people over process. Another colleague writes passionately about the importance of heroes. A pundit writes passionately about how great systems (process) are more important [...]

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Waiting for Management to Set Direction

Several of my friends who work for the same large organization tell me they are bored with their job. I hear about them waiting for management to complete the process of setting a new direction for the organization. What opportunities are available to employees when management is in the process of setting a new direction? [...]

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Saying No

One week before the application you have been working on is to be delivered, your client asks you to make a small change to a drop down menu. He knows there isn’t time to process the change through change management so he asks you to bypass it. You try to reason with him that a [...]

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Actions to Take for a New Teammate

What actions are available to you and every other member of your team to help a new teammate become a productive member of the team? Move over. Give them space to operate. Encourage their participation. Provide advice when asked. Refrain from providing advice when not asked. If you can’t take these action, then it’s time [...]

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Word Choices — We — Part 2

In my first entry about the word "we," I argued using the words "We decided to…" often create ambiguity. I suggested asking yourself several questions to reduce ambiguity either when you hear those words or when you are about to say them. In this entry, I will lay out the case for when using the [...]

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