A People Equation reader wrote to ask my advice on the following: Our small company is growing and we need to learn to use organizational tools like spreadsheets more effectively. I’m comfortable using these tools, but many of my peers aren’t. The tools are out of their comfort zone, but once they learn the system,…
Change Management
7 Things Employees Want to Know In a Department Reshuffle
Is there a big department reshuffle on the horizon? As a leader, you may have become blasé about corporate restructuring, especially if you’re a survivor of numerous downsizing/outsourcing/right-sizing battles. Trust me on this one when I say: You may be feeling chill (or resigned) about the latest company reorg, but the employees who report to…
Holacracy – Mushroom Comparisons Aside, It’s an Uphill Slog towards Acceptance
When CEO Tony Hsieh sent out an all-company email informing his Zappos team that they were moving completely to the Holacracy organizational structure of self-management, the story was huge. Zappos has long been the darling of the media for its forward-thinking workplace policies, so it’s no surprise that the media (and yes, we bloggers too)…
Riding the Rapids of Change in Your Professional Life
These past few months, I’ve been reading about how two of the largest trade associations in my field have been experiencing growing pains. Or perhaps, more aptly put, they’ve been experiencing “changing pains.” If you follow SHRM, then no doubt, you’ve read about the kerfuffle caused when SHRM announced the creation of their own credentialing…
Leadership Decision-Making – Both Science and Art
Making effective decisions is a vital leadership competency. There are many decision-making models that can help create a structure for determining an outcome. But just because you have a systematic model doesn’t mean you’ll choose the best outcome. You need the “art” of decisions as well: the human brain’s unique capacity to imagine, predict and…