Forcing people to do things they don’t want to do is no way to build a team

There was a fad a few years back for companies to send teams of employees (or maybe just managers) on a certain kind of ‘team-building’ activity. These would always be outdoors and would involve some strenuous (and often muddy) physical activity, maybe paintballing or even an army assault course. I’ve seen a few of these… Continue reading Forcing people to do things they don’t want to do is no way to build a team

If your people are your “most important business resource”, why don’t you ask them what they think?

Here’s a good business cliche, the sort that David Brent would use: “Your people are your most important business resource.” But if you look at how many businesses are run, you might assume that people are only a useful business resource because they are cheaper than robots. Work for a big company, and you might… Continue reading If your people are your “most important business resource”, why don’t you ask them what they think?

Do you need all those levels of management? Do you really need that extra manager?

If you read cartoons like Dilbert, one common theme you’ll come across is that of the poor downtrodden worker who knows more about his job than his boss. In Dilbert’s case, he’s a hardworking and brilliant engineer. His ‘pointy-haired boss’ is pretty clueless about Dilbert’s work and, well pretty much everything really. Above the pointy-haired… Continue reading Do you need all those levels of management? Do you really need that extra manager?