Should we listen to “Gurus”?

Posted on March 12, 2014 by AnyaWorkSmart

“Guess correctly three times and they’ll call you an expert” – said a wise man. In the age of Internet and other mass-media guessing has become especially easy, as every correct prediction could be inflated beyond any proportion while small uncomfortable facts (such as the bankruptcy of companies created by famous business consultants) are downplayed to oblivion.

We are surrounded by Gurus of every possible expertise, offering their enlightened opinion on everything we want to know about, but does it make our life easier? Can we trust the majority of Gurus’ opinions? Should we listen to them at all? Continue reading →

Why it’s so hard to follow schedules?

Posted on February 12, 2014 by AnyaWorkSmart

There is nothing new in the fact that timelines established for the projects are rarely met. Actually, we got so used to this part of workplace reality that we consider it a problem only in the most outrageous cases – when the project’s cost exceeded every budgeting expectation or when it outlived its usefulness by becoming irrelevant.

Is there a way to improve this situation? Before we are able to answer this question, we need to understand what prevents us from following the schedule in the first place. Continue reading →

A Happy New Year present for my readers: my Top 5 Favorite Movies for Managers

Posted on December 17, 2013 by AnyaWorkSmart

As Season Greetings are almost upon us and Anyworksmart will traditionally go into well-deserved recess for the next month, I decided to finish the year with something light yet meaningful in order to thank my readers for being with me during the last two years. The best thing that came to my mind was to provide you with a list of five of my favorite movies and TV shows that you can watch with your family during the holidays, while also benefiting from their very serious insights about being a Manager. Continue reading →

Lessons Learned: How to Deal with Failure

Posted on October 29, 2013 by AnyaWorkSmart

A few weeks ago a friend sent me an amazing piece of memorabilia – a journal article from the year 1905. It made such an impression on me that I immediately decided to share its wisdom on the ever discussed question of what is success and what is failure and how can we influence their relationship by learning the lessons our life experience provides us with. Continue reading →

Working patterns: The trap of “best practices”

Posted on September 10, 2013 by AnyaWorkSmart

When you start thinking about it, the concept of “best practice” seems very logical – it’s supposed to be the best way to achieve the desired results when dealing with a certain task, which was already proven as such by someone else. Basically, you can call it an OPTIMAL WORKING PATTERN.

Of course, if you keep thinking about it, you’ll notice several potential problems, both in the concept itself and in how it’s used in reality. Because, as we all know, when any abstract concept is applied to a real situation, problems tend to arise. Continue reading →

Working patterns: Why do we constantly create new problems by trying to solve the existing ones? Part 2

Posted on September 3, 2013 by AnyaWorkSmart

This week we continue to discuss the reasons for why do we make our own life harder by creating new problems when solving the existing ones. Here is what you should be aware of: Continue reading →

Working patterns – the way we do things

Posted on August 20, 2013 by AnyaWorkSmart

A working pattern comes to life when we start doing something systematically and repeatedly. It could be something very basic, such as always reading your morning e-mails with a cup of coffee in hand or something a bit less innocent, such as never providing positive feedback without saying something critical first. The main point here is that every one of us has his or her own way of doing every specific task and this way may differ from how other people approach the same task. Why am I talking about something as obvious as that? Continue reading →

How can I convince my team to try improving decision-making skills?” – From Ask Anya mails

Posted on May 21, 2013 by AnyaWorkSmart

Following post on “The need for better decisions – why now?”

“I completely agree with everything you said about the urgency we all should feel in regard to improving the quality of our decisions. But how do I convince the people I’m working with that something should be done about this issue? What can I offer them as an incentive to try improving their decision-making skills? ” Continue reading →

Small Business owners – Managers or not?

Posted on April 2, 2013 by AnyaWorkSmart

When I’m asked to provide consulting services not inside our familiar corporate environment, but to small businesses and start-ups, I frequently find myself in a somewhat awkward position. You see, many business owners do not see themselves as managers.

As many people who start their businesses today have actually left the corporate environment to seek independence, it seems that severing all ties with their previous life is more important to them than the success of their business. Continue reading →

Why the change doesn’t stick?

Posted on November 5, 2012 by AnyaWorkSmart

There are several professions (Process Improvement Engineers, Business Process Analysts, Organizational Development Specialists, all Six Sigma and other Lean followers) that specifically deal with bringing change and progress into organizations, helping companies to secure their chance for a long term survival. However notwithstanding the pride and sense of accomplishment that this activity brings, many change practitioners are Continue reading →