Constant change of human resources – how to reduce its impact, Part 2: Retaining the Knowledge

600-00983926Let’s admit it – people always leave.

May be we let them go, may be they’ve found something else and may be their time has come and they’re retiring. In any case, your organization is left with an open void that needs to be filled as soon as possible. The sooner and the better you’ll fill it with somebody else – the smaller would be the amount of time and energy swallowed by that void. In order to do that you not only have to find Continue reading

Constant change of human resources – how to reduce its impact, Part 1: reducing the volume

Do not goMy previous post dealt with some of the reasons for negative influence of constant change of human resources on our projects. Despite the fact that many Managers still consider this phenomenon a “necessarily evil” and an integrative part making things done, it’s hard to imagine that anyone would argue that no attempts should be made at mitigating this “evil”. Continue reading

Constant change of human resources – the impact on our projects

change of human resourcesIn my previous post, I provided an extreme example of how critical to organization could be the loss of knowledge and expertise in some cases. Even though in many other, more usual cases, the loss would not be felt immediately, the cumulative effect could be more than Continue reading

5 Thumb Rules for Management in times of Austerity

AusterityThere are several terms not so pleasant to our ears that seem to dominate the news lately, terms like sequestration, spending cuts and most of all – austerity. The abundance of these subtractive terms in the media may well mean that they pretty much define the current situation, and we, as Managers, will need to adjust to function in this situation, because it’s unlikely to dissolve quickly.

Let’s try to understand what Austerity means from Management perspective and what tips we may use to lead our teams successfully despite the harsh environment. Continue reading

The “Do’s” and “Don’t’s” of Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolutionIt sometimes amazes me how much energy, time and resources are being wasted on unnecessary conflicts. Projects are delayed because the stakeholders are not speaking to one another, e-mails are left unanswered because “how dare they?!”, critical information is withheld in a vain hope to reach some relative advantage, but in the end – everyone loses when company begins to lay-off people it cannot employ anymore. So today I’d like to talk about how we deal with conflicts and about the pitfalls that are awaiting us in this complex task. Continue reading

Why the SKY doesn’t FALL on the ground or the myth of the Lonely Hero

Why the SKY doesn't FALL on the ground or the myth of the Lonely Hero1As you may have noticed from my previous posts, I’m a big fan of movies, especially classical ones, and nothing has more class on a square foot of film than the 007 series. I frequently find myself exchanging reviews with my friends and putting the movie’s messages (subliminal or obvious) under scrutiny, Continue reading

Employees’ Loyalty – Corporate vs. Personal

Employees' Loyalty – corporate vs. personalIn one of my previous posts we’ve already discussed Employees’ Loyalty and its importance for proper Team Management. Now it’s time to understand how it could be successfully defined, increased and sustained.

Let’s start with a meaningful definition. Continue reading

Validating Skills on the interview – From Ask Anya mails

MailFollowing Post Thumb rule #1 for building your team

Question:

“I agree that ability to learn is really an important attribute. What would you consider a good indicator of this ability, i.e. how can you assess a candidate for that?”

Answer: Continue reading

Craftsman, Scientist or Artist – who are you? Three approaches to Expertise

Craftsmen Scientist Artist ExpertiseIn my post on communication I mentioned that language has its limitations when trying to explain something – for the simple reason of possible gaps in the understanding of terminology by the involved parties. We’ve already encountered this problem when trying to distinguish between Skill, Competence and Expertise, as everyone seems to understand these concepts differently. However, there is an elegant solution for this problem: Continue reading

Thumb rule #1 for building your team

Thumb rule #1 Building your teamAnyone who conducted interviews for potential employees knows that after a while you develop your own priorities of what to ask, what to pay attention to and what to look for in the candidate. If I had to pick that ONE thing in the candidate that will put him at the top of the list, outshining everyone else, I would say I’ll choose a person Continue reading