Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure

• How to Foresee the Foreseeable: Recognize Haste
  When trouble arises after we commit to a course of action, we sometimes feel that the trouble was foreseeable. One technique for foreseeing the foreseeable depends on recognizing haste in the decision-making process.

• Person-to-Person Communications for Project Managers
  Catch my presentation, "Person-to-Person Communications for Project Managers," on February 16, 2012, at The Machine Shed, 11151 Hickman Road, Urbandale, IA 50322, sponsored by the Central Iowa Chapter of the Project Management Institute. When we talk, listen, send or read emails, read or write memos, or when we leave or listen to voice mail messages, we're communicating person-to-person. And whenever we communicate person-to-person, we risk being misunderstood, offending others, feeling hurt, and being confused. There are so many ways for things to go wrong that we could never learn how to fix all the problems. A more effective approach avoids problems altogether, or at least minimizes their occurrence. In this very interactive program you'll learn a model of inter-personal communications that can help you stay out of the ditch. In those moments of intense involvement, when we're most likely to slip, you'll have a new tool to use to keep things constructive.

• Social Transactions: We're Doing It My Way
  We have choices about how we conduct social transactions -- greetings, partings, opening doors, and so on. Some transactions require that we collaborate with others. In social transactions, how do we decide whose preferences rule?

• Person-to-Person Communications for Project Managers
  Catch my presentation, "Person-to-Person Communications for Project Managers," on February 16, 2012, at The Hotel Fort Des Moines, 1000 Walnut Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50309, sponsored by the Central Iowa Chapter of the Project Management Institute. When we talk, listen, send or read emails, read or write memos, or when we leave or listen to voice mail messages, we're communicating person-to-person. And whenever we communicate person-to-person, we risk being misunderstood, offending others, feeling hurt, and being confused. There are so many ways for things to go wrong that we could never learn how to fix all the problems. A more effective approach avoids problems altogether, or at least minimizes their occurrence. In this very interactive program you'll learn a model of inter-personal communications that can help you stay out of the ditch. In those moments of intense involvement, when we're most likely to slip, you'll have a new tool to use to keep things constructive.

• A Review of Performance Reviews: Blindsiding
  Ever learn of a complaint about you for the first time at your performance review? If so, you were blindsided. Reviews can be painful. Here are some guidelines for making them a little fairer.

• A Review of Performance Reviews: The Checkoff
  As practiced in most organizations, performance reviews, especially annual performance reviews, are toxic both to the organization and its people. A commonly used tool, the checkoff, is especially deceptive.

• On Advice and Responsibility
  Being asked for advice can be an affirming experience, but actually giving advice can sometimes entail risk. How can this happen, and what choices do we have?

• How to Reject Expert Opinion: Part II
  When groups of decision-makers confront complex problems, and they receive opinions from recognized experts, those opinions sometimes conflict with the group's own preferences. What tactics do groups use to reject the opinions of people with relevant expertise?

• How to Reject Expert Opinion: Part I
  When groups of decision-makers confront complex problems, they sometimes choose not to consult experts or to reject their advice. How do groups come to make these choices?

• When Your Boss Conveys Misinformation
  When your boss misspeaks -- innocently, as opposed to deviously -- what should you do? Corrections are not always welcome, but failing to offer corrections can be equally dangerous. How can you tell what to do?

• When Change Is Hard: Part II
  When organizational change is difficult, we sometimes blame poor leadership or "resistance." But even when we believe we have good leadership and the most cooperative populations, we can still encounter trouble. Why is change so hard so often?

• When Change Is Hard: Part I
  Sometimes changing organizations goes smoothly. More often, it doesn't. Whatever methodology we use -- and there are many methodologies available -- difficulties can arise. When change is hard, what's happening? What makes change hard?

• Problem Solving and Creativity
  Links to articles from Point Lookout that touch on Problem Solving and Creativity.