Working Together – Page 2

Category: Working Together

Oh Crap!

Some time back I was a passenger in a car that my friend was driving. We were sideswiped by a 17-year-old driver in a massive truck. This smashed the passenger side. We were pushed into the central freeway barrier. This smashed the driver’s side. Then we spun around several times and ended up on the shoulder,

January 9, 2014 Short URLaccident, best practice, career development, disaster recovery, firefighters, Management, problem solvingCareer Development, Management, Productivity, Risk Management, School District Jobs, Working Together

Victimized by a Bag of Trash

A long time ago I moved into a modest apartment in a poorer part of town. I opened the back window and was at once assaulted by an unpleasant odor. I soon located the source of the stench: an oversized heavy-duty black trash bag on the back balcony filled with moldy garbage. I was incensed. My thinking

January 8, 2014 Short URLapartment, facing reality, garbage, garbage bins, responsibility, taking control, taking responsibility, trash, unpleasant odor, victim, victim mentalityCareer Development, Management, School District Jobs, Working Together

A Different Approach to Hiring?

Over the years I have hired a some stars and some near misses as well. Upon reflection my hires generally fall into four groups: Intelligent, motivated, with great interpersonal skills (IQ, MQ, EQ). These are our stars, who are promoted quickly. Intelligent, motivated, with poor interpersonal skills (IQ, MQ). Despite their talents and eagerness, they irritate their fellow workers.

January 5, 2014 Short URLbest practice, budget analyst, business, career development, employee engagement, employment, EQ, hiring, human resources, interpersonal skills, interview, job interview, jobs, motivated employees, motivation, MQ, myers-briggs, personality tests, problem solving, public education, public school finance, public schools, school district business, show me the money, unions, Vladimir PutinCareer Development, Management, School District Jobs, Working Together

Give Up Already!

I was still in bed when I heard such frightful swearing from the kitchen. Upon investigation I discovered that Spouse had impaled his index finger on a nail and was trying to open up a “bandaid”. Not a brand name Band-Aid, mind you, but a cheap generic version thereof. He handed it to me. Here

November 6, 2013 Short URLanalysis, assumptions, band aid, business, choices, give up, Management, release, stick to it, surrenderAnalysis, Daily Work, Management, Uncategorized, Working Together

“Dog Person” Gets Cat: Surprised by Level of Dissastifaction

I am working on a proposal to present at a professional conference next April. The topic I have chosen is career development. Thus, my blogging volume is both: 1) Temporarily reduced, and 2) HR related Why the topic of career development? Well, frankly, it is on the list of proposals they are seeking. And also,

October 24, 2013 Short URLbusiness, career development, Disgruntled Cat, employee engagement, employment, hiring, job description, job satsfaction, public educationCareer Development, Management, School District Jobs, Working Together

Classroom Dollars and Bad Teachers

Start with a graphic representation of a dollar bill. Divide it up to show how many cents are spent in which categories. Not a bad way to represent expenditures. Except when it is done this way: Why? Because this cartoon is not just wrong, it is dishonest. The categories of expense are a bit hard

October 17, 2013 Short URLbad teachers, business, cartoon, classrom, classroom dollars, education, education dollar, firing teachers, Management, public education, school district, school district administration, school district business, teachers, unions, wasted dollarsManagement, Public Schools, School District Jobs, Working Together

Taking a Position

The director and manager of school construction sat down in my office. They had made it clear that they needed to see me NOW. “What’s up?” “Well, you hired a supervisor. For the construction department.” “An accounting supervisor. Yes.” “We should have been consulted. After all, she works in our department.” “Yes, she’s physically located

October 15, 2013 Short URLaccounting, construction, construction accounting, hiring, hiring practices, human resources, job description, Management, Position control, positions, school district, school district business, school district jobs, supervisor, supervisor positionAccounting, School District Jobs, Working Together

Stages of Grief at Work

Much has been written about Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. I am thinking about this, because a family member is currently dealing with cancer. He spent some time in denial (delayed seeing a doctor). He spent months bargaining (if I become a vegan, this will go away). I

October 10, 2013 Short URLacceptance, anger, bargaining, business, consequences, denial, depression, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, five stages of grief, Management, next step, problem solvingWorking Together

How to Take a Break

CaveGirlMBA’s post about the guy who plays online games at work really struck a chord with me, because here’s a second post about it. For me, the story is explained by one of two possibilities. 1. He is thoroughly disengaged and doesn’t give a s**t 2. He is engaged, but takes breaks inappropriately You’ll know

October 6, 2013 Short URLbusiness, computer games, expectations at work, inappropriate work behavior, Management, mental breaks, problem solving, taking a breakSchool District Jobs, Working Together

Stepping into a Pile of Management

My boss told me that the only difference between management and non-management is that managers get to hire and fire (so you’d better get good at it). Truth be told, she said this during a somewhat negative performance review. That’s a blunt way of saying non-managers are responsible for tasks while managers are responsible for people.

October 5, 2013 Short URLbusiness, discipline, employee engagement, firing, health issues at work, hiring, job description, Management, performance review, problem solving, progressive discipline, reprimand, verbal warning, written warningDaily Work, School District Jobs, Working Together

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