http://www.keymanagementskills.com Provides practical online tools and techniques for managers and supervisors. Includes articles, blogs, workbooks, webinars, teleseminars and more Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:52:08 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Since we have just elected our first black president in the US this may be a good time to recommend a site call Project Implicit, a website with live demonstration tests to measure a person's biases, preferences and possibly their prejudices in areas such as race, gender religion skin tone, ... http://www.keymanagementskills.com/human-resource-management-where-do-your-biases-lie/ Did you know that 85% of employees feel some economic anxiety in the workplace.  29% experience severe or high anxiety.  This according to an ongoing survey conducted by Elliott Masie's Learning Trends.   The question asked of 1441 learning professionals in corporations was, "What is the level of economic anxiety ... http://www.keymanagementskills.com/workplace-stress-the-economy-loss-of-productivity/ I am often asked if training really works.  The answer is yes and no! Here's why.  1.  Too often unless a training is made mandatory, those who need it the most will choose not to attend! 2. .  75% of the learning goes on after the employee comes back to the job. ... http://www.keymanagementskills.com/the-dirty-little-secrets-about-training/ Those of you who have requested my 21 Great Ideas For Rewarding Your Employees That Are Low or No Cost know that the first one on the list is "say thank you".  It is the greatest motivator of all!  Today, however,  when my  weekly email from TED (Technology, Entertainment and ... http://www.keymanagementskills.com/a-new-twist-on-thank-you/ There are two communication tools that, for me, stand out above all others.  One is to shut up!  No seriously, less talk and more listening is so often the key to understanding.  But today I want to talk about the number two skill...asking questions.  As a manager we are paid ... http://www.keymanagementskills.com/communication-the-ask-dont-tell-method/ The folks at the Pew Research Center do some very interesting research. The latest I have seen is a study on people's perception of women and men as leaders. More than 2,200 men and women were asked to rate men and women on these leadership traits in the order of ... http://www.keymanagementskills.com/men-and-women-as-leaders-new-research/ Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager and now The One MInute Entrepreneur says the most important way that the workplace has changed over the years is this,"Your people want you to be their partner. They don't want necessarily to be boss. They want you to think they bring ... http://www.keymanagementskills.com/employees-dont-want-a-superior/ Many managers think they cannot measure attitude problems in their employees and therefore there is nothing that can be done. Wrong!  Once you have renamed those problems as professional behaviors, you can define them, measure them ,include them in job descriptions and even fire people with them! You know the employees ... http://www.keymanagementskills.com/management-skills-how-to-deal-with-attitude-problems/ If 55% of the impact of a communication is determined by the visual aspects, how do staff members who work with our customers on the phone build trust and confidence in our products and services?  Only 7% of the impact of their communication  is the actual words, the content or ... http://www.keymanagementskills.com/customer-service-how-to-project-a-trustworthy-picture-over-the-phone/ According to a recent Gallop Poll only 6% of men wear a tie to work every day.  Sales of men's ties have dropped to a record low of 677 million as opposed to 1.3 billion in 1995. This and other  facts about ties was the subject of an article in ... http://www.keymanagementskills.com/are-mens-ties-out-do-they-still-have-a-purpose/