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Managing Workplace Conflict

Workplace conflict is bound to happen any time there is a difference in resources and personality. People are seeking greater levels of authority and access to resources but must come to the inevitable truth that there isn't enough to go around. Personalities can create a toxic work environment cause conflict to brew. Conflict can brew in the workplace anytime and it is important to know how to handle it. Conflict often revolves around resource allocation. When resources are provided to one person over another, or people are arguing over who should receive those resources, there is bound to be angst. People will seek to create the greatest advantages for themselves and then push for their own thoughts and ideas. Personalities also have a huge influence on conflict. People regularly try and dominate each other and throw their personal problems onto others within the workplace. Those who have high emotional intelligence might find themselves getting into less entanglements than o

Traits of Adaptable Leaders

Leaders ability to adapt to new businesses and situations is an important trait that helps bridge the gaps from one situation to the next. Adaptable leaders can change their thinking and styles that best fit the type of crisis they are facing. As circumstances unfold the style of the leader should also unfold to secure the best possible outcomes. Changing Thinking: Thinking must adjust to solve problems. Leaders should be able to change how they formulate their opinions and the vantage points they use to understand their problem. Creativity will help them be flexible. Changing Styles: Different situations require different ways of solving problems. People respond to styles depending on their personality and the circumstances in which they exist. For example, a crisis situation will require more command styles while innovation will require more collaborative styles. Changing of Environments: As the environment changes the leader will also need to change. He/she will need to a

The Benefits of Exploring Nature for Health & Hobby

Nature holds many possibilities for our lives that we only need to explore and understand to truly reap the benefits awarded to us. As a person who enjoys photography as a hobby I can say that nature offers multiple advantages that include fitness, relaxation, and artistic expression. Any working professional should consider the multiple benefits of balancing out their lives by finding helpful recreation and appropriate outlets beyond the office.  A couple of times a week ranging from 30-90 minutes on each excursion raises your health level and meets the minimum requirements of fitness. In addition, nature has a way of helping us reflect on life, calm our minds, and feel a greater connection to the world around us. Within 15 minutes you will start to feel relaxed.  Of course you can also take your hobbies to the next level by engaging in artistic expression that helps to further tone your skills. In nature there are many things to take pictures of that include wildlife and nat

Consumers Dip into Savings to Fuel Economic Increase in Second Quarter

Consumer spending has risen over the past few months and is expected to expand the economy by 3%  during the second quarter. Wages haven't risen very fast to cover recent increases in spending making it necessary that consumers dip into their savings. The heightened retail shopping can be seen as a sign of consumer confidence. Consumer spending accounts for 70% of the U.S. economy. A few percentage points either way can make a big difference in economic output. Of course this money must come from somewhere so it is earned, borrowed, or taken out of their savings account. Without rising wages there is a long-term dilemma. Eventually credit bubbles emerge and saving dry up making the economy less resilient than when wages are rising and savings are growing. While I am not necessarily a fan of artificially raising wages I am a fan of ensuring that market forces that would naturally raise wages be unencumbered.  The second quarter looks great because consumers are frequenting s

Understanding the Undercurrents of Your Organization

Every organization has a formal and informal structure of which the later might be more important. The structure culture is codified in the rules, regulations, procedures, and official position of the organization. The informal structure is based on the way information flows and moves throughout the organization regardless of formal position and procedures. Consider a person with formal power who has some control over resource and decision making outcomes. This position, and the list of duties that go with it, are written into a job description and then part of the formal structure that helps the company complete its daily task. The organizational chart highlights each of these positions and their importance. The informal structure may be more important than the formal structure. These are the "movers and shakers" of the organization that help ensure that things get done. They may have formal power within the organization but don't rely heavily on that formal power.

The Subtle Details of Training Customer Service Representatives

Customer experience sets a tone that encourages them to either return or choose to frequent another place. Companies are strong at creating the basics of customer service but often fail when designing and implementing the details. Excellent customer service should starts with training representatives to view interactions from the perspective of the customer. The point of contact is the most common place where customer service fails. These failures revolve around the way staff act and treat customers as they conduct their daily interactions. A few details could change customer impressions to a positive one and foster greater loyalty. Consider the nature of non-verbal communication and how a single poorly chosen word or careless comment could quickly change the nature of interaction. A single bad day for the customer service representative could lose the company thousands of dollars in life-time sales. Every customer makes a subjective evaluation of whether or not the company tru

How Online Education Will Meet the Needs of a Mobile Online Workforce

As the market changes there will be changes in higher education. People once shunned online course as substandard but the market will soon find them to be of particular value. If we consider that college is partly about socialization to the "college experience" we should find that education should mirror the mode of virtual employment positions. As more online jobs become available, colleges should adopt these new modes of learning. For over  10 years colleges have been implementing online offerings in order to reach out to their diverse student populations. College is part of a process where people learn how to work in virtual groups. In the past this as through face-to-face meetings but the future is likely to see more online groups and virtual work. Students in online courses must be more self-motivated to succeed than in traditional colleges. They work at home, work, or even their living rooms. There are so many distractions in our natural environment that it is eas