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Showing posts from July 31, 2016

Managing the Unmanageable: The 6 Most Common Types of Difficult Employees

Difficult people can negatively impact team performance and morale. Developing the skills to identify and deal with difficult people can help. Toward that aim, get to know six of the most common difficult employee profiles: 1. The Victim The victim is the least accountable person in the office. Things always seem to happen “to” a victim. How to approach The Victim:  The manager must clearly define accountability. Be really clear about what the person should be doing, the quality of the work that should be delivered and the time in which that should happen. Adopt a language of accountability. 2. The Hisser Hissers are like coiled snakes. When provoked, they rise and strike, leaving terror in their wake. Hissers are prone to rants and raves. They can be pushy, or even be bullies. Nobody ever quite knows what will set these people off. How to approach The Hisser:  Explore the factors that drive this person's behavior. If the hisser doesn’t care how his or her behavior imp

10 Things Managers Should Know About Difficult Employees

Difficult employees are known for causing disruption to the workplace, but if a manager can take some time to look beyond the behavior there is much more going on than their behavior would dictate. Understanding these underlying characteristics can help managers when coaching their difficult employees. They key issue is always do managers have the time and/or the interest in working with difficult employees. Managers have a lot on their plate and managing people is probably one of the most time intensive activities. There are some employees who managers will be able to turn around while others need to be exited. It can take time to figure this out and along with being good task managers we must become adept at managing people and behaviors which puts us into an “armchair psychologist” mode.   Difficult employees are typically unhappy or negative in general. Getting to the root of this to help them become aware of and understand how this plays into their performance may be signific

Want to Be a Leader? Focus on These Four Traits

I've learned that leadership skills are perishable. It takes a devotion to listening and learning to build and maintain leadership skills and effectiveness. People thrive when they have leaders who are: ·          Decisive : The moments when leadership matters most are in times of uncertainty and change -- times when people crave clarity. Leaders don't need to have all of the answers and no one expects them to. What is needed, however, is the ability to seek the best counsel, make firm decisions on the path forward, and ensure everyone on the team understands their role in a shared vision. Leaders must also keep their eyes on the big picture so that when the environment changes, they can adapt and help their teams change course. They have to be ready to make tough decisions and communicate them clearly to the entire team.  ·          Trustworthy : Leaders build a credible reputation and earn the trust of their teams through their everyday actions -- by setting high sta

Guarding the Front Door: School Visitor Management Best Practices K-12 campuses should combine building design, video surveillance, guest management systems, policies, procedures and staff training.

Schools across the country are facing problems in regard to front entrance safety and security. Many school sites were constructed earlier, which brought campus safety and security to the attention of administrators, boards of education and the general public. Many of these school sites have lobbies that fail to prevent unwanted and unscreened persons from entering portions of the school that should be secured from unauthorized persons. To further complicate the issue, many schools do not properly screen visitors. All of these factors increase the possibility of unwanted persons entering the campus and causing an incident that is unsafe for students and staff members. Many lobbies or entry points to school campuses were simply not constructed in a manner consistent with good security measures. Schools were previously designed to create a warm and inviting atmosphere to promote a positive learning environment as well as a welcoming appearance for parents and community members. As s