Have you ever been surprised by a negative reaction to an e-mail that you believed to have been efficient, helpful and to-the-point? This happens more often than you may realise, as communication is about what they hear, not what you say.

Are you able to assign tasks to your staff and then let them get on with them… or do you tend to hover over them to check on their progress?

As a boss, do you unconditionally stand by your line management when they are involved in potential conflicts with their supervisees or do you take a stand and look into the issue yourself?
 

Conflict happens, and in a large international organisation like ours it is often inevitable. Indeed, when it happens in the context of a confrontation of different ideas, opinions or methods it can be considered to be a healthy component of effective collaboration.

About one year since I last covered the topic of sexual harassment, I am returning to this theme again as it continues to be raised in the Ombud office.

Mindfulness in the workplace: what possible relevance could an ancient Buddhist practice have in today’s busy professional world?

Gossip comes with a high dose of toxicity that spreads and propagates.

Sometimes bosses seem to wear Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak: always caught in meetings, away on duty travel, overwhelmed with technical duties… the time they have left to spend with their teams can drop down to almost zero. But their people need them…

When a long-standing conflict appears to permeate every action, and even the rest of the team seem resigned to there being no hope of a solution, there is still always a way out, even if only one of the people concerned decides to do something about it…
 

Summer is the time when everybody feels more relaxed and, while we continue to work hard, we also take the time to pause and get to know our colleagues better. This is a very natural and effective way to re-energise.