Archive for April, 2009
ManagementSpeak, 4/27/2009
Monday, April 27th, 2009ManagementSpeak: I want to stay close to the team on this one.
Translation: If anyone goes to the restroom I want to know about it.
Christian Desjardins joins the KJR Club by clarifying just how close “close” is.
Telecommuting: A dozen prerequisites for success
Monday, April 27th, 2009An excellent way to make a yes/no decision is to assume the answer is yes.
Then ask yourself, “Now what?”
Take telecommuting. Based on my recent columns on this subject (search for “telecommuter” in the KJR archives), it’s clear you need to do more than just tell employees to work at home from now on. But how [...]
ManagementSpeak, 4/20/2009
Monday, April 20th, 2009ManagementSpeak: We’re flexible with start times around here.
Translation: We expect you to be flexible enough to show up on time.
KJR Club member Chris Olive shows just how flexible the English language can be.
Telecommuters, raise your hands
Monday, April 20th, 2009According to the KJR Manifesto, relationships precede process (Guideline #4) — before employees can work together effectively they first have to establish trust.
That’s hard enough when employees work in the same locale. Such factors as working on different floors or for rival managers can be enough to prevent it.
It’s harder when there’s no face-to-face interaction, [...]
ManagementSpeak, 4/13/2009
Monday, April 13th, 2009ManagementSpeak: Work space will be designed to create an environment that promotes teamwork and effectiveness, while improving space utilization.
Translation: We’re going to cram twice as many employees into the same floor space.
This week’s contributor asked to remain anonymous, as an alternative to joining the crammed.
Telecommuting bait-and-switch
Monday, April 13th, 2009This would be funny if it was funny.
A satirical piece I published in InfoWorld (“10 sure-fire ways to kill telecommuting,” 3/30/2009) mentioned that some promised savings would not materialize. In particular, reductions in office space lease costs often won’t materialize for years, because once you’ve signed a lease you pay until it expires.
The column also [...]
ManagementSpeak, 4/6/2009
Monday, April 6th, 2009ManagementSpeak: We were waiting to inform you until all the details were finalized.
Translation: Oops. I forgot to tell you.
Fortunately, KJR Club member Robert Alleger remembered to tell us about this little detail.
The virtues of a virtual workforce
Monday, April 6th, 2009“You started out with an interesting column, but now it’s just spam. Click.”
Usually I don’t even pick up calls with no caller id. At least it wasn’t a RoboDialer (now called, as I recently learned, “agent-less proactive contact”).
The call was, most likely, in response to my recent InfoWorld article, “10 sure-fire ways to kill telecommuting.” [...]
Bob Lewis is president of 