Posted on February 28, 2009 by managementheadaches
I run a small home based business with 2 employees (one is my sister who resides at the home and the other is an outside employee). And I have had some incidents where the employee has helped herself to anything in the refrigerator. I realize by working from a home this creates a very casual informal environment but this has become a bit uncomfortable for my sister and she has addressed it with me. I am a bit stuck on how to address this issue as it is very delicate and I do not want to make this person uncomfortable. I actually enjoy the fact that she feels that she is “part of a family” but don’t know how to set stronger boundaries without hurting her feelings. Suggestions???
I’m in the business of property management and was advised I cannot work with contractors and need to have employees. The problem with paying these guys salaries is that they are not making the deadlines. What can I do to encourage them to make the quota on time?
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We are slammed with projects and our team are not completing the items considered priority. Our project managers cant come up with any more excuses as to delays. Each day we are putting out fires and shifting our priorities based on which client is upset.
Where we are:
We are currently in a stage where each week we find ourselves with more than 5 projects in sensitive stages every week.
Where we want to go:
The goal is to minimize the amount of projects that are in the “sensitive stage” each week with client’s projects. I would like to move in a transition of finding ourselves focused working on time or ahead of time each week rather than catching up on projects every week.
Question: What steps can we take to get there? If you have any thoughts on this, please leave a comment below.
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I find myself having to pick up where my assistant left off b/c this individual takes forever to get it done sometimes. Despite that I prioritize what’s important, my assistant starts to fall back on what’s important and everything starts to pile up. I deal with a very competent individual and do not think firing is the solution. I wish I can see these assignments get knocked out without having to get involved. Any suggestions?
I am the youngest member of my team but recently took over the group’s management responsibilities. I got along with all these people before but I don’t feel they listen to me now that I am their direct boss. They tend to openly question me during staff meetings and always go to my boss when they don’t agree with a decision or directive. I was not sure if I was being too sensitive so I asked a colleague to observe some of our interactions and she confirmed my thoughts. I’m not sure what to do at this point.
On another note, I feel very uncomfortable in having disciplinary conversations with my team. I know some of them very well and socialize with some of them outside of the office. I read some management books but didn’t feel they offered any practical suggestions. Any help would be appreciated?
Let me start off by saying I work with a great team of individuals. We work in the advertising field and have to deal with a lot of pressure to perform under deadlines. However, as the lead on the team, I have become a little worried about the professionalism of the team. Things can get a little loose and informal around the office and at times some of my team have been offended by the comments of others. Usually the comments are meant to be harmless but I’m beginning to think someone is going to go too far one day and a major complaint is going to be filed.
I also worry about how some of my team act and conduct themselves while with clients. Sometimes I don’t think they know how to act like professionals and don’t realize how their image can have a negative impact on how the firm is viewed. Anyone have a similar experience. What did you do?
I have been the head of an international private banking department for the past couple of years. Life has been challenging over the past 6 months. It seems like we have so many different work styles in the office and no one seems to be getting along or communicating with one another. Some of my team has been with the company for more than 20 years and we also have many recent additions straight form college.My hunch is that all the different backgrounds are contributing to the issues we are having in the office right now but I’m not sure what steps I should take to address this. What I do know is that our projects are behind schedule and revenue is being negatively impacted.
I have a sales person that has been with me a long time and has been one of my top producers. However, he is always late to work and is not following some of the other policies that are important to a good work environment. He has even done some things which have really gotten clients upset and senior management always seems to brush it off. I have spoken to him about his conduct and he just ignores me. To make matters worse, he is a favorite employee of the CEO as they have been together since the beginning of the company and used to go drinking together before they both got married. What should I do as this is disruptive to the rest of the department and makes me look bad?
