http://www.ChacoCanyon.com Tips, techniques, insights and inspiration on topics like person-to-person communications, project management, workplace politics, and workplace conflict. http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/images/life-at-work-logo.gif http://www.ChacoCanyon.com Tips, techniques, insights and inspiration on topics like person-to-person communications, project management, workplace politics, and workplace conflict. 72 141 en-us Business/Management Copyright 2013 Richard Brenner http://backend.userland.com/rss Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT When we address others, we sometimes use filler -- so-called automatic speech or embolalia -- without thinking. Examples are "uh," "um," and "er," but there are more complex forms, too. Embolalia are usually harmless, if mildly annoying to some. But sometimes they can be damaging.]]> http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130515.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130515.shtml Business/Management/Communication_Skills rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 15 May 2013 04:30:00 EDT Many books and Web sites offer advice for dealing with difficult people. There are indeed some difficult people, but are they as numerous as these books and Web sites would have us believe? I think not.]]> http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130508.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130508.shtml Business/Human_Resources/Employee_Relations/Conflict_Resolution rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 08 May 2013 04:30:00 EDT Practitioners of workplace politics intent on gaining unfair advantage sometimes use misinformation, disinformation, and other information-related tactics. Here's a short catalog of techniques to watch for.]]> http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130501.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130501.shtml Business/Human Resources/Employee Relations rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 01 May 2013 04:30:00 EDT Groups that meet regularly sometimes develop patterns of tense conversations that become obstacles to forward progress. Here are some ideas for releasing the tension.]]> http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130424.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130424.shtml Business/Human_Resources/Employee_Relations/Conflict_Resolution Business/Human_Resources rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:30:00 EDT In virtual teams, toxic conflict sometimes seems to erupt spontaneously. People who function effectively in co-located teams can find themselves repeatedly embroiled in conflicts that seem to lack specific causes. What triggers toxic conflict in virtual teams?]]> http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130417.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130417.shtml Business/Human_Resources/Employee_Relations/Conflict_Resolution Business/Human_Resources rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 17 Apr 2013 04:30:00 EDT Toxic conflict in virtual teams is especially difficult to address, because we bring to it assumptions about causes and remedies that we've acquired in our experience in co-located teams. In this Part II of our exploration we examine how minimizing authority tends to convert ordinary creative conflict into a toxic form.]]> http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130410.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130410.shtml Business/Human_Resources/Employee_Relations/Conflict_Resolution Business/Human_Resources rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 10 Apr 2013 04:30:00 EDT Catch my presentation, "The Politics of Meetings for People Who Hate Politics," on April 22, 2013, at Eastman Auditorium, Kingsport, TN, sponsored by East Tennessee Chaper of the Project Management Institute and the Northeast Tennessee Section of the American Society for Quality. There's a lot more to running an effective meeting than having the right room, the right equipment, and the right people. With meetings, the whole really is more than the sum of its parts. How the parts interact with each other and with external elements is as important as the parts themselves. And those interactions are the essence of politics for meetings. This program explores techniques for leading meetings that are based on understanding political interactions, and using that knowledge effectively to meet organizational goals.]]> http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/workshopsseminars/politics-meetings.shtml http://www.etpmi.org Business/Human Resources/Employee Relations rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Mon, 08 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Toxic conflict in teams disrupts relationships and interferes with (or prevents) accomplishment of the team's goals. It's difficult enough to manage toxic conflict in co-located teams, but in virtual teams, dissociative anonymity causes toxic conflict to be both more easily triggered and more difficult to resolve.]]> http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130403.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130403.shtml Business/Human_Resources/Employee_Relations/Conflict_Resolution Business/Human_Resources rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:30:00 EDT Catch my presentation, "The Race to the South Pole: Ten Lessons for Project Managers," on April 11, 2013, at Western Development Museum, 2610 Lorne Avenue South, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7J 0S6, sponsored by North Saskatchewan Chapter of the Project Management Institute. On 14 December 1911, four men led by Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole. Thirty-five days later, Robert F. Scott and four others followed. Amundsen had won the race to the pole. Amundsen's party returned to base on 26 January 1912. Scott's party perished. As historical drama, why this happened is interesting enough, but to project managers, the story is fascinating. Lessons abound.]]> http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/workshopsseminars/race-to-pole.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/www.pminorthsask.com/.shtml Business/Management/Project_and_Program_Management rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT When enterprises restructure, reorganize, downsize, outsource, lay off, or make other organizational adjustments, they usually focus on financial health. Here's Part II of an exploration of how the fear induced by these changes can lead to the need for further restructuring.]]> http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130327.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130327.shtml Business/Human_Resources Business/Management/Organizational_Change rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 27 Mar 2013 04:30:00 EDT When enterprises restructure, reorganize, downsize, outsource, spin off, relocate, lay off, or make other adjustments, they usually focus on financial health. Often ignored is the fear these changes create in the minds of employees. Sadly, that fear can lead to the need for further restructuring.]]> http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130320.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130320.shtml Business/Human_Resources Business/Management/Organizational_Change rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:30:00 EDT When organizations become aware of negligence, miscalculations, failures, wrongdoing, or legal infractions, they often try to conceal the bad news. People who disagree with the concealment activity sometimes decide to reveal what the organization is trying to hide. Here's Part II of our catalog of methods used to suppress the truth.]]> http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130313.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/130313.shtml Business/Human Resources/Employee Relations rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 13 Mar 2013 04:30:00 EDT Links to articles from Point Lookout that touch on Writing and Managing Email. http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/email.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/email.shtml Business/Human_Resources/Employee_Relations/Conflict_Resolution Business/Human_Resources Business/Management/Ethics Business/Human Resources/Employee Relations Business/Management/Organizational_Change Business/Management/Project_and_Program_Management Computers/Software/Project_Management/Risk_Analysis Science/Social_Sciences/Communication/Rhetoric/ Business/Management/Communication_Skills Computers/Internet/E-mail Computers/Internet/Etiquette/E-mail Reference/Knowledge_Management/Knowledge_Creation/Problem_Solving Science/Science_in_Society/Skeptical_Inquiry/Critical_Thinking rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Tue, 14 May 2013 04:30:00 EDT