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 2012 Richard Brenner http://backend.userland.com/rss Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 EDT Heated exchanges in meetings are expensive to both the organizational mission and to the careers of the meeting's participants. Preventing them -- or dealing with them when they happen -- is everyone's job. But what can you do when they persist? http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120516.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120516.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, 16 May 2012 04:30:00 EDT Much of the work we do is confounding, because we consistently underestimate the effort involved, the resources required, and the time required to get it done. The failure of superposition can be one reason why we get it wrong. http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120509.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120509.shtml Business/Management/Project_and_Program_Management Computers/Software/Project_Management/Risk_Analysis rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 09 May 2012 04:30:00 EDT What we fail to notice about any situation -- and what we do notice that isn't really there -- can be the difference between the outcomes we fear, the outcomes we seek, and the outcomes that exceed our dreams. How can we improve our ability to notice? http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120502.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120502.shtml Science/Science_in_Society/Skeptical_Inquiry/Critical_Thinking Business/Human Resources/Employee Relations rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 02 May 2012 04:30:00 EDT Inadequate communication between units of large organizations is one factor that maintains the dysfunction of "silo" structures in large organizations, limiting their ability to act coherently. Communication refactoring can help large organizations to see themselves as wholes. http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120425.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120425.shtml Business/Management/Communication_Skills rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:30:00 EDT Some decisions are easy. Some are difficult. Some decisions that we think will be easy turn out to be very, very difficult. What makes decisions difficult? http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120418.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120418.shtml Reference/Knowledge_Management/Knowledge_Creation/Problem_Solving rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 18 Apr 2012 04:30:00 EDT When we feel that our freedom at work is threatened, we sometimes experience urges to do what is forbidden, or to not do what is required. This phenomenon -- called _reactance_ -- might explain some of the dynamics of micromanagement. http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120411.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120411.shtml Business/Human Resources/Employee Relations Business/Management/Organizational_Change rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 11 Apr 2012 04:30:00 EDT When we investigate what went wrong, we sometimes encounter obstacles. Interviewing witnesses and participants doesn't always uncover the reasons why. What are these obstacles? http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120404.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120404.shtml Business/Management/Organizational_Change Business/Human Resources/Employee Relations rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 04 Apr 2012 04:30:00 EDT Some see workplace politics and integrity as inherently opposed. One can participate in politics, or one can have integrity -- not both. This belief is a dangerous delusion. http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120328.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120328.shtml Business/Human Resources/Employee Relations Science/Social_Sciences/Communication/Rhetoric/ rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 28 Mar 2012 04:30:00 EDT The Halo Effect is a cognitive bias that causes our evaluation of people, concepts, or objects to be influenced by our perceptions of one attribute of those people, concepts, or objects. It can lead us to make significant errors of judgment. http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120321.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120321.shtml Science/Science_in_Society/Skeptical_Inquiry/Critical_Thinking Science/Social_Sciences/Communication/Rhetoric/ rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 21 Mar 2012 04:30:00 EDT The urge to identify as meaningful the patterns we see in winning streaks in sports, or streaks of successes in business, can lead us to accept bogus explanations prematurely. It's a common human tendency that can put people and organizations in desperate situations. http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120314.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/120314.shtml Science/Science_in_Society/Skeptical_Inquiry/Critical_Thinking Science/Social_Sciences/Communication/Rhetoric/ rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com (Rick Brenner) Life at Work: People, Projects, Politics and Pressure Wed, 14 Mar 2012 04:30:00 EDT Links to articles from Point Lookout that touch on Effective Communication at Work. http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/communication.shtml http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/pointlookout/communication.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, 15 May 2012 04:30:00 EDT