Let Your Employees Nap at 3 PM If you want to maximize your employees’ performance, consider circadian rhythms when setting  assignments, deadlines, and expectations. The most important tasks  should be done when people are at their peaks in alertness (around  noon and 6 PM). The least important should be scheduled for when alertness dips (very… Continue reading Let Your Employees Sleep – Management Tip

Set Limits with a Talkative Colleague or Client Let’s face it: Some people don’t know when to stop talking. But how do you escape when you’re dealing with a long-winded senior executive or important customer? First, diagnose the problem. Does your boss tend to deliver speeches in meetings when there’s no agenda? Does your biggest… Continue reading Set Limits on Talkative People – Management Tip

Know When and How to Ask for Help People often don’t ask for help because they think it’s perceived as a sign of weakness. But you can’t be successful if you don’t ask for what you need. So here’s how to make it easier: Help others first. Build a positive reputation as someone who’s willing… Continue reading Know When and How to Ask for Help – Management Tip

A Healthy Lunch Can Fuel Better Productivity What we eat affects our performance more than we realize. That’s why a poor decision at lunch can derail an entire afternoon. Foods like pasta, bread, cereal, and soda  give you a burst of energy, followed by a slump. And high-fat foods like cheeseburgers and BLTs make you… Continue reading Better Lunches Improve Productivity – Management Tip

To Get Candid Feedback, Ask for It Getting honest, useful feedback is the fastest route to better performance. But people are sometimes too nice to share the full picture or too intimidated to be fully truthful. You need to be clear that you want honest feedback. If you say, “Don’t be nice, be helpful,” people… Continue reading Ask for Feedback – Management Tip

The Safe Way to Disagree with Your Boss You should be able to express your views  openly and honestly, but it can be tricky to disagree with your boss. You have to express dissent effectively. First, before you disagree, have a conversation about how to handle disagreements when they arise. It helps to establish these… Continue reading How to Disagree with Your Boss – Management Tip

Make Good Writing a Part of Your Skill  Set Good writers distinguish themselves at work. We write all the time – proposals to clients, memos to leaders, emails to colleagues – but we often don’t think about improving our writing. To communicate effectively, learn to write simply, clearly, and precisely. The mistake many people make… Continue reading Work on Your Writing – Management Tip

Good Leaders  Get to Know  Their Emotions Being too emotional can create problems, but it can be far less of a problem than holding back all of your feelings. You may hide emotions in an attempt to stay in control and look strong, but doing so  diminishes  your control and weakens your capacity to connect… Continue reading Show Some Emotion – Management Tip

Set a Bedtime and Stick to It for Better Productivity Many of us don’t get enough sleep. And this isn’t just an inconvenience – it worsens our mood, weakens our memory, scatters our focus, and makes us more susceptible to anxiety. To perform at our best, we need rest.  Enough said.  Since most of us… Continue reading Set a Bedtime and Stick to It – Management Tip

Be Ready for Unplanned Speaking   A key  skill in business is the ability to speak off-the-cuff. Whether it’s giving an unexpected presentation to a potential collaborator or being  asked to quickly defend a proposal to another department, many of us have had to speak with no preparation. Next time, don’t panic. Just remember that the… Continue reading Be Ready for Unplanned Speaking – Management Tip