There are 4 different types of management styles that can cause problems for employees. If you can understand their style it gives you some idea of how to manage your manager.

The Poor Decision Maker

These managers either try to please everyone by agreeing with all points of view and getting nowhere or they are out of their depth and have little idea of what’s going wrong and how to fix it. If your manager is trying to please everyone, they are not being assertive. Their needs are not being stated and they’re certainly not being met.

Take this scenario. Your manager meets with you because you want to take a particular direction on a project. They agree with your ideas then later, you find they’ve agreed to  another direction that’s the opposite of what you suggested. No wonder you feel annoyed and frustrated. Can’t they make up their mind you might ask? Well, no. Their decisions are based not on what is the best idea but on what pleases the person in the room at the time. Continue Reading

Over the next few weeks we’ll look at 3 types of difficult relationships in the workplace. These relationships will be the ones you have with:

• Your co-workers or colleagues
• Your boss or manager
• Your staff

First up - difficult co-workers or colleagues.

Unless you’re in the wrong organisation, you’ll find yourself getting on well with most people most of the time. However, there’ll be one or more people who will challenge you during your working life. Continue Reading

There was once a time when we left school, did some training and off to the same job for the rest of our working lives.

That was one big move.

Now we have many career changes and many big moves.

Doesn’t it get easier each time we go to a new job you might ask?  Yes, we have picked up some skills in getting on with bosses and co-workers and yet there is still that major challenge – another change.

Each time we make a change no matter how positive, it’s stressful.  So what’s the best way to deal with these workplace changes? Continue Reading

‘The art of relationships is . . . .  skill in managing emotions in others’
Daniel Coleman Emotional Intelligence.

Relationships have challenged us since we first began. They have caused grief and joy, sadness and delight. Relationships have inspired great works of art and music, they have fuelled the building of new civilisations and the destruction of empires.

So what is it about relationships that is so necessary for our existence? How is it that sometimes we do them destructively and other times brilliantly.

Over the next few months, we’ll explore many aspects of relationships as we take this journey together. By the end of this time, we will be wiser, more aware of the changes that need to take place in our lives to improve our relationships and have some idea of how to go about making these changes. Continue Reading