Sometimes when you are faced with a challenge, you cannot see our way through to even knowing where to start. It feels like you are trying to eat an elephant. However, if you were going to eat an elephant (and I don’t advocate animal cruelty, so imagine a life-size, chocolate one!), you wouldn’t try to…
Janet’s Blog to inspire
The importance of building rapport
We spent last weekend in Liverpool, celebrating my husband’s birthday and seeing our son who is at university up there. We love the city and we love its people. Always so friendly and helpful. We stayed in an hotel in the centre, not far from the Cavern Club, and it really brought to mind what…
Dealing with an angry employee
As a manager, when faced with a member of your team who is angry, it can be quite daunting. It may help you handle the situation better if you remember these points: First of all, acknowledge them – if you ignore them, it will exacerbate an already inflamed situation. Don’t sit down first – ensure…
Working well with other departments
Training Professional Telephone Techniques at one of my lovely client companies this week (yes, face-to-face, wahoo!), it was really lovely to see members from different departments meeting up and working well together. It is so important for people to mix with colleagues from other departments and divisions, to get to know them and work collaboratively.…
Interviewing No-Nos!
Recently, during some interview skills training, I cited an example of a really bad interview I once attended as an interviewee many, many years ago in Birmingham, with a senior executive of a (then) very well known international photocopier company. Sent by a recruitment agency for the job, on arrival I was directed to…
This is me!
At the start of lockdown last year I, like many people, had to face up to the fact that Zoom/Microsoft Teams/Google Meet, etc. were going to be a more intrinsic way of life than ever before. I had never subscribed to a paid Zoom account, as I had barely used it previously; I didn’t have…
Gareth Southgate’s Leadership Example
I have to confess, I’m not a great sports fan. I did however get caught up in the Euro 2020 excitement, and felt incredibly proud of the England team, even discussing it with friends! When I said I couldn’t believe I was actually talking about football, one replied “You are discussing football like a management…
Seven Ways to Stop Micromanaging
Imagine offering a visitor a drink when he comes to visit you at work. He requests tea, milk, one sugar. You go into the kitchen and he follows you in there. Nothing too unusual, and you chat whilst you prepare the drinks. Then he asks you to use a teapot, not put the teabag in…
Building Trust
Trust your team Without trust, the team cannot function, fear increases, motivation decreases and the environment becomes toxic. To build trust, you need to talk to your team about it. Find out what their fears are (which may even be you!) and assure them you will make steps to address them. They may even be…
Free webinar: Balancing Work and Wellbeing, 29 April 2021
Balancing Work and Wellbeing How to cope with stress and anxiety on Thursday 29 April 2021 at either 12:00 noon GMT or 18:00hrs GMT Lasting approximately 30 minutes, this bite-sized training session is designed to give you simple hints and tips to use in everyday life to help reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.…
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