What to do When Employees Just Don’t Get Along

Reduced budgets, reduced workforces and reduced resources often equate to reduced patience on the part of employees. In an uncertain or stressful business environment, it’s not uncommon to see greater staff conflict. Poor working relationships not only deplete morale but also lead to a decline in productivity—the last thing you need when you are trying…

Businesses Making Decisions Faster Because of Recession

Despite the historical tendency for businesses to slow spending and weigh investment decisions more carefully during a recession, a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the business information arm of The Economist Group, publisher of The Economist, found that business decision-making is actually accelerating due to the recession. In today’s challenging business environment, the report…

Make Quick Wins Your Springboard to Success

Despite good intentions, organizations often fail to deliver expected outcomes, resulting in a loss of stakeholder confidence and frustration among the business and IT staff. Avoiding this demoralizing outcome should be a matter of priority for service improvement teams. Following some simple rules for managing quick wins will increase the likelihood that you’ll deliver the…

Improve Your Leadership by Leading

As the title says, you have to get out of the office and put boots on the ground if you want to be an effective leader. While I am a big believer in remote collaboration tools (e.g., audio, video and web conferences and the trusty telephone), you just cannot beat getting out and being face-to-face…

CIOs More Focused on Business Than Ever

In case you missed these past few years, the job of the CIO has been morphing from top technical propeller head to a that of true corporate leader. Beginning with the dot-com era and continuing through today, the job has arguably changed more rapidly than any other in corporate America. Once just an order taker,…

Leadership in IT: It’s Not About Technology

Before considering any strategic moves, one must take a hard look at your company’s current state of affairs. Although we should continually be cognizant of current activities, it is important to truly step back, on occasion, and really assess the state of the organization. In doing these occasional assessments, I continue to find that the…

The 10 Essential Traits of an Innovation Leader

As companies look to dig their way out of the recession, it takes a certain type of leader to keep innovation going. The most successful executives also have a clear understanding of what the oft-used term means. “Innovation is a lot more than whiz-bang new products,” said John Kao, chairman of Kao and Company, a…