By Dr. Steve M. Cohen No matter how distracting, office gossip is something that no manager will ever completely eradicate. Like other human foibles, it’s too ingrained in our systems. That doesn’t mean you should ignore it or let it dominate your workplace. Office gossip is increasingly dangerous to many workplaces, including medical offices. It’s not that people do it … [Read more...] about Get a grip on costly office gossip
Managing staff
Make online team meetings work for you
By Lynne Curry If you dread online meetings–attending them, hosting them–and long for meetings to become more than a necessary evil, you can make it happen. Recently, I hosted a two-day, 15-hour meeting that the 17 attendees said “zoomed by,” “was fun, kept me engaged the entire time;” and “made an hour seem like five minutes.” Here’s how we did it. A “you” start We started … [Read more...] about Make online team meetings work for you
Office politics and how it damages your firm
By Elizabeth M. Miller bio Office politics can be a problem in any size law firm—from a firm as large as 1000+ to as little as a solo practitioner with 2 staff members. A definition "Office politics" is the use of networking within an organization to further one's own agenda. The word "networking" could easily be interchanged with the word "gossiping". That is office … [Read more...] about Office politics and how it damages your firm
Recognize and stop ‘gaslighting’ in the workplace
By Lynne Curry In the end, what saved “Ella” was a friend’s love of old movies. Worried about what she heard in their last call, her friend sent her a link to classic psychological thriller film “Gaslight” and texted, “I think this is what’s happening to you.” Ella had joined a large company headquartered in Chicago, with branch offices in Anchorage, Seattle, San … [Read more...] about Recognize and stop ‘gaslighting’ in the workplace
Quiet firing meets quiet quitting
By Lynne Curry Quiet quitting, the employee behavior pattern that swept through the nation this summer after a viral TikTok video in July, has met its match—quiet firing. Employers, disgusted by employees that consider it justified to do the bare minimum at work, are blessing these employees out the door. Managers take action In September 2022, 91% of 1,000 managers … [Read more...] about Quiet firing meets quiet quitting
Workplaces slow to get well from COVID-19 damage
By Lynne Curry You’ve heard that “long-haulers,” individuals with long COVID, suffer persistent COVID-19 symptoms that erode their quality of life. Anyone scanning the workplace soon realizes that some employers suffer from “long COVID”. A few refuse employers treatment, expecting to get well on their own. Three symptoms signal an employer suffers “long COVID”. Difficult … [Read more...] about Workplaces slow to get well from COVID-19 damage
Is it a recession or not? The answer may surprise you
By Lynne Curry My in-box filled with questions after I posted a Recession Fears Loom blog. Readers asked how I made sense of the different views voiced by economists and politicians. As a law office manager with responsibilities around staffing and profitability, you are probably watching to see which way the economy goes. Here’s the background, and my answer to “are we … [Read more...] about Is it a recession or not? The answer may surprise you
How do we tell our employees we are laying off some of them?
By Lynne Curry As the economy takes a new twist, the talk in many work sectors is turning from staffing shortages to coming layoffs. If this is the case for your law office, here are some things to think about: Consider alternatives Have you considered all the alternatives your company has to layoffs? Could you reduce hours or salaries for a larger number of employees? If … [Read more...] about How do we tell our employees we are laying off some of them?
5 ways to help your staff cope with inflation
By Paul Edwards CEO, CEDR Solutions Inflation is on everyone’s minds right now, and understandably so. Most Americans are aware that the purchasing power of a dollar is always decreasing to some degree, but rarely does the rise in the cost of living have such a powerful impact on our daily lives or feature so prominently in the public discourse. As you may already know, … [Read more...] about 5 ways to help your staff cope with inflation
How to handle the office romance 2023 version
By Lynne Curry Three potential hot messes. In company Z, a senior manager considered his workplace a dating pool in which he fished. When he put the moves on a new female employee, the workplace grapevine ignited. In company Y, the head of marketing had serial crushes on one after another of the male management trainees. Because she was attractive and personable, several of … [Read more...] about How to handle the office romance 2023 version