By Steve M. Cohen bio Sometimes it's difficult to communicate to employers just how much federal and state law impact businesses and organizations when an employee makes a complaint. By this, I mean virtually any allegation, whether it's an accusation of sexual harassment, bullying or an alleged workplace safety hazard. It doesn't matter if you doubt the complaint or have … [Read more...] about One employee complaint can change your reality
Managing the office
Top 25 new products for law firms
TechnoLawyer (TL) NewsWire, a provider of legal product reviews, has released its list of the Top 25 Products of 2014, based on lawyer and law firm administrator interest. Here are the products that got the most attention in 2014, with product summaries from TechnoLawyer founder Neil Squillante. 1. pdfDocs 4.1 The PDF format paved the way for the paperless law office, … [Read more...] about Top 25 new products for law firms
Don’t put your vendor contracts on auto-pilot
It's easy, to say nothing of convenient, to get comfortable with business relationships and not to question what the vendors are doing. But in the meantime those vendors have every ability to slip in added costs the administrator does not notice. Don't just renew vendor contracts automatically. The firm can often save money and get better service by putting those contracts … [Read more...] about Don’t put your vendor contracts on auto-pilot
Three ways to end three staff problems every manager hates
When you manage people, at some point you’re going to face an uncomfortable situation, such as co-worker with unacceptable body odor, a gossiper who’s poisoning the workplace, or a staff member who simply won’t acknowledge your authority. Here are some suggestions on how to deal with these people problems. The people problems need to be managed “before they occur and as they … [Read more...] about Three ways to end three staff problems every manager hates
Creating and maintaining a high-performance office
Among the goals of any manager is to create and maintain an HPO—a high-performance organization. That means you have created a lean, mean running machine that operates at top efficiency, and your employees are engaged. Some organizations don't believe this really applies to them. But look at it this way: Research by the Gallagher Organization has suggested that only 25 … [Read more...] about Creating and maintaining a high-performance office
Are you building a community or an organization?
By Dr. Steve M. Cohen Office managers have a major role in creating the culture of their organization. One of the major considerations of that culture revolves around the question: Are you building a community or an organization? Defining our terms A community, by definition, is inclusive. It makes room for individuals and their diverse proclivities, biases, illnesses, … [Read more...] about Are you building a community or an organization?
Do you follow these 7 rules when you fire an employee?
If it's employment at will—and for most employers it is—the office can fire whomever it wants, whenever it wants, and without any reason at all. But it's not quite that easy. With any termination, emotions take over. Besides the crushed ego, there is the cold hard fact that the office is essentially taking away a person's livelihood. And all of a sudden people start … [Read more...] about Do you follow these 7 rules when you fire an employee?
3 ways to eliminate flab from your writing and become a stronger communicator
No, this isn't an article on dieting. Today, we're talking about a different kind of flab that professionals should shed—the kind you find in poor writing. Flab is the unnecessary words, the words that don't mean what they're supposed to mean, and the clichés that everyone's tired of hearing. Take flab out of your letters, memos, and reports. Flab will never improve a … [Read more...] about 3 ways to eliminate flab from your writing and become a stronger communicator
The dangers of the disengaged staffer
By Steve M. Cohen bio Are some of your employees actually working against you? When it comes to the bigger picture of your job, your office or your business, the important question is simple: are you engaged? Is your staff engaged? Whether you are an owner, manager or beginning worker, the answers matters. A national management firm, the Gallagher Organization, has published … [Read more...] about The dangers of the disengaged staffer
6 easy ways to build staff morale and loyalty
It doesn't take a degree in management to build loyalty, morale and productivity in the office. It's the little things that make the biggest difference. Amazingly simple things that cost nothing, yet pay off in spades. 1 Hello and how are you? First is a tactic that's deceptively simple. It's nothing more than saying hello and making eye contact with staff you come … [Read more...] about 6 easy ways to build staff morale and loyalty