Problem Solving

Jarelyn was pleased at how the meeting had been going. It seemed her efforts to encourage collaboration were paying off. Then, the door banged open. “Sorry I’m late,” Michael announced, noisily taking his seat. Michael, a fellow department head with…

Many businesses have anti-cell phone rules. Companies want employees to talk and text on their own time. (Emergencies are usually an exception.) Many companies ban social media from being accessed on their intranet. Personal social media use wastes time and…

You have just started a job you are excited about. Congratulations! As you spend the first week in the office, it becomes clear that there are ways the company could be doing things to improve productivity, save money, work smarter…

We all know the holiday office party cliché about that one coworker getting so snockered it costs them their next raise or promotion. If you can’t ever see yourself as that one coworker, if you rarely drink alcohol and don't…

If you’re like most Americans, you spend a lot of alone time in your car. Seventy-six percent of American commuters drive to work by themselves every day, and the average American spends 54 minutes per day commuting.Unfortunately, many people don’t…

We all know the type. If you did something, chances are they did it better. The dreaded “one-upper" coworker. You went out for a burger at lunch. It was delicious. Well, the "one-upper" had a burger you couldn't dream of…

In the southern states, especially Texas, New Mexico, California and Florida, it seems impossible to run a business without a Spanish speaking person or translator. This is also the case in many places throughout the United States. There are several…

Team members are fed up with meetings.That’s the conclusion of countless studies, including a report by Harvard Business Review, which found 70 percent of survey participants believed meetings are both inefficient and unproductive. Those surveyed felt meetings can be a…

As offices continue to eliminate paper records in favor of digital filing systems, you may be asked to dispose of dozens or even hundreds of old paper office files. Having a plan to quickly and efficiently dispose of them, after…

You sit down at your desk with a fresh cup of coffee and notice the red voicemail light blinking on your phone. Almost immediately, you get an email notification. Without checking, you know exactly who the voicemail and email came…

You forgot the sales person’s name again! And you can’t seem to master the art of certain office procedures. Why do you keep forgetting? Because you haven’t yet transformed these pieces of information into chunks of digestible data. And you…

If you've got extra office, warehouse, parking or other business space you're not using, you might be able to get others to pay for it. Take time to do a little research and you might find you can decrease your…

“Toxic managers” come in many shapes and sizes. There are jerks, avoiders, egomaniacs, dreamers, micromanagers, schemers, and screamers, to name a few. There is one simple key to working with all of them: behavior -- not character-- makes a workplace…

Hurricane season, earthquakes, wildfires, tornadoes – at some point during your career, you might need to evacuate your workplace for days or weeks. If you're a business owner or an office manager, having an emergency plan in place will not…

Is the customer always right? In many cases, no. But if you try to explain, even courteously, why your company is right and the customer is wrong, you can lose a customer forever. Not only that, you might motivate the…

Most everyone has experienced an underperforming or lazy colleague that somehow did just enough to stay employed. Working with a lazy coworker can be extremely frustrating and trying, but it certainly shouldn't be debilitating. The good news is that you…

When deciding whether or not you should have a full-time staffer or use a contractor for your IT needs, take into consideration two keys factors: how much IT work you have and what your budget is. You'll need to ask…

Dealing with a micromanager can be incredibly difficult and add a lot of stress to your day. In fact, several studies, including one conducted by the Indiana University Kelley School of Business found that lack of autonomy at work can…

Connecting your laptop or desktop computer to an external monitor is quite simple and requires just a few steps. Moreover, purchasing an extra monitor is very affordable today and can make your work easier running multiple displays. However, before purchasing…

It's often said that paralegals have the hardest job in the legal profession because they are the glue of any matter, as well as carrying the added pressure of ensuring their attorneys are as organized as they can be. Even…